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In: Dengler, J., Dolnik, C. & Trepel, M. [Eds.]: Flora, Vegetation, and Nature Conservation from Schles-wig-Holstein to South America – Festschrift for Klaus Dierßen on Occasion of his 60th Birthday. – Mitt. Arbeitsgem. Geobot. Schleswig-Holstein Hamb. 65: 45–68, Kiel 2008. ISSN 0344-8002.

A summary of the late- and post-glacial vegetation history of Schleswig-Holstein

Oliver Nelle1,* and Walter Dörfler2

1) Ökologie-Zentrum, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, 24098 Kiel, Deutschland, e-mail: [email protected]; 2) Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-

Universität zu Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, 24098 Kiel, Deutschland, e-mail: [email protected]; *corresponding author

Abstract

The late- and post-glacial vegetation history of Schleswig-Holstein is summarised, based on results from a long history of palaeoecological work. After the end of the last glaciation, vegetation development started from steppe-tundra vegetation which was dominated by grasses and herbaceous vegetation, namely Ar-temisia. During the Allerød, which started around 11,700 cal BC, with the spread of tree-sized Betula the first post-glaciation woodland type vegetation developed. The Younger Dryas was a ca. 1,000-year-long climatic setback, but with the Preboreal, the current warm phase named Holocene started and landscapes were increasingly covered by trees. Pinus-dominated woodland with Corylus understory covered the land-scapes during the Boreal. Quercus, Ulmus and Tilia spread and built up stands of “mixed oak forest” during the Atlantic period. With the neolithisation around 4,000 cal BC, the first changes in vegetation composi-tion due to human impact took place, thus the formation of the cultural landscape began. Fagus sylvatica and Carpinus betulus immigrated during the Subboreal, but subsequently Fagus became the dominant tree species in natural woodland communities since the Migration Period. Human impact increased during Bronze Age and Iron Age, with a settlement gap during the Migration Period. During Medieval times, set-tlement areas increased again, changing the landscape and woodland composition, but also increased over-all landscape diversity and biodiversity. Since the intensification of land use, changes to the landscape and vegetation accelerated.

Keywords: archaeobotany; human impact; landscape history; palaeoecology; palynology

Kurzfassung: Eine Zusammenfassung der spät- und postglazialen Vegetationsgeschichte Schleswig-Holsteins

Die spät- und postglaziale Vegetationsgeschichte Schleswig-Holsteins wird in einer Zusammenfassung skizziert, basierend auf paläoökologischer Arbeit mit langer Forschungstradition. Nach dem Ende der letz-ten Eiszeit begann die Vegetationsentwicklung mit einer Steppen-Tundra-Vegetation, dominiert von Grä-sern und Kräutern, namentlich Artemisia. Während des Allerød, das um 11.700 cal BC begann, kam es mit der Ausbreitung von Baumbirken zum ersten Mal seit der letzten Warmzeit zur Bildung einer Waldvegeta-tion. Diese erfuhr in der folgenden, ca. 1.000 Jahre dauernden Jüngeren Dryas einen Rückschlag, bevor mit dem Präboreal vor ca. 11.700 Jahren unsere derzeitige Warmzeit, das Holozän, begann und Landschaften zunehmend von Bäumen bedeckt wurden. Kieferndominierter Wald mit hohen Haselanteilen prägte die Landschaften im Boreal. Eichen, Ulmen und Linden breiteten sich aus und bauten Bestände des sog. Ei-chenmischwaldes während des Atlantikums auf. Mit der Neolithisierung um ca. 4.000 cal BC lassen sich die ersten Veränderungen der Vegetationszusammensetzung nachweisen, und es begann die Entstehung der Kulturlandschaft. Fagus sylvatica und Carpinus betulus wanderten während des Subboreals ein, doch es dauerte bis zur Völkerwanderungszeit, bis Fagus der prägende Waldbaum in den heute als potenzielle na-türliche Vegetation angenommenen Buchenwaldgesellschaften wurde. Der menschliche Einfluss nahm während Bronze- und Eisenzeit zu, am Ende der Völkerwanderungszeit jedoch war das Gebiet von Schles-wig-Holstein kaum besiedelt, mit der Folge einer weitgehenden Regeneration der Waldbestände und der Bildung von Buchenwaldgesellschaften. Während des Mittelalters dehnten sich die Siedlungsgebiete wie-der aus, die Landschaft und die Vegetationszusammensetzung wurden vom Menschen stark beeinflusst, aber die Landschafts- und Biodiversität nahm durch das Wirtschaften des Menschen auch zu. Seit der neu-

46 Mitt. Arbeitsgem. Geobot. Schleswig-Holstein Hamb. 65: 45–68

zeitlichen Landnutzungsintensivierung wurde die Landschaft in einer vorher nie da gewesenen Intensität verändert.

