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Late Holocene pinewoods persistence in the Gredos Mountains (central Spain) inferred from extensive megafossil evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Juan M. Rubiales  and
Mar Génova
Juan M. Rubiales*
Affiliation:
Unidad de Botánica, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040, Spain
Mar Génova
Affiliation:
Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica Forestal, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040, Spain
*
*Corresponding author at: Escuela de Montes, Ingeniería Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.E-mail address:jm.rubiales@upm.es (J.M. Rubiales).
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Abstract

Macro- and megafossil studies are of great value in palaeoecology because such evidence is spatially precise, directly radiocarbon dated, and usually taxon-specific. Here, we present new macro- and megafossil data from ten sites from the Gredos Mountains, central Iberian Peninsula, that suggest persistent forest cover through the late Holocene, with a widespread belt of pinewoods in the highlands of the Central Iberian Mountains. Well-preserved pine cones found at several sites revealed that both Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra were present in the area during the middle and late Holocene at locations of important biogeographical interest. The P. sylvestris forests represent one of the southernmost locations of its entire range. P. nigra was not known to have occurred in central Spain during the Holocene; it was found at the westernmost edge of its range in siliceous soils, a rare environment compared with the rest of its distribution. Finally, we explored the potential for obtaining a long pine chronology from central Iberia using tree-ring measurements and radiocarbon dating of pine subfossil logs.

Keywords

MacrofossilHistorical biogeographyPalaeoecologyIberian PeninsulaPinus sylvestrisPinus nigra
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 84 , Issue 1 , July 2015 , pp. 12 - 20
Copyright
University of Washington

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