B1: Land-use and anthropogenic land-cover change over the Holocene - information of value for climate and environmental research

Organisers

 Marie-José Gaillard (Linnaeus University), Andrea Kay (University of Lausanne) & Leanne Phelps (University of Lausanne)

The goal of PAGES’ new LandCover6k working group (http://www.pages-igbp.org/ini/wg/landcover6k/intro) is to achieve Holocene land-cover and land-use reconstructions that can be used to evaluate and improve the scenarios of anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC) by Klein Goldewijk et al. (2011; HYDE) and Kaplan et al. (2009; KK) for the purpose of climate modelling studies (Gaillard et al. 2015).  Climate modellers need information on past anthropogenic land cover and land use change to a) validate climate models, b) investigate land use as a type of the climate forcing (i.e. the effects of anthropogenic land use and associated land cover changes on climate) for the past, present and future.  The diet, technology, culture, and economy (land use) of a society has varying physical manifestations on the surrounding landscape (land cover).  Therefore this session will welcome interdisciplinary papers covering a broad range of topics, including but not limited to, archaeology, historical ecology, botany and modelling, in order to facilitate an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and promote discussion.  Data to be considered include land cover changes (e.g. cropland and pasture) and quantification of different land use practices (e.g. wood harvest, use of fire, irrigation, fertilization, tillage, and grazing intensity).  LandCover6k focuses on the last 6000 calendar years (i.e. the period in the Holocene when anthropogenic deforestation occurred on most continents), but it will also cover older periods in regions where significant human impact on vegetation occurred earlier.  LandCover6k has links to other research programs, in particular IHOPE (Intergrated History and Future of People on Earth), GLP (Global Land Project), PMIP (Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project), and PAGES-GPWG (Global Paleofire Working Group).  We welcome all contributions within palaeoecology, archaeology and history, dealing with these aspects of landscape history and ecology over short to long time sequences, and at any of the local to regional and continental spatial scales, and from any region of the world.

Contact:  Marie-José Gaillard           marie-jose.gaillard-lemdahl@lnu.se

   Andrea Kay                        Andrea.Kay@unil.ch  

List of Papers:

Marjolein T.I.J. Gouw-Bouman (Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University): The Complete Picture: Combining Palynological, Cultural and Landscape Data to Reconstruct Palaeovegetation Patterns

Jan Kolár (Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences): Past human activities, woodland and climate during the Holocene in Central Europe: large-scale quantitative approach

Stefanie Jacomet (DUW, IPNA, Basel University): Tracing Late Neolithic Economy by Archaeobiological On-site Data

Miikka Tallavaara (Dept of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki): Changing Human Population Size and its Influence on Mid-Holocene Land-cover in Finland and Sweden

Raphael A. Eser (Winckelmann-Institut, Humboldt University Berlin): An Interdisciplinary Approach on Ancient Iron Mining and Smelting on Elba Island

Andrea Kay (Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne), Mapping Livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa from 1800 BC to AD 1500

Suzi Richer (Department of Archaeology, University of York): Land Use and Land Cover Change in East Africa – Initial Findings from LandCover6k East Africa

Mats Widgren (Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University): Agricultural Systems in sub-Saharan Africa 1000 to 1800 AD

Munyaradzi Manyanga (Archaeology Unit, University of Zimbabwe): Past Land Use and Land Cover in the Shashi-Limpopo Basin: Making the Most from 19th Century Travelogues

Ezekia Mtetwa (Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University): The Historical and Urban Ecology of Ancient Great Zimbabwe Urbanism: An Archaeometallurgical View

List of Posters

Marie-José Gaillard (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus University): Global Land-cover and Land-use Change of the Last 6000 Years for Climate Modelling Studies: The PAGES LandCover6k Initiative

Magnus Hellqvist (Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University): Environmental and Climatic Changes during the Late Holocene in Hjaltadalur, Skagafjörður, Northern Iceland, Interpreted from Peat Core Analyses and Pollen Identification

Alexandra Raab (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg) & Thomas Raab: Reconstructing Anthropogenic Landscape transformation in the Surroundings of the Peitz Ironworks (SE Brandenburg, Germany) - 16th to Mid-19th Centuries

Mikheil Elashvili (Cultural Heritage and Environment Research Center, Ilia State University): Early State Formations in South East Georgia, Caucasus - Response and Impact on Changes in the Climate and Environment

Leanne N. Phelps (Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne) & Jed O. Kaplan: A Framework for Defining and Characterizing Livestock Production Land Use in Global Change Studies