TY - JOUR

T1 - Sincronologia e sincorologia dei boschi di faggio (Fagetalia sylvaticae) nell’Europa centrale

AU - Pott, Richard

PY - 1996

Y1 - 1996

N2 - From Preboreal to Late Atlantic times the landscape of Central Europe was covered by dense primeval woodlands, with the final stages of the natural succession differing from site to site, according to the climatic and soil conditions. There is evidence today, that the potential natural state of vegetation exists under the prevailing environmental conditions. In the same way, the Late- and Postglacial vegetation types and stages are supposed to have had floristical differences, or at least regional differences in the dominance or composition of their characteristic species. According to that, the periodic development phases of broad-leaved woodland with the successive immigration of the respective trees till the middle of the Atlantic period (until about 6000 yr. B.P; POTT 1988) reflect the ecological balance under different climatic and edaphic conditions and are exclusively due to natural factors. In conifer-woods of Boreal and Pre-Atlantic fires, insects and diseases were the most important natural factors influencing vegetation in the past, and they also affected the virgin forests. So, during the long-lasting Postglacial process of woodland development - even before the Neolithic landnam periods - the changes in the appearance and the composition of plant communities resulted from habitat patterns and were modified by edaphic or biological factors. The vegetation of the EMW (oak- mixed Atlantic forests) varied in space and time with Quercus, Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus and Alnus as predominant species. The broad-leaved forests of the Atlantic period are often reflected in pollen diagrams derived from the Pleistocene loess and sand accumulations for example of the Northwest German lowlands. The abundance of Tilia, Quercus and Ulmus on loess soils and their restricted occurrence with dominance of Alnus on sandy soils with high ground-water levels is very significant (BAKELS 1978, 1982; POTT 1982). For example, the spreading of beeches and the formation of beech and mixed- beech woodland diverged in time and space with Fagus sylvatica appearing on the loess and lime soil of the Northwestern European landscapes about 6500 yr. B.P. On silicate soils beech spread out about 1500 years later. In North-West- Germany the spread of beech (Fagus sylvatica) was much delayed compared with Central and Southern Germany (POTT 1993). It appeared in the region around 4500 B.P., but remained at a very low level for a long time. The pollen diagrams show a stepwise rise of Fagus sylvatica, which can be correlated with the intensity of human activity. So we have to take into consideration that the final formation of beech wood communities took at least partially place under the influence of Neolithic and Later Prehistoric man, who already settled in places where beeches could grow before Fagus sylvatica was widely spread. The beech has played the predominant role well known to us from present-day conditions for about 3000 or 4000 years only. The coincidence between the expansion of Fagus and Neolithic agriculture can be explained by climatic changes (decreasing continentally of climate, resulting in warmer winter conditions and increasing maturity and fertility of soils in the Late Holocene), or by the Immigration of beech into cleared and abandoned areas and thus by human impact (POTT 1989). The beech as a shade tree shows a much higher ability in occurrence than the light-demanding trees under wider ecological conditions. Beech and mixed-beech woods avoid extreme soil conditions and are relatively sensitive to frost damage (ELLENBERG 1989). Beech woods as a whole can occupy a wide range of habitats. Beech together with oak (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea) are nowadays the main components of the beech woods, the most important natural woodland associations ins Central Europe.

AB - From Preboreal to Late Atlantic times the landscape of Central Europe was covered by dense primeval woodlands, with the final stages of the natural succession differing from site to site, according to the climatic and soil conditions. There is evidence today, that the potential natural state of vegetation exists under the prevailing environmental conditions. In the same way, the Late- and Postglacial vegetation types and stages are supposed to have had floristical differences, or at least regional differences in the dominance or composition of their characteristic species. According to that, the periodic development phases of broad-leaved woodland with the successive immigration of the respective trees till the middle of the Atlantic period (until about 6000 yr. B.P; POTT 1988) reflect the ecological balance under different climatic and edaphic conditions and are exclusively due to natural factors. In conifer-woods of Boreal and Pre-Atlantic fires, insects and diseases were the most important natural factors influencing vegetation in the past, and they also affected the virgin forests. So, during the long-lasting Postglacial process of woodland development - even before the Neolithic landnam periods - the changes in the appearance and the composition of plant communities resulted from habitat patterns and were modified by edaphic or biological factors. The vegetation of the EMW (oak- mixed Atlantic forests) varied in space and time with Quercus, Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus and Alnus as predominant species. The broad-leaved forests of the Atlantic period are often reflected in pollen diagrams derived from the Pleistocene loess and sand accumulations for example of the Northwest German lowlands. The abundance of Tilia, Quercus and Ulmus on loess soils and their restricted occurrence with dominance of Alnus on sandy soils with high ground-water levels is very significant (BAKELS 1978, 1982; POTT 1982). For example, the spreading of beeches and the formation of beech and mixed- beech woodland diverged in time and space with Fagus sylvatica appearing on the loess and lime soil of the Northwestern European landscapes about 6500 yr. B.P. On silicate soils beech spread out about 1500 years later. In North-West- Germany the spread of beech (Fagus sylvatica) was much delayed compared with Central and Southern Germany (POTT 1993). It appeared in the region around 4500 B.P., but remained at a very low level for a long time. The pollen diagrams show a stepwise rise of Fagus sylvatica, which can be correlated with the intensity of human activity. So we have to take into consideration that the final formation of beech wood communities took at least partially place under the influence of Neolithic and Later Prehistoric man, who already settled in places where beeches could grow before Fagus sylvatica was widely spread. The beech has played the predominant role well known to us from present-day conditions for about 3000 or 4000 years only. The coincidence between the expansion of Fagus and Neolithic agriculture can be explained by climatic changes (decreasing continentally of climate, resulting in warmer winter conditions and increasing maturity and fertility of soils in the Late Holocene), or by the Immigration of beech into cleared and abandoned areas and thus by human impact (POTT 1989). The beech as a shade tree shows a much higher ability in occurrence than the light-demanding trees under wider ecological conditions. Beech and mixed-beech woods avoid extreme soil conditions and are relatively sensitive to frost damage (ELLENBERG 1989). Beech woods as a whole can occupy a wide range of habitats. Beech together with oak (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea) are nowadays the main components of the beech woods, the most important natural woodland associations ins Central Europe.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85010521158&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/11263509609439527

DO - 10.1080/11263509609439527

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85010521158

VL - 130

SP - 200

EP - 213

JO - Giornale Botanico Italiano

JF - Giornale Botanico Italiano

SN - 0017-0070

IS - 1

ER -