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The Little Ice Age (LIA) is a well-recognised palaeoclimatic phenomenon, although its causes, duration and severity have been matters of debate and dispute. Data from a wide range of archives have been used to infer climate variability before, during and after the LIA. Some published proxy-climate data from peatlands imply that two particularly severe episodes within the LIA may be contemporaneous between hemispheres; these echo a previous climatic downturn ca. 2800 cal BP of similar severity but lesser duration. Here, we present palaeoclimate data from the mid- to late-Holocene, reconstructed from three blanket peats in Yorkshire: Mossdale Moor, Oxenhope Moor and West Arkengarthdale. Multiproxy techniques used for palaeoclimatic reconstruction were plant macrofossil, pollen and humification analyses. Dating was provided by a radiocarbon-based chronology, aided by spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) for all sites, and 210Pb dates for one. The LIA presents as a distinct climatic event within each palaeoenvironmental record at the three sites. These indications are compared with terrestrial datasets from northwest Europe and elsewhere. A broad degree of synchronicity is evident, signifying that the LIA is one of the most pronounced downturns in global climate in the last ca. 6000 years, and arguably the most routinely recorded within the Holocene.

Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa has been regarded as a\ud Roman archaeophyte in Britain ever since a debate in the\ud eighteenth century contested whether it was indigenous or\ud introduced. This paper re-examines its status, presenting\ud new evidence within an ‘historical ecology’ analytical\ud framework. Sweet chestnut trees and coppice stools from\ud 237 sites across England and Wales were assessed\ud using genetic, dendrochronological, palaeoenvironmental,\ud archaeological, and historical analyses. Seven types of ‘sweet\ud chestnut landscape’ were identified: ancient inclosures/\ud groves; ancient coppice woods; historic boundaries; historic\ud gardens; ancient deer parks and historic parklands;\ud historic formal avenues; and more recent high forest\ud and production coppice. Genetic analysis has indicated\ud that the sources of the oldest British sweet chestnut\ud trees and stools lie in parts of France, Spain, Portugal\ud and Italy which were refugia during the Last Glacial\ud Maximum. Tree and stool antiquity are verified for the\ud first time through clonal analysis and dendrochronology.\ud The earliest written record of sweet chestnut growing in\ud Britain found in this study was a.d. 1113, referencing\ud a boundary marker tree for Goldcliff Priory in southeast\ud Wales. Later twelfth-century records evinced localised\ud coppiced woods, nut production and ‘totemic’ plantings of individual trees in noble house and garden settings.\ud By the eighteenth century sweet chestnut was extensively\ud planted in designed parklands and avenues; and in woods,\ud mostly as ‘industrial’ coppice. Present-day ‘landscapes\ud of sweet chestnut’ are endowed with ancient trees, stubs\ud and coppice stools of great significance for cultural and\ud ecological interests.

To date, the interactions between small mammals, birds and humans have not been explored in a small island environment which is under strong environmental pressure in its exposed maritime position. Skomer is a small island off the coast of south-west Wales; its present vegetation includes a range of grasses, sedges and herbaceous species, and a notable lack of trees. A shallow (460 mm) soil core spanning c.14 ka was retrieved from the South Valley on the Island. Interpretation of the lithology suggests that sediment accumulation rates are slow, and vegetation takes a long time to establish, probably due to thin soils and high rates of erosion. The vegetation inferred from the pollen record is dominated by grasses and herbs, similar to the present day, with periods of greater influence of Ericaceae. There is no evidence for woodland throughout the vegetation record preserved in the soil of the island, although 74 woodland indicator species are currently present. Woodland is likely to have been present during the early Holocene, but has been absent for at least 2800 years. Skomer Island provides an example of the persistence of woodland indicator species in the absence of woodland. The authors suggest that Pteridium provides the surrogate protection from grazing and competition from grasses to allow bluebells and other woodland indicator species to thrive. Birds, humans and small mammals have influenced the vegetation through forest clearance, and then by restricting re-growth through grazing, burrowing disturbance and an altered nutrient load from associated animal faeces.

Actively growing mires have high conservation value and the potential to sequester carbon. However, drainage, burning, overgrazing and atmospheric pollution have led to depauperation of native flora and loss of peat at many peatland sites. In order to counteract such degradation, palaeoecological techniques can be applied and the data then used to inform nature conservation practice. The present study exemplifies this approach and was conducted on degraded blanket mire in Yorkshire, UK, in collaboration with a field-based moorland restoration agency. High-resolution, multiproxy palaeoecological analyses on a peat core from Oxenhope Moor were used to reconstruct Holocene vegetation changes spanning approximately the last 7000 years. Humification, pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal analyses show distinct changes in species composition and indicate their potential causes. Human-induced changes identified at 2100 cal. BP are most likely to reflect deliberate clearance by fire. Sphagnum imbricatum disappears and is subsequently replaced by S. papillosum at ca. 1000 cal. BP, possibly due to drier conditions and competition between the two species. Increased human activity is identified since the Industrial Revolution where monocots and Eriophorum vaginatum increase, interpreted as a result of managed burning. It is intended that the long-term ecological history of the site, derived using palaeoecological techniques, will be used to inform conservation practice and can help set feasible targets for restoration and conservation. Specifically, encouraging a species mix that has pre-19th century longevity is suggested, including the specific recommendation that translocation of S. imbricatum be explored experimentally at this site, with a view to ascertaining likely success elsewhere.