Three Millennia of Vegetation, Land-Use, and Climate Change in SE Sicily

Abstract

This study presents the first Late Holocene marine pollen record (core ND2) from SE Sicily. It encompasses the last 3000 years and is one of the most detailed records of the south-central Mediterranean region in terms of time resolution. The combined approach of marine palynology and historical ecology, supported by independent palaeoclimate proxies, provides an integrated regional reconstruction of past vegetational dynamics in relation to rapid climatic fluctuations, historical socio-economic processes, and past land-use practices, offering new insights into the vegetation history of SE Sicily. Short-term variations of sparse tree cover in persistently open landscapes reflect rapid hydroclimatic changes and historical land-use practices. Four main phases of forest reduction are found in relation to the 2.8 ka BP event, including the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and the Little Ice Age, respectively. Forest recovery is recorded during the Hellenistic and Roman Republican Periods, the Early Middle Ages, and the last century. Agricultural and silvicultural practices, as well as stock-breeding activities, had a primary role in shaping the current vegetational landscape of SE Sicily.