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The paper comprises data from 27 case studies to assess large-scale human-vegetation interferences in the Carpathian region during the Mid-Holocene. The main focus is put on herding-related vegetation changes and climate influences are addressed. The publications reviewed are based on sediment sequences which provide C 14 -dated pollen records, charcoal and geochemical data. Based on a semi-quantitative approach pollen of secondary indicator species and arboreal pollen values were combined in a fuzzy model to assess the intensity of herding-related vegetation changes. The model was applied for 20 selected case studies. The data from the remaining seven sites as well as geochemical and charcoal data were used to validate the results of the standardized evaluation. Speleothem δ 18 O and δ 13 C records from Hungary and Romania were used as independent proxies to align Holocene climate development. The results were regionalized and trends of herding-related vegetation change are presented for the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains, for the Eastern Carpathians and for Hungary. Mean distances between included archives and prehistoric settlement sites were calculated as indicator for the marginality of the environmental archives. In all regions, absolute values for herding indication are low. Phases of changing herding impact on the landscape can be observed for the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains as well as for Hungary. In the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains increased herding activities can be traced for the Early Chalcolithic and the Late Bronze Age. The first phase is contemporary with an intensification of the use of secondary products. In Hungary herding impact is in accordance with prehistoric settlement development. Widely increased herding indications date to the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age. In the Eastern Carpathians, interference of climate influences and human impacts occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to describe the late Holocene behaviour of rivers using an interdisciplinary approach combining fluvial geomorphology and subfossil trunk dendrochronology. The subfossil wood material collected along the rivers was investigated for dendrometric and dendrochronologic parameters. The research methods in these fields helped us to understand the effect of the fluvial environment on riparian trees and their records and helped in reconstructing the riparian palaeoenvironment. The study area consists of two rivers with different typologies but comparable sizes: the Moldova River, which features a braided to wandering channel in its lower reach, and the Siret River, which features a sinuous-meandering channel. Along the 100-km-long floodplain of the former and the 144-km-long floodplain of the latter, we found and sampled 77 subfossil trunks, of which 26 were subjected to 14 C dating. The resulting data consist of floodplain facies mapping data, electric resistivity measurements, absolute dates, and dendrometric and dendrochronologic data. The results indicate that during a 100-year period, the two rivers were sensitive to climate change and anthropogenic effects, particularly a narrowing of the active channel by 76% in the braided channel and 38% in the sinuous-meandering channel. During the past 3300–3000 YBP, the Moldova River maintained its braided style, whereas the sinuous-meandering style has been characteristic of the Siret River for the previous 6800–4600 YBP. The two distinct fluvial environments are recorded in the dendrometric structure of the trunks buried in the channel-fill sediments. The braided fluvial environment was more effective in uprooting riparian trees and incorporating them in the floodplain deposits, whereas the sinuous-meandering style of stream effectively buried tree trunks in lateral accretion lobes. Absolute and dendrochronologic dating allowed for the reconstruction of timelines of the felling of the trees and estimates of the magnitude of the responsible hydrological event. The flood events on the Siret River with a recurrence interval of 200 years ( Q max ~ 2500–2800 m 3 /s) were those most effective in destroying riparian forests, and the events on the Moldova floods with a 100-year recurrence interval ( Q max ~ 1200–1400 m 3 /s) were the most effective. Dendrochronology allowed for identification of wet phases (i.e., 3500–2900 YBP, 2200–2075 YBP, and 1000–800 YBP) and dry phases (e.g., 3200–3150 or 2775–2700 YBP, 1400 YBP). Finally, we draw attention to the potential for creating a highly replicable dendrochronological series spanning at least 7000 YBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western Carpathian Mountains have been attracting palaeoecologists for a long time, recently mainly to seek direct evidence of northern cryptic refugia in this region. We investigated a rich Holocene mollusc record in the White Carpathian Mountains, capturing a gradual development of forest malacofaunas under stable environmental conditions. To obtain precise data about colonization and extinction events for particular species, we applied a high‐resolution depth‐age model. Early Holocene assemblages revealed both the presence of Early Holocene relics and an early appearance of closed‐canopy forest species that might indicate a cryptic glacial refugium nearby. Many forest species peaking at the Holocene forest optimum, including anthropophobic arboricole land snails (Bulgarica cana and Macrogastra borealis), were present since the Early Holocene as well. After 4000 cal. a BP, forest vegetation composition changed, and the environment became less suitable for woodland snails (i.e. calcium and moisture level decreased). This change was indicated by the disappearance of many sensitive forest species. Most of the exclusively forest species reappeared during the early Middle Ages because of dense beech forest development. However, in the late Middle Ages, the study site was deforested and became an open wetland. The existence of pollen, plant macro‐remains, and stable isotope data allowed us to compare the recorded mollusc succession to the signal derived from these proxies. Hence, we propose that the Mituchovci site should be considered a model for the Holocene