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The expansion of silver fir ( Abies alba ) during the 20th century in the European inner Alps calls into question the causes of the observed dynamics. We investigate the past distribution of Abies alba via analysis of wood charcoal buried in natural soils (identification, weighing, dating) and of pollen and macro-remains from peat to help us understand its present-day expansion. Material was sampled in the driest areas of the inner French Alps – some samples from calcareous sites, and most from southern exposures that should exclude Abies alba , which is a drought and carbonate intolerant species. The regional tree limit of the silver fir has not changed significantly since the middle Holocene. Abies alba grew on southern exposures, even on calcareous soils, but its importance was higher on northern slopes. From 4000 to 2000 cal. yr BP, depending on sites, the species has experienced local extinction associated with fire history. Human impact, more than climate, appears to be the main factor for local extinction, indicating that the marked present-day expansion of silver fir may result from land-use abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation and lake-level data from the sites of Lake Morat (Switzerland) and Lake Annecy (eastern France) are used to provide quantitative estimates of climatic variables over the period 6600–5500 cal. yr BP in the northern Subalpine zone, and to test the method of climate reconstruction based on modern pollen analogues constrained by lake-level data. The results obtained from both sites suggest: (1) that phases of higher lake level coincided with a cooling and a shortening of the growing season and an increase in annual precipitation, and (2) that during climatic reversals summer was more affected than winter. They also provide evidence of a sensitive method of reconstruction of climatic variables capable of capturing minor climatic oscillations such as reflected by weakly pronounced lake-level fluctuations. However, comparison of results obtained at Lake Morat and Lake Annecy, with each other and with results from other sites in central Europe, also clearly indicates that either anthropogenic disturbances of the vegetation cover or an overrepresentation of taxa due to particular site exposition can bias the reconstruction of variations in climatic parameters. In addition to pluri-centennial climatic oscillations, both the Lake Morat and Lake Annecy records show a general trend toward temperature cooling over the period considered. This may be related to a reduction in summer insolation induced by orbital factors. Finally, the quantitative estimates of climatic parameters reconstructed at Lake Morat and Lake Annecy help to increase our understanding of the possible impact of climatic oscillations on ancient agricultural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]