RT Journal Article
T1 Tracing 40,000 years of vegetation change in the Baetic-Rifan biodiversity hotspot
A1 Carrión, José S.
A1 Rodríguez Vidal, Joaquín
A1 Magri, Donatella
AB This study presents a 40,000-year-old pollen record from Los Tollos Lake in the Baetic-Rifan region of southernmostSpain. The data offer insights into the past ecosystems of a current biodiversity hotspot situated at theecotone between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. This new sequence encompasses Mediterranean and Ibero-North African sclerophylls, broad-leaf trees, conifers, and Tertiary relicts. The full-glacial abundance of mesothermophytes,particularly oaks, is among the highest recorded for the European Quaternary. Notably, thepresence of ecologically significant pollen taxa, which are poorly dispersed and currently occur outside the studyarea, suggests that this biodiversity hotspot was more extensive in the Pleistocene. During the period of c.40.8–36.5 ka, three Artemisia maxima at 40.6, 38.9, and 36.9 ka coincide with decreases in Quercus, indicatingthe spread of steppes in response to the abrupt coolings of the GS10, GS9 (HS4), and GS8 events. Similarly,increases in Quercus around 41, 40, and 37.2–38.3 ka parallel the GI10, GI9, and GI8 warm events. A forestedperiod from 36.5–32 ka includes oak expansions during the GI7 and GI6 interstadials. From 32 to 19.2 ka, morexerophytic vegetation is observed, including the HS3, GS5-GS3, HS2, and GS2.1b-c cold spells, although thecorrelation with vegetation changes is not synchronous. As early as approximately 21 ka, Artemisia definitivelydeclines, while the region was reforesting, likely due to the presence of stationary populations of broadleaf treesand conifers in the southern Baetic mountains. From approximately 12 ka onwards, the highest values ofangiosperm trees are recorded, with oaks dominating throughout most of the Holocene. The pollen record andthe correlation with marine records suggest a more intense hydrological regime during the first half of theHolocene, but there is also archaeobotanical evidence for human activity during the second half, resulting in amore open landscape, making it difficult to discriminate the impact of each factor. Some abrupt aridity eventsduring the Holocene coincide with small variations in tree cover, particularly at 9.2, 8.2, 6.8, 5.5–4.8, 4.2, and2.8 ka. Since the Neolithic and during the metallurgic stages, forest species, especially broad-leaf trees, experiencedrange retraction accompanied by population extinctions. The region’s plant communities have beensubject to fire regimes since the Pleistocene, seemingly dependent on the available tree biomass
PB Elsevier
SN 0034-6667
SN 1879-0615 (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25294
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25294
LA eng
NO Carrión, J. S., Ochando, J., Michelangeli, F., Jiménez-Espejo, F., Ojeda, F., Amorós, G., Munuera, M., Marín-Arroyo, A. B., González-Sampériz, P., Rodríguez-Vidal, J., Di Rita, F., & Magri, D. (2024). Tracing 40,000 years of vegetation change in the Baetic-Rifan biodiversity hotspot. In Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (Vol. 331, p. 105202). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2024.105202
NO This research has been primarily funded by the projects HOMEDSCAPE, PID2022-136832NB-100, and SUMHAL LIFEWATCH-2019-09- CSIC-4 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci´on, Spain; and SUBSILIENCE project H2020-ERC-2018.CoG N. 818299. We thank Juan Antonio Martín G´omez and Felipe Oliveros (Junta de Andalucía), and Santiago Fern´andez and Celia Martín, for logistic support during drilling
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 13 jun 2026