Late-Holocene human impact and peat development in the Černá Hora bog, Krkonoše Mountains, Czech Republic

Abstract

Pollen analysis of a small peat bog at Černá Hora, Czech Republic, shows late-Holocene human impact on the vegetation. The palynological results are compared with historical documentation. Macrofossil analysis and changing pollen concentrations provide evidence that human impact on the regional vegetation determined changes in the hydrological conditions of the bog, and in the peat accumulation rate. From approxi mately 2100 BP (start of peat growth) to approximately 1400 BP no human impact has been identified from the pollen record and the decomposition of the peat deposit indicates moderately moist conditions within the catchment. Subsequent changes corresponded with two phases of inferred human impact on the vegetation. From approximately 1400 BP (seventh to eighth centuries AD) and especially after 900 BP (eleventh to twelfth centuries AD), human impact (deforestation) became evident and the less decomposed peat was formed under locally wet conditions.