Reconstruction of Holocene vegetation, tree cover dynamics and human disturbances in central European Russia, using pollen and satellite data sets

• Published in: Vegetation history and archaeobotany 2014-05, Vol.23 (Suppl 1), p.109-119
• Main Authors: Novenko, Elena Y, Eremeeva, Anastasia P, Chepurnaya, Anna A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropology; Archaeology; Biogeosciences; Charcoal; Climate Change; data collection; Datasets; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Error correction; Forest management; forests; Fossil pollen; Fossils; Holocene; humans; image analysis; Image reconstruction; Original Article; Paleontology; Peat; Plants; Pollen; Remote sensing; River basins; Satellite imagery; Spectroradiometers; Standard error; Trees; Vegetation; Woodlands
• ISSN: 0939-6314; 1617-6278
• DOI: 10.1007/s00334-013-0418-y

This paper presents an assessment of Holocene tree cover densities and forest disturbance in European Russia using the best-modern-analogue (BMA) technique of quantitative reconstruction and an innovative approach, which combines modern pollen datasets with remotely sensed data from moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer satellite images. The test of the accuracy of the applied method using a database of 450 sets of surface pollen assemblages shows that it can reproduce present day characteristics of woody cover in Europe correctly (R ² = 0.57, standard error = 10.8 %), and it is sufficient for reconstruction of major changes of woodland vegetation in the past. Application of the BMA technique to fossil pollen data from two key regions in the central part of European Russia demonstrates that changes in regional woody cover are useful for the reconstruction of prehistoric human disturbance.