Wetland place names as indicators of manifestations of recent climate change in SW Spain (Doñana Natural Park)

Recent studies have shown the value of place names as environmental indicators. Until now they have not been applied to the effects of climate change, because verifying such relationship by this approach requires a multidisciplinary analysis and a study area where the anthropic impact has been recen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climatic change 2010-06, Vol.100 (3-4), p.525-557
Main Authors: Sousa, Arturo, García-Murillo, Pablo, Sahin, Sükran, Morales, Julia, García-Barrón, Leoncio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate
Climate change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Climate effects
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Coasts
Desiccation
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Ecosystems
Environmental indicators
Evolution
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Geomorphology
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
Global warming
Human influences
Hypotheses
Ice ages
Indicators
Landscape architecture
Latitude
Meteorology
National parks
Parks
Parks & recreation areas
Place names
Precipitation
Regression
Trends
Wetlands
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Summary:Recent studies have shown the value of place names as environmental indicators. Until now they have not been applied to the effects of climate change, because verifying such relationship by this approach requires a multidisciplinary analysis and a study area where the anthropic impact has been recent. This study aims to test the possibility in a study area little altered by man until the second half of the twentieth century (Doñana Natural Park, SW Spain), and with a heritage very rich in wetlands. The results show that the desiccation of these wetlands is reflected in the local toponymy, and that in turn this regression is related with the end of the Little Ice Age and with the beginning of warming in southern Europe during the twentieth century. The coincidence of these results with data published for Arctic latitudes reveals—in our opinion—the possibility that certain place names can be used as indicators of recent climate changes, at least in some ecosystems.
ISSN:0165-0009
1573-1480
DOI:10.1007/s10584-009-9794-9