The Holocene Vegetation and Land-Use History in the Northern Dinaric Karst

This study compiles pollen records from four study sites in southern Slovenia (Cerkniško jezero and Mlaka) and north western Croatia (Prapoče and Čepićko polje) to examine how and when climatic variations or human activities influenced the vegetation of the Dinaric Karst during the last 10,000 years. Analysis of the existing palynological data shows significant differences in forest composition over time. Late-successional and drought-intolerant tree taxa (fir, beech) were prevalent in mountainous hinterland during periods of wetter and/or colder climate (ca. 6800, 6000–5600, 4000 cal. BP), and lower human impact. The first traces of human impact (small-scale forest clearing, agriculture, grazing) appear in the Neolithic period from about 6000 cal. BP. More intensive agro-pastoral activities were recorded in the Bronze Age, especially in the western part of the region. In some areas, beech and fir forests were partially replaced by mixed oak forests; between the end of the Bronze Age (3200 cal. BP) and the Iron Age (2800 cal. BP), a more open landscape similar to today appeared. The area around Cerkniško jezero was more forested (mainly fir and beech) it was not until the Roman period (1600 cal. BP) that forests were cleared on a large-scale. In the east (Bela Krajina, Mlaka), the main species was beech, whose presence in the landscape has been greatly reduced by permanent small-scale deforestation and burning. At Mlaka, vegetation recovered rapidly after clearing during most of the Holocene; the present-day open landscape only appeared at about 1000 years ago.