Schlüsselwörter: Archäobotanik; Landschaftsgeschichte; menschlicher Einfluss; Paläoökologie; Pollen-analyse

Nomenclature: Vascular plants: Wisskirchen & Haeupler (1998)

Abbreviations: cal BC = years before Christ (calibrated); PAZ = pollen assemblage zone

1 Introduction Schleswig-Holstein, “the country between the seas”, exhibits today a landscape pattern domi-nated by open vegetation types such as arable fields, grasslands, and relicts of heath and wet-land vegetation. 10.3% of the area is covered by woodland (BMELV 2004), mainly managed forests and only small relicts with a more or less natural composition (“Naturwaldareale”; Härdtle 1995). As a land mainly consisting of glacial deposits, the landscape was character-ised by woodland in the past. The only areas that naturally lacked tree cover werre the salt-influenced marshes in the south and west and the raised bogs and fenlands (Dierßen & Dierßen 2001, Dierßen 2004, Dierßen & Nelle 2006). Vegetation changes took place from the outset of melting of the glaciers and permafrost soils. The vegetation was and is triggered and influenced by dynamics of immigration and competition, climate change and human impact. Together with vegetation changes, changes to the landscape occurred. We witness still ongo-ing biodiversity dynamics, with the overall tendency of increasing biodiversity due to human impact since the Neolithic until the onset of agro-industrial production in the 20th century, and decreasing species numbers ever since (Dierßen & Huckauf 2008).

To understand the present, we have to look into the past. Many of these changes over time are recorded in palaeoarchives. These are sites, places and objects where – alongside other remains – plant remains like pollen, spores, seeds, tissue, wood etc. are preserved. Decisions about ecosystem restoration depend on knowledge of past vegetation and should aim to an-swer the questions, what should be restored, why it was lost, and what is required to return it a natural-like state again (Egan & Howell 2001). Palaeoecology deals with historic ecosystems that can be useful as analogues or guides to restoration activities. As Egan & Howell (2001) expressed, “if the idea is to set the clock ticking again, it will require that restorationists un-derstand how the clock was initially set”. Aspects of relevance in today’s Schleswig-Holstein are e.g.: How natural are the scarce forests that remained of the formerly huge forests; how did the wetland ecosystems develop and what plant communities are desired when rewetting a formerly drained fen?

Here, we give a first assessment of the vegetation development over the last 15,000 years within the political borders of today’s Schleswig-Holstein, based on published studies and own research results. We apply calibrated dates to produce a reviewed chronology. Our work is built upon a long research history. Collaboration between natural scientists and archaeolo-gists was necessary to understand the history of interaction between natural vegetationan hu-man influence (Weber & Mestorf 1904).

Research on that topics in the last century is characterised by the work of Kolumbe, Was-mund, Schröder, Schütrumpf, Werth, Tidelski, Guenther, Schmitz, Grohne, Aletsee, Wier-mann, Vogel, Averdieck, Gehl, Menke, Brande, Saad, Balke/Meurers-Balke, Usinger, Gro-enman-van Waateringe, Arsenoglou, Walther, Ziemus, Glos, Wiethold, Rickert, Venus and

Nelle, O. & Dörfler, W.: Late- and post-glacial vegetation history of Schleswig-Holstein 47

Dörfler. Firbas (1949, 1952) and Overbeck (1975) have summarised the knowledge of the late glacial and Holocene development, their publications are still landmarks in research. Macro-remain studies mainly from archaeological contexts were carried out by Hopf, Feindt, Behre, Kroll, Paap, Alsleben, Pasternak and Wiethold.

2 Study area: landscapes between two seas and timelines

“Kaum irgendwo erscheint eine Zusammenarbeit mit der Urgeschichte und der Boden- und Vegetationskartierung so verlockend wie hier” [in Schleswig-Holstein, comm. by authors] (Firbas 1952: 178) (“There is hardly any other region [than Schleswig-Holstein] where a coo-peration between prehistory, soil- and vegetation mapping is that alluring.”)

