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Holocene timber-line dynamics at Bachalpsee, a lake at 2265 m a.s.l. in the northern Swiss Alps

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Abstract

Palaeobotanical analysis and radiocarbon dating of lake sediments from Bachalpsee (2265 m a.s.l.), a small lake above the present-day timber-line in the northern Swiss Alps reveals that the region was already deglaciated during the Younger Dryas. The sediment record is dominated by long-distance transported pollen that originates from lowland vegetation but the plant macrofossils give evidence of the local vegetation development. Comparison with palaeobotanical results from three sites along an altitudinal transect permits the reconstruction of the regional timber-line history. Throughout the entire Holocene the catchment of Bachalpsee consisted of a mosaic of open meadows and dwarf shrubs (Salix, Vaccinium, Rhododendron). Chironomid and cladoceran assemblages suggest that the early to mid-Holocene was the warmest interval at Bachalpsee. Comparison of the palaeobotanical results with those from the mire “Feld” (2130 m a.s.l.) in the vicinity of Bachalpsee showed that during the mid-Holocene the timber-line was formed by Pinus cembra and Picea abies with some scattered Abies alba trees and was situated close to Bachalpsee but never reached its catchment. The maximum timber-line in the Northern Alps was reached between 6000 and 3000 cal b.p. which is several millennia later than in the Central Alps. The species composition of the tree-line (Abies alba, Pinus cembra and the absence of Larix decidua) points to less continental and moister climatic conditions compared with the central Alps during the early to mid-Holocene. From 3000 cal b.p. onwards the timber-line was lowered by human deforestation with the most intense pulses of human impact occurring since the Middle Ages. The catchment of Bachalpsee has been used as alpine pasture since the Bronze Age.

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this study to Brigitta Ammann at the occasion of her 65th birthday and would like to express our gratitude for her constant enthusiasm, encouragement, support and many stimulating discussions during all those years.

We would like to thank the following persons for their help during this project: H.J.B. Birks, J. Bonderer, A. Hirt, L. Lanci, G. Lemcke, C. Meile, F. Oberli, C. Ohlendorf, M. Sturm, W. Tanner, M. Wehrli, and A. Zwyssig. W. Tinner and C. Burga made valuable comments on the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation within the framework of Priority Programme Environment (project 5001-044600), EU project FOSSILVA (contract no. EVK2-CT-1999–00036), and the Council for Earth and Life Sciences of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant no. 813.02.006). This paper is Netherlands Research School of Sedimentary Geology Publication 2005.08.05.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palaeoecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    André F. Lotter & Oliver Heiri

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie, August-Thienemann-Straße 2, 24306, Plön, Germany

    Wolfgang Hofmann

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

    Willem O. van der Knaap & Jacqueline F. N. van Leeuwen

  4. University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3333 College Way, Kelowna V1V 1V7, Canada

    Ian R. Walker

  5. Institute of Prehistory and Archaeological Sciences, University of Basel, Spalenring 145, 4055, Basel, Switzerland

    Lucia Wick

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  1. André F. Lotter
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Correspondence to André F. Lotter.

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Communicated by W. Tinner

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Lotter, A.F., Heiri, O., Hofmann, W. et al. Holocene timber-line dynamics at Bachalpsee, a lake at 2265 m a.s.l. in the northern Swiss Alps. Veget Hist Archaeobot 15, 295–307 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-006-0060-z

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