The role of farming in the postglacial expansion of beech and hornbeam in the oak woodlands of central Europe

Abstract

Beech did not spread simultaneously in different parts of central Europe. Therefore a climatic deterio ration can hardly account for an oak decline and a subsequent beech expansion. From the fifth millennium BC onwards, farming activities and shifting colonization are reflected by pollen analysis. At the same time, beech became more frequent in many landscapes. As a consequence of the transition from shifting to permanent colonization in the early Middle Ages the expansion of beech came to an end. Trees that could better withstand intensive human impact, such as hornbeam, were then favoured.