Holocene land-use change at Dallund Sø


Five articles in The Holocene 15(8) 2005 pp 1105-1162
"Mid- to late-Holocene land-use change and lake development
at Dallund Sø, Denmark: synthesis of multiproxy data, linking
land and lake"
http://tinyurl.com/g4zos
The content of the issue is free to download.

Composite abstract

Dallund Sø is a lake situated in the plains of
north Funen, Denmark. Multiproxy palaeo-
ecological data for this lake were synthesized
to explore the link between changes in the
terrestrial environment (from pollen, and
sediment physical properties) with those in the
aquatic environment (from diatom, macrofossil,
zooplankton and Pediastrum data) since the
introduction of agriculture c. 6000 years ago.

Around 3900 BC, a distinct Ulmus decline is
registered. The first agricultural activity is
evidenced c. 400 years after the elm decline by
the occurrence of cereal pollen (Avena/
Triticum-type). Shortly after this, the Neolithic
'landnam' sensu Iversen (Iversen, J. 1941.
Landnam I Danmarks stenalder) was detected.

The lake was relatively insensitive to catchment
disturbance during the Neolithic (3870-1700
BC) and Early Bronze Age (1700-1000 BC)
periods but was dramatically impacted by
environmental changes associa-ted with a
major deforestation, followed by a major
expansion of grazing areas, cultivated fields
and meadows starting around the beginning of
the Iron Age (c 500 BC).
A major eutrophication of the lake took also
place as a result of the retting of flax and hemp
during the Mediaeval period (AD 1050-1536).

Analyses of the datasets representing the
terrestrial and aquatic environments demon-
strate that human activities over thousands of
years have not only impacted and shaped the
Danish landscape but have also played a major
role in lake development.
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p.a.

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