RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 The ancient forests of La Gomera, Canary Islands, and their sensitivity to environmental change
A1 Nogué, Sandra
A1 Nascimento Reyes, Lea de
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
A1 Whittaker, Robert J.
A1 Willis, Kathy J.
K1 Canary Islands
K1 Climate change
K1 Forest management
K1 Historical ecology
K1 Holocene
K1 Island ecology
K1 La Gomera
K1 Monteverde
K1 Palaeoecology and land-use history
K1 Quaternary
AB Garajonay National Park in La Gomera (Canary Islands) contains one of the largest remnant areasof a forest formation once widespread throughout Europe and North Africa. Here, we aim to addressthe long-term dynamics (the last 9600 cal. years) of the monteverde forest (laurel forest andMorella-Erica heath) located close to the summit of the National Park (1487 m a.s.l.) and determinepast environmental and human impacts.2. We used palaeoecological (fossil pollen, microscopic and macroscopic charcoal) and multivariateecological techniques to identify compositional change in the monteverde forest in relation to potentialclimatic and human influences, based on the analysis of a core site at 1250-m elevation.3. The regional mid-Holocene change towards drier conditions was matched in this system by afairly rapid shift in representation of key forest elements, with declines in Canarian palm tree(Phoenix canariensis), Canarian willow (Salix canariensis) and certain laurel forest taxa and anincrease in representation of the Morella–Erica woody heath.4. Charcoal data suggest that humans arrived on the island between about 3000 and 1800 yearsago, a period of minimal vegetation change. Levels of burning over the last 800 years are amongthe lowest of the entire 9600 years.5. Synthesis. A rapid climatic-induced shift of forest taxa occurred 5500 years ago, with a decreasein hygrophilous species in the pollen record. In contrast, we found no evidence of a significantresponse to human colonization. These findings support the idea that Garajonay National Park isprotecting a truly ancient relict, comprising a largely natural rather than cultural legacy.
PB British Ecological Society
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16884
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16884
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 20-abr-2024