As a special geomorphologic feature of Schleswig-Holstein, glacially influenced areas neighbour periglacial ones. They are framed by the coastal landscapes of the North Sea in the west and the Baltic Sea in the east. The geological setting of Schleswig-Holstein is given by the glacial material and Holocene deposits (compare Fig. 1): in the east, young-moraine debris from the last glaciation (Weichselian), further to the west old-moraine deposits from the sec-ond last ice advance (Saalian). Further west and between the moraines flat sander areas occur that are replaced by marsh deposits along the west coast and the Elbe estuary. The maximum advance of the Weichselian glaciers is shown in Fig. 2. Due to the humid climate, large areas (originally over 10% of today’s Schleswig-Holstein), were covered by fens and raised bogs (Drews et al. 2000) that built up during the Holocene. The numerous fens and bogs along with a high number of lakes in the young-moraine sections make for excellent conditions of pres-ervation of material useful to palaeoecological work. Thus the country offers a high spatial resolution for studies on postglacial vegetation dynamics. • Climate: Mean annual temperature is in most parts of the country 8−8.5 °C, from 7.5−8 °C

in the north, and 8.5−9 °C along the river Elbe (January: 0−1 °C, July 15−16 °C in the northwest and 16−17 °C in the centre and southeast (DWD 1999–2005). Annual precipita-tion is 900−1,000 mm in the central parts, 800−900 mm on the islands and in Ostholstein, 600−700 mm in the east, and 550−600 mm on the island of Fehmarn. A high-rainfall area occurs around Albersdorf, including the Riesewohld with 1,000−1,200 mm.

• Soils: On young moraines in the east, luvisols and stagnic luvisols/gleyic luvisols domi-nate. Associated are planosols. In depressions, gleysols are common. Podzols and gleyic podzols dominate the Geest. Additionally, we find peatlands (fens and raised bogs), and fluvisols in the marshes, river estuaries and floodplains.

• Vegetation: The potential natural vegetation is dominated by several beech-woodland plant communities (Dierßen 2004; Fig. 1). Only in the west does the dominance of Fagus sylvatica recede in favour of woodland communities dominated mainly by oak and ash. However, as will be shown, beech has dominated the woodland communities for only about 1500 years. In wetlands of the huge shallow plaines that cut into the Geest, alder and alder-ash carr communities provide the potential natural vegetation. Alder persists in eu-trophic wetlands, but it is still not clear whether mesotrophic and eutropic fen systems were wooded by alder, or were free of woods, or were covered by a patchwork of open and wooded sites.


Fig. 1: Map of the natural vegetation of Schleswig-Holstein, as in the map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe (Bohn et al. 2000), slightly modified. The young moraine area in the east coincides roughly with F 108, the geest (sander, old moraines) with F 9 and F 77, and the marsh and flood plains in the west with U 24 and U 28. F 9: Atlantic-subatlantic hygrophilous birch-pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur, Betula pubescens) with Frangula alnus, Molinia caerulea, partly Myrica gale, Carex nigra (alder-pedunculate oak forests and birch-pedunculate oak forests in Dierßen 2004); F 35: Atlantic-subatlantic hygrophilous pedunculate oak-hornbeam forests (Carpinus betulus, Quercus robur), partly with Quer-cus petraea, with Stellaria holostea, Ranunculus ficaria, Deschampsia cespitosa (Milium-beech for-ests associated with ash-beech forests in Dierßen 2004); F 77: (Atlantic-)subatlantic Deschampsia flexuosa-(oak-)beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, Q. petraea) with Lonicera pericly-menum, Maianthemum bifolium, Vaccinium myrtillus, partly Ilex aquifolium (with transitions to/in combination with birch-pedunculate oak forests in Dierßen 2004); F 108: South Scandinavian-north Central European Galium odoratum- and Milium effusum-beech forests (Fagus sylvatica), partly with Frax-inus excelsior, partly with Stellaria nemorum subsp. montana, Luzula sylvatica, Polygonatum verticillatum, Ranunculus lanuginosus, Cardamine bulbifera; P 4: Sundic-Baltic sand-dune vegetation complexes; P 5: Atlantic northwest European sand-dune vegetation complexes; P 19: West European salt-marsh vegetation; S 8: Atlantic-subatlantic Sphagnum magellanicum-raised bogs; T 1: Alder carrs (Alnus glutinosa), often in combination with alder-ash forests (Fraxinus excelsior, Alnus glutinosa), tall reed vegetation and sedge swamps. Note: at a small scale this vegetation type is very frequent in Schleswig-Holstein, see Dierßen 2004 for a more detailed map of the potential natural vegetation); U 24: Alder-ash forests (Fraxinus excel-sior, Alnus glutinosa) or ash-elm forests (Ulmus minor, Fraxinus excelsior), partly in combination with moist pedunculate oak-hornbeam forests (Carpinus betulus, Quercus robur) and alder carrs (Alnus gluti-nosa).


