Abrupt vegetation and soil changes in southwestern Crimea during the Holocene
by
Carlos E. Cordova
Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University, USA
Coauthors: Paul H. Lehman (Department of Geography, University of Texast at Austin)

Four stratigraphic sections from wetland meadows and bottomland deposits in southwestern Crimea show an interesting sequence of environmental change during the Holocene. The most remarkable change shown by pollen sequences is the sudden arrival of numerous plant species typical of the Mediterranean region (e.g. Pistacia mutica, Jasminum fruticans, Arbutus andrachne, and various members of the Cistaceae family), which occurred shortly after 7480 years BP. These species are found today along the southern Crimean coast where they mark the northernmost limit of their geographic distribution.

The process of landscape mediterranization in Crimea during the middle and late Holocene is also apparent in palynological data by the rapid increase of phrygana elements (Labiatae, Cistaceae, Ephedra, and Asphodeline, among others), which suggest intense grazing on limestone slopes. This process is also paralleled by rapid silt accumulation in valleys due to intense hillside erosion.

It is possible that this process of landscape mediterranization of southern Crimean landscapes may have been caused by a combination of the following factors:

- Rapid warming occurred during the Atlantic palaeoclimatic stage, especially with an increase in summer dryness, which is reflected in the reddening of mid-Holocene soils.

-The refilling of the Black Sea Basin after the catastrophic flood, which opened paths for plant migration by way of sea currents.

-Migration of human populations from areas farther south, which may have contributed to the introduction of plant species.

-Intensification of pastoralism as a consequence of rapid population growth.

Pollen diagrams show also other phases of land degradation associated with human activities. The most remarkable of these phases corresponds to the Greek colonization during the second half of the 1st millenium BC.

Date received: February 27, 2002

Copyright © 2002 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caiq-24.