Human and climatically induced environmental change in the Mediterranean during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age: A case from central Italy
Scott Mensing|Irene Tunno|Gabriele Cifani|Susanna Passigli|Paula J. Noble|Claire Archer|Gianluca Piovesan
Within the Anthropocene, human activities can play a major role in environmental change. Identifying human-caused landscape change is challenging, however, and requires combining high-resolution physical proxies with detailed historical records from same locality. In this study we demonstrate that paleoenvironmental complex result of both activity climatic variation. We use pollen geochemical analyses lake sediments central Italy along archival to analyze for last 1400 years, including Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) Little Ice Age (LIA). Between ∼870 925 AD deforestation coincided intensification agriculture associated development monastic estates exploited increasingly larger land holdings as well new settlement patterns higher-elevation defensible locations (incastellamento). Above average temperatures probably allowed high elevation settlements persist throughout MCA, though social trends played large conversion uplands into an agro-pastoral landscape. Cool increased precipitation at beginning LIA, ∼1400 AD, combined population loss plague >50 percent overwhelmed technical capabilities leading abandonment persistent flooding valley. The rapidly reforested plain reverted wetland. 1601, during one coldest periods hydrologic technology community drain wetlands successfully mitigate impacts climate Despite LIA precipitation, basin was steadily reclaimed converted by 1750 AD.
Anthropocene