Abb. 1: Karte der natürlichen Vegetation von Schleswig-Holstein als Ausschnitt der Karte der natürlichen Vegetation Europas (Bohn et al. 2000), leicht verändert. Das östliche Hügelland deckt sich ungefähr mit F 108, die Geest (Sander und Altmoränen) mit F 9 und F 77, die Marsch und die Flussniederungen im Wes-ten mit U 24 und U 28. F9: Atlantisch-subatlantische hygrophile Birken-Stieleichenwälder (Quercus robur, Betula pubescens) mit Frangula alnus, Molinia caerulea, z. T. Myrica gale, Carex nigra (Er-len-Stieleichenwälder, teils Feuchter Birken-Stieleichenwald in Dierßen 2004); F 35: Atlantisch-subatlantische hygrophile Stieleichen-Hainbuchenwälder (Carpinus betulus, Quercus robur), z. T. mit Quercus petraea, mit Stellaria holostea, Ranunculus ficaria, Deschampsia cespitosa (Flattergras-Buchenwald in Übergängen oder im Wechsel mit Eschen-Buchenwald in Dierßen 2004); F 77: (Atlan-tisch-)subatlantische Deschampsia flexuosa-(Eichen-)Buchenwälder (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, Q. petraea) mit Lonicera periclymenum, Maianthemum bifolium, Vaccinium myrtillus, z. T. Ilex aquifolium (örtlich Übergänge oder im Wechsel mit Birken-Stieleichenwald in Dierßen 2004); F 78: (Atlantisch-)subatlantische hygrophile Eichen-Buchenwälder (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea, Q. robur) mit Molinia caerulea; F 108: Südskandinavisch-nordmitteleuropäische Galium odoratum- und Milium effusum-Buchenwälder (Fagus sylvatica), z. T. mit Fraxinus excelsior, z. T. mit Stellaria nemorum subsp. montana, Luzula sylvatica, Polygonatum verticillatum, Ranunculus lanuginosus, Cardamine bulbifera; P 4: Sun-disch-baltische Dünenvegetationskomplexe; P 5: Nordwesteuropäische Dünenvegetationskomplexe; P 19: Westeuropäische Salzvegetation; S 8: Atlantisch-subatlantische Sphagnum magellanicum-Hochmoore; T 1: Erlenbrüche (Alnus glutinosa), oft im Komplex mit Erlen-Eschenwäldern, Röhrichten und Riedsümpfen; U 24: Erlen-Eschenwälder oder Eschen-Ulmenwälder, z. T. im Komplex mit feuchten Stieleichen-Hainbuchenwäldern und Erlenbrüchen; U 28: Stieleichen-Eschenwälder und Eschen-Ulmenwälder, z. T. mit Alnus glutinosa, und andere potenziell natürliche Vegetation der eingedeichten und ausgesüßten Mar-schen.

• Timelines: The Late Glacial and the Holocene is subdivided into different periods accord-ing to different points of view. Fig. 3 gives an overview of the chronological division. The dating of this stratification is based on the solar calendar (calibrated 14C dates) and the bio-stratigraphic approach of Firbas (1949) who used the traditional terminology of the “Blytt-Sernander-Theory” (Sernander 1910). This system still represents the most often used names for chronology of the Holocene: “Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal and Subat-lantic”. These terms are preferred even if the strict climatic meaning of the terms is no longer valid. The approach of Mangerud et al. (1974) is cited in Fig. 3 but is rejected as common system. They tried to transfer the biostratigraphic system to a chronostratigraphic one by using the same terms but establishing artificial boundaries at smooth values of 14C -dates. As calibration of 14C -dates has become standard and the time axis usually is given in solar years, 14C -raw-data are not adequate for a modern stratigraphic system. Additionally, the smooth values of 14C -dates have become distorted by calibration. All applied datings of the biozones, the marine stages and archaeological cultures have been transfered to the so-lar scale by calibration where necessary. Although Firbas has had very limited sources for absolute dating the validity of his approach is fascinating. In this article we use his system as a biostratigraphic division of the middle European vegetation development. The ages of boundaries are corrected according to recent dating. The same is done with the Overbeck biostratigraphic system for northern Germany (Overbeck 1975). For the Late glacial, we applied new datings given by Litt et al. (2007). Furthermore, the marine stages of the North Sea and the Baltic, a temperature curve and archaeological periods are added in Fig. 3.


