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A History of Human Impact on Moroccan Mountain Landscapes

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Abstract

The present study aims to review palaeoecological evidence for environmental changes induced by human activities over the last few millennia in the montane landscapes of Morocco. The study is based on well-dated pollen and geochemical records from the Rif and the Middle Atlas mountains, to show spatial and temporal variation in the onset and intensity of exploitation of forest, soil and mineral resources. Before ca. 2000 BP, anthropogenic impact was minimal. At about that time, abrupt changes of the arboreal pollen proportions, with a decline in all tree taxa, indicate a reduction of the forest cover interpreted as being anthropogenic. In the Rif Mountains, increased influx of carbonates (Ca) in the sedimentary records indicates enhanced soil erosion coincident with the reduction in tree cover. In the Middle Atlas, reduced forest cover is linked to geochemical evidence for mining and metallurgy of lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). These industrial activities correspond to the expansion of the Roman Empire into Morocco at around AD 40 and show a decline when the Romans were displaced by the Vandals about five centuries later.

Résumé

Cette étude a pour but d'analyser et de résumer les évidences paléoécologiques des changements environnementaux induits par les activités humaines au cours des derniers millénaires dans les zones montagneuses du Maroc. L'approche est basée sur des enregistrements palynologiques et géochimiques biendatés prélevés dans les montagnes du Rif et du Moyen Atlas. Le but est d'identifier demanière spatialisée les changements qui ont affecté initialement les forêts ainsi que l'intensité de leur exploitation, l'impact sur les sols et les ressources minérales. Avant ca 2000 ans BP, l'impact anthropique était relativement faible. A cette époque, des changements brusques dans la représentation des taxons arborés ainsi qu'une tendance décroissante de leur pourcentage traduisent une réduction de la couverture forestière interprétée comme étant d'origine anthropique. Dans les montagnes du Rif, l'augmentation des flux de carbonates (Ca) dans les enregistrements sédimentairesindique une augmentation de l'érosion des sols qui coïncide avec une réduction ducouvert forestier. Dans le Moyen Atlas, la réduction du couvert forestier est lié à uneévidence géochimique traduisant une exploitation minière et une industrie métallurgique du plomb (Pb), du cuivre (Cu) et du zinc (Zn). Ces activités industrielles sont enregistrées au moment de l'expansion de l'Empire romain au Maroc autour de 40AD, et elles diminuent quand les Romains ont été remplacés par les Vandales environ cinq siècles plus tard.’

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Acknowledgments

RC thanks Jean Maley for the friendly incitement to write the present paper. This work was supported by the French national program EC2CO-Biohefect, “Variabilité paléoclimatique et impact sur les forêts de conifères au Maroc depuis la dernière période glaciaire.” We acknowledge support from the Excellence Research Projects funding programme of the Andalusian government: “Relic-Flora (RNM-7033).” We thank the LMC14 staff (Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone-14), ARTEMIS national facility, UMS 2572 CNRS-CEA-IRD-IRSN-MCC, for the results obtained with the accelerator mass spectroscopy method.

This is an ISEM contribution no. 2015-097

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, UMR UM2-CNRS-IRD 5554, University of Montpellier 2, place Eugène-Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

    Rachid Cheddadi, Ouafaa Bouaissa & Jalal Tabel

  2. Laboratoire Géosciences Marines et Sciences des Sols, Unité associée au CNRST (URAC 45), Département de Géologie, Université Chouaib Doukkali, 24000, El Jadida, Morocco

    Majda Nourelbait

  3. Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Département de Géologie, Labo. Géo-Ressources (URAC 42), Bd A. Khattabi, BP 549, 40000, Guéliz, Marrakech, Morocco

    Ali Rhoujjati

  4. G.I. Arqueobiología, Instituto de Historia, CCHS, CSIC, Albasanz 26-28, 28037, Madrid, Spain

    José Antonio López-Sáez

  5. Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18001, Granada, Spain

    Francisca Alba-Sánchez

  6. Center for Remote Sensing, National Council for Scientific Research, Po Box 11-8281, Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon

    Carla Khater

  7. Dépt de Géographie, LETG-Angers LEESA, UMR 6554 CNRS, Université d’Angers, F-49045, Angers, France

    Aziz Ballouche

  8. Geosciences Montpellier, CNRS, UMR 5243, Université Montpellier 2, place Eugène-Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

    Laurent Dezileau

  9. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, UK

    Henry Lamb

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Cheddadi, R., Nourelbait, M., Bouaissa, O. et al. A History of Human Impact on Moroccan Mountain Landscapes. Afr Archaeol Rev 32, 233–248 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-015-9186-7

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