development of mollusc woodland faunas in the (Outer) Western Carpathians and one of the main reference sites for central European mollusc succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travertine deposits are unique archives for multidisciplinary studies of past climate changes, associated vegetation development and the evolution of human societies. Despite their high potential in palaeoecological and palaeoclimate reconstructions, investigations of travertines are rather scarce in central Europe and particularly in Slovakia. Therefore, this study focused on a travertine deposit situated on the border between the Pannonian Basin and the Western Carpathians in a small valley in Santovka village (SW Slovakia), which is unique due to the presence of archaeological artefacts with known radiocarbon ages in the palaeoecological profile. Using a multidisciplinary approach combining macrofossil, pollen, mollusc, lithological and geochemical analyses, this study investigated climate–human–vegetation interactions. The Holocene onset was marked by the early arrival of oak trees; however, forest‐steppe with a high representation of pine predominated until 9880 cal. a BP, followed by an expansion of temperate trees. The local ecosystem changed around 8600 cal. a BP when the valley was probably dammed by a travertine accumulation, probably resulting in the existence of a small travertine lake. This was associated with wetter climatic conditions, which were also documented in other sites in the Western Carpathians at that time. Surrounding temperate forest possibly retained a certain degree of openness, or local steppe habitat may have persisted on adjacent loess terraces until the neolithization of the area. Archaeological evidence represented by a ceramic shard dated to 7339 cal. a BP suggests the first appearance of humans at the site, yet pollen analysis records a significant change in vegetation first at 6650 cal. a BP. The local ecosystem records an abrupt change linked with human settlement earlier, at c. 7000 cal. a BP. Deforestation activities of the Neolithics resulted in the formation of an open calcareous fen occupied by numerous light‐demanding mollusc species. The present study provides new important data about the spread of temperate trees at the onset of the Holocene, about further vegetation changes caused by activities of the first Neolithic farmers and about climate changes in the region of southwestern Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructions of dust flux have been used to produce valuable global records of changes in atmospheric circulation and aridity. These studies have highlighted the importance of atmospheric dust in marine and terrestrial biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling. By investigating a 10 800-year-long paleoclimate archive from the Eastern Carpathians (Romania) we present the first peat record of changing dust deposition over the Holocene for the Carpathian- Balkan region. Using qualitative (X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning) and quantitative inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer(ICP-OES) measurements of lithogenic (K, Si, Ti) elements, we identify 10 periods of major dust deposition between 9500-9200, 8400-8100, 7720-7250, 6350-5950, 5450-5050, 4130-3770, 3450-2850, 2000-1450, 800-620, and 60 cal yr BP to present. In addition, we used testate amoeba assemblages preserved within the peat to infer local palaeohydroclimatic conditions. Our record highlights several discrepancies between eastern and western European dust depositional records and the impact of highly complex hydrological regimes in the Carpathian region. Since 6100 cal yr BP, we find that the geochemical indicators of dust flux have become uncoupled from the local hydrology. This coincides with the appearance of millennial-scale cycles in the dust input and changes in geochemical composition of dust. We suggest that this is indicative of a shift in dust provenance from local-regional (likely loess-related) to distal (Saharan) sources, which coincide with the end of the African Humid Period and the onset of Saharan desertification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammals are a key target group for conservation biology. Insights into the patterns and timing of and driving forces behind their past extinctions help us to understand their present, and to predict and mitigate their future biodiversity loss. Much research has been focused on the intensely debated megafaunal extinctions at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, whereas the Holocene mammal extinctions have remained less studied., Here, we consider the Holocene extinctions of mammal taxa in the Carpathian Basin, a distinctive and biogeographically well-constrained predominantly lowland region in Central Europe. For the first time, we combine data from palaeontological, archaeozoological, and historical sources for a comprehensive analysis., A total of 11 mammal species, including steppe-dwelling rodents, large carnivores and herbivores, disappeared from the Carpathian Basin during the Holocene. The extinctions are interpreted in the framework of changing habitats and ecosystems, as grasslands and open forests vanished at the westernmost limits of the Eurasian steppe., The temporal distribution of extinctions is non-random; most taxon range terminations are concentrated around two discrete events. Members of the steppe community disappeared between 5000 and 4000 BP, around the Copper Age-Bronze Age transition. Large herbivores that found refugia in the forests vanished later, between the 16th and 18th centuries AD. The steppe, forest-steppe ecosystems of the Carpathian Basin suffered a considerable loss in their mammalian fauna, which has significant implications for conservation efforts for the existing similar dry, open habitats in western Eurasia., Further research and better age constraints are needed to establish the causes of extinctions more firmly, but the lack of synchronous and severe climate and vegetation changes and the coincidence with transformations in human history suggest the prime role of anthropogenic disturbance. We conclude that there were two waves of Holocene mammal extinctions of megafaunal character in the Carpathian Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]