Since the end of the last century, studies of paleoenvironments and paleoclimate have increasingly focused on calcareous tufas. Previously, it was assumed that their formation was related to climate and environmental changes, particularly changes in forest density. However, this has yet to be demonstrated. A dataset of 579 Holocene tufas was used to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of European tufas in relation to forest density. During the Holocene, tufas were located in areas that were fairly well forested. During the Preboreal and Boreal periods, they formed in areas with a higher forest cover than the European average, mostly in the lowlands of north-west Europe. Thus, during these periods, significant forest density appears to be a key contributor to tufa development. Until the Subatlantic, the forest density covering tufa areas (40–75%) matched that of Europe’s most forested areas, with tufas being more widespread. Therefore, while significant forest coverage is necessary, it should not be overly dense. Currently, the average forest density in tufa areas (28–42%) is similar to the European average forest cover, suggesting that now their development is no longer correlated with forest density. We hypothesized that other factors could impact tufa development such as the fire regime and its reflect on different forest species and differences in topographical position. Finally, we wanted to highlight the importance of inventories in understanding the mechanisms of tufa development, which is essential for protecting active sites.
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