Resource Management and Geography - Research Publications
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ItemA 5600-yr history of changing vegetation, sea levels and human impacts from the Black Sea coast of Georgia(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2007)Mid-late Holocene pollen evidence from the Ispani-II Sphagnum bog in lowland Western Georgia shows that 4500 years ago Castanea (chestnut)-dominated woods rapidly declined to be replaced by alder swamps and, later, during the first millennium be, by open, marshy landscapes in which fire played a prominent part. Around 1900 years ago, Sphagnum blanket bog encroached on the marshes and dense Fagus-Carpinus (beech-hornbeam) forest enveloped the surrounding land. This vegetation remained until the mid-twentieth century, when forests were clear-felled and marshes were drained for large-scale, mechanized agriculture. Previous studies have emphasized climate's governing role in setting the course of Holocene vegetation development in lowland Western Georgia, but our results provide little support for this hypothesis. To a much greater degree, episodes of coastal subsidence, sea-level rise and human impact have shaped the vegetation history of coastal Western Caucasus.
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ItemCalluna vulgaris and Spiranthes amoena in the Colchis mire flora: weeds or relicts?(Sciendo (De Gruyter), 2007)ecent botanical discoveries in the Colchis lowland of Western Georgia have renewed interest in the extensive Sphagnum peat bogs along the Black Sea coast. This area has long been recognized as an important refugium for thermophilous, Tertiary relict plants, but is also home to some plants typical of the boreal zone. In this paper, we present palynological and historical data that calls into question the idea that Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull and Spiranthes amoena (Bieb.) Spreng., the Euro-Siberian elements recently discovered in the Colchis Sphagnum bogs, are adventive. We argue instead that they are relicts of late Pleistocene age that elsewhere in the Western Asia were pushed out by afforestation and sea-level rise during the early-mid Holocene.
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ItemEnvironment and society in the late prehistory of southern Georgia, Caucasus(Editions CNRS, 2007)