TY - JOUR
T1 - Hunter-gatherer impact on European interglacial vegetation
T2 - A modelling approach
AU - Nikulina, Anastasia
AU - MacDonald, Katharine
AU - Zapolska, Anhelina
AU - Serge, Maria Antonia
AU - Roche, Didier M.
AU - Mazier, Florence
AU - Davoli, Marco
AU - Svenning, Jens Christian
AU - van Wees, Dave
AU - Pearce, Elena A.
AU - Fyfe, Ralph
AU - Roebroeks, Wil
AU - Scherjon, Fulco
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2024/1/15
Y1 - 2024/1/15
N2 - This article focuses on hunter-gatherer impact on interglacial vegetation in Europe, using a case study from the Early Holocene (9200–8700 BP). We present a novel agent-based model, hereafter referred to as HUMLAND (HUMan impact on LANDscapes), specifically developed to define key factors in continental-level vegetation changes via assessment of differences between pollen-based reconstruction and dynamic global vegetation model output (climate-based vegetation cover). The identified significant difference between these two datasets can be partially explained by the difference in the models themselves, but also by the fact that climate is not the sole factor responsible for vegetation change. Sensitivity analysis of HUMLAND showed that the intensity of anthropogenic vegetation modification mainly depended on three factors: the number of groups present, their preferences for vegetation openness around campsites, and the size of an area impacted by humans. Overall, both climate and human activities had strong impacts on vegetation openness during the study period. Our modelling results support the hypothesis that European ecosystems were strongly shaped by human activities already in the Mesolithic.
AB - This article focuses on hunter-gatherer impact on interglacial vegetation in Europe, using a case study from the Early Holocene (9200–8700 BP). We present a novel agent-based model, hereafter referred to as HUMLAND (HUMan impact on LANDscapes), specifically developed to define key factors in continental-level vegetation changes via assessment of differences between pollen-based reconstruction and dynamic global vegetation model output (climate-based vegetation cover). The identified significant difference between these two datasets can be partially explained by the difference in the models themselves, but also by the fact that climate is not the sole factor responsible for vegetation change. Sensitivity analysis of HUMLAND showed that the intensity of anthropogenic vegetation modification mainly depended on three factors: the number of groups present, their preferences for vegetation openness around campsites, and the size of an area impacted by humans. Overall, both climate and human activities had strong impacts on vegetation openness during the study period. Our modelling results support the hypothesis that European ecosystems were strongly shaped by human activities already in the Mesolithic.
KW - Agent-based modelling
KW - Europe
KW - HUMLAND
KW - Hunter-gatherers
KW - Landscape burning
KW - Vegetation modelling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180811666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108439
DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108439
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85180811666
SN - 0277-3791
VL - 324
JO - Quaternary Science Reviews
JF - Quaternary Science Reviews
M1 - 108439
ER -