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Agriculture has been the major driver of deforestation in Europe in the last 1000 years. In the past, forests were also exploited for charcoal production; however, the spatial scale/extent of this activity and its impact are unknown. LIDAR data can be used as a noninvasive tool to investigate the small-scale diversity of the land relief, including forested areas. These data can reveal the extent anthropogenic modifications of topography present-day as well as in the past. One of the activities that can be analyzed based on LIDAR data is spatial distribution of charcoal production. A preliminary LIDAR data analysis indicated the intensity of this practice and its potential impact on the natural environment. This prompted us to analyze the environmental impact of charcoal hearths in northern Poland. As it turned out, this topic exceeded the scope of earth sciences and became a transdisciplinary one. In this work, we will use the research methods typical of biogeography, dendroecology, paleoecology, soil science, biology, botany, history, onomastics, as well as art history, in order to thoroughly understand not only the natural consequences but also the social and economic consequences of charcoal production. This paper presents the assumptions of our project, the research methodology, and the preliminary results. We have identified using LIDAR data more than 73 thousand relief forms which can be remnants of charcoal hearths. Our preliminary results confirmed large scale impact of past human activity related to charcoal production and suitability of the methods used for detecting and reconstructing charcoal hearths as well as determining the distribution and magnitude of past forest use for charcoal production in NW Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fagus sylvatica (beech) dominates the montane forests of the Apennines and builds old-growth high-conservation value stands. However, recent severe drought-induced diebacks raise concern on the future persistence of these forests and of Southern European mesophilous woodlands overall, growing at their dry edge. To explore the history of Apennine beech-dominated forests, we draw on the multiproxy paleoecological record from Lago Verdarolo, which includes a robust vegetation-independent temperature reconstruction. Numerical techniques are used to investigate the drivers of long-term Mediterranean mountain forest dynamics. Specifically, we focus on disentangling the ecological factors that caused the shift from high-diversity mixed forests to beech-dominated stands and on assessing the occurrence of legacy effects on present-day forests. Abrupt climate change largely drove vegetation dynamics during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. Species-rich mixed Abies alba (silver fir) forests dominated about 10,500—5500 years ago, under rather dry and warmer-than-today conditions (+ 1—2 °C) and limited fire occurrence. Cooler and moister summers and increasing fire activity caused declines in several fire-sensitive temperate deciduous trees (for example, Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus) and favored the establishment of fir-beech forests around 5500 years ago. Further enhancement of fire activity and farming around 2000 years ago led to local Abies alba extinction and forest impoverishment. We conclude that the currently widespread monospecific Apennine beech forests are the result of multi-millennial land-use intensification superimposed on Late Holocene cooling and moistening. Given their higher drought-tolerance compared to beech stands, reviving ancient species-rich mixed fir forests represents a feasible and 'tested' possibility to adapt forests to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]