Abstract
Pollen analysis from a 14.1 m core recoverecd from a vally mire at Espinosa de Cerrato (Palencia, Spain), suggests that Pinus woodland has dominated thils area of the Northern meseta throughout almost the entire Holocene in contrast to many other locations in lbetia where early-Holocene conifer woodland was progressively replaced by deciduous taxa. This unique pattern ofvegetationi developmenit is attributable to a combination of continental climate, edaphic condition of thesas. Mesetas. and perhaps fire. These data suggest that vegetation in this area has been remarkably stable over an extended timescale and that arguments aconcerning Pinus communities not being native in the region are unfounded. Anthropogenic impact can be detected at c. 4500 14C yr BP, affecting evergreen Quercus woodlands, and between c. 3000 and 2000 14C yr BP affecting Pinus woodlands. The pine forests were replaced by plant communities resembling the present-day landscape (shrubs and cereals) from c. 1500 14C yr BP.
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