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Holocene climate, fire and vegetation dynamics at the treeline in the Northwestern Swiss Alps

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Abstract

Treelines are expected to rise to higher elevations with climate warming; the rate and extent however are still largely unknown. Here we present the first multi-proxy palaeoecological study from the treeline in the Northwestern Swiss Alps that covers the entire Holocene. We reconstructed climate, fire and vegetation dynamics at Iffigsee, an alpine lake at 2,065 m a.s.l., by using seismic sedimentary surveys, loss on ignition, visible spectrum reflectance spectroscopy, pollen, spore, macrofossil and charcoal analyses. Afforestation with Larix decidua and tree Betula (probably B. pendula) started at ~9,800 cal. b.p., more than 1,000 years later than at similar elevations in the Central and Southern Alps, indicating cooler temperatures and/or a high seasonality. Highest biomass production and forest position of ~2,100–2,300 m a.s.l. are inferred during the Holocene Thermal Maximum from 7,000 to 5,000 cal. b.p. With the onset of pastoralism and transhumance at 6,800–6,500 cal. b.p., human impact became an important factor in the vegetation dynamics at Iffigsee. This early evidence of pastoralism is documented by the presence of grazing indicators (pollen, spores), as well as a wealth of archaeological finds at the nearby mountain pass of Schnidejoch. Human and fire impact during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages led to the establishment of pastures and facilitated the expansion of Picea abies and Alnus viridis. We expect that in mountain areas with land abandonment, the treeline will react quickly to future climate warming by shifting to higher elevations, causing drastic changes in species distribution and composition as well as severe biodiversity losses.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Willi Tanner, Paul D. Henne, Camilla Calò, Nadine Berthel and Stefanie B. Wirth for help during the fieldwork, Flor Oberli for help in the lab, Erika Gobet, Jacqueline van Leeuwen and Ercolino Gatto for help during the pollen and macrofossil analyses and Alfred Bretscher, Heinz Wanner, Stefan Brönnimann, Pim van der Knaap and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This study was funded by the Dr. Alfred Bretscher Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

    Christoph Schwörer, Petra Kaltenrieder, Matthias Berlinger, Stephanie Frei & Willy Tinner

  2. Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Zähringerstrasse 25, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Christoph Schwörer, Petra Kaltenrieder, Julie Elbert, Albert Hafner, Flavio S. Anselmetti, Martin Grosjean & Willy Tinner

  3. Departement of Surface Waters – Sedimentology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences, Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Lukas Glur & Flavio S. Anselmetti

  4. Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Erlachstrasse 9a, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Julie Elbert & Martin Grosjean

  5. Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Adrian Gilli

  6. Department of Prehistory, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bern, Bernastrasse 15a, 3005, Bern, Switzerland

    Albert Hafner

  7. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Flavio S. Anselmetti

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  1. Christoph Schwörer
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Correspondence to Christoph Schwörer.

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Communicated by F. Bittmann.

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Schwörer, C., Kaltenrieder, P., Glur, L. et al. Holocene climate, fire and vegetation dynamics at the treeline in the Northwestern Swiss Alps. Veget Hist Archaeobot 23, 479–496 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-013-0411-5

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