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Palynological Evidence for Climatic Change and Human Activity during the Holocene on Minorca (Balearic Islands)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Errikarta-Imanol Yll ,
Ramon Perez-Obiol ,
Jose Pantaleon-Cano  and
Joan Maria Roure
Errikarta-Imanol Yll
Affiliation:
Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Ramon Perez-Obiol
Affiliation:
Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Jose Pantaleon-Cano
Affiliation:
Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Joan Maria Roure
Affiliation:
Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Abstract

Four pollen diagrams from Minorca (Balearic Islands) have been correlated with other previously studied sequences from Majorca and Minorca to define a Holocene landscape sequence for the region from 8000 yr B.P. to the present. The lower part of the pollen diagrams reflects a climatic phase with more rain and less-marked seasonality than today. Significant quantities of Corylus, Buxus, and mesophilous taxa are found. In the middle part, between 5000 and 4000 yr B.P., a strong change is recorded in composition and structure of the vegetational landscape, with vegetation appearing that was adapted to Mediterranean conditions. This episode coincided with the first human colonization of the island and also with a widespread climatic change in the western Mediterranean region. The change in taxa was complex and some sclerophyllous taxa such Olea played an important role in the transformation of the landscape physiognomy from the mid-Holocene until the present. Although human activities have removed much of the Mediterranean vegetation on the Balearic Islands, it seems clear that the changes have been brought about, in part, by increasing dryness.

Keywords

Balearic IslandsBuxusMinorcapollenHoloceneOlea
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , November 1997 , pp. 339 - 347
Copyright
University of Washington

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