3 The starting point of vegetation dynamics: Late Glacial Around 15,000 years BP the glaciers started to melt as a consequence of warming. The ice retreated from the land, and the development of soils – beginning from raw, fresh, humus-free soils - and colonisation of plants started. The western parts of Schleswig-Holstein which re-mained ice-free throughout the last glaciation, experienced an enhanced soil development and the spread of plant species hitherto not growing in the area due to the harsh, cold and dry con-ditions at the edge of the glaciers. Soils were at first of alkaline reaction. Sea levels started to raise, and erosive meltwater made its way to the seas, thus altering the landscape further. At the end of the last glaciation, the coastline of the later North-Sea was far away in the north-west (Fig. 2, Behre 2003).

Fig. 2: Map showing the area of Schleswig-Holstein in the European context (base map by H. Dieterich), the extent of the glaciation ca. 20,000 BP (according to Lang 1994) and coastlines (dark grey: water) at the termination of the Younger Dryas/beginning of the Holocene (9700 cal BC), after drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. Shore lines according to Behre (2003, 2007b) for the North Sea and Jakobsson et al. (2007) for the Baltic Sea.

Abb. 2: Schleswig-Holstein im Europäischen Kontext (Kartengrundlage: H. Dieterich). Maximaler Verei-sungsstand vor 20.000 Jahren (nach Lang 1994), Küstenlinien (dunkelgraue Fläche: Wasser) am Ende der Jüngeren Dryas/Beginn des Holozäns (9700 v. Chr.), nach abruptem Abfluss des Baltischen Eisstausees. Küstenlinien der Nordsee nach Behre (2003, 2007b), der Ostsee nach Jakobsson et al. (2007).

Due to the analysis of macrofossils, aspects of the glacial flora were already known prior to any palynological work started (Overbeck 1975, and cited works therein by Nathorst 1891,


Range 1903 and Gagel 1915). But for a long time the differentiation between dwarf- and tree birch species was impossible making the reconstruction of the late glacial vegetation cover difficult. A strong increase in information on the spread of vegetation types was yielded by the size-differentiation of Betula pollen (Usinger 1975, 1978) as well as by the combination of macroremain and pollen analyses (Usinger 1978). The stratigraphic differentiation of the Late Glacial is still a matter of debate (de Klerk 2004, Litt et al. 2007), which we do not detail here. In the subsequent overview we follow the out-line and stratigraphy worked out by Usinger (1985, 1998), and accept Usinger’s concept of Bølling being a warm phase within the Allerød interstadial. As the first and main division is a biostratigraphic one, Bølling and Allerød are interpreted as a unit that is characterised by a short cold-phase (Older Dryas) but without changes in sediment character or density of vege-tation cover. However, in many publications the Bølling stands for a discrete interstadial (Litt et al. 2001, 2007), thus in Fig. 3 both concepts are integrated in the timeline.

This regional vegetation development occurred in a similar way throughout Schleswig-Holstein and neighbouring areas, with only slight differences due to edaphic distinctions and climatic gradients (Usinger 1998). The concept of a generally uniform development of Late Glacial vegetation makes it possible to illustrate it in one averaged diagram with only one sequence of regional pollen assemblage zones (PAZ), as worked out by Usinger (1985; Fig. 4).

3.1 Pleniglacial

The first pollen assemblage zone (PAZ) in Schleswig-Holstein is characterised by high values of Artemisia and Poaceae, thus named Artemisia-Poaceae-PAZ. The steppe-tundra vegetation was dominated by grasses and herbs, namely Artemisia. Salix polaris and Salix reticulata were present, as were – in a sporadic distribution – Betula nana (dwarf-birch), Juniperus communis (juniper) and Hippophae rhamnoides (sea buckthorn). Tree-sized birches or other trees were not yet present (Usinger 1981b, 1985, 1998).

3.2 Meiendorf Interstadial (~ 12,500 – 11,850 cal BC)

The first, early Late Glacial warm phase is named after the Meiendorf-Ahrensburger Tunnel-tal (today a district of Hamburg) by Menke (1968) “Meiendorf-Intervall” and later by Menke (in Bock et al. 1985) Meiendorf-Insterstadial. With warming taking place, Hippophae and Betula nana grew increasingly better on the raw soils (Hippophae-Betula nana-PAZ). Shrub formations developed with Salix, Betula nana, Hippophae and Juniperus, but Betula nana dominated the vegetation. Due to low values in the pollen diagrams, it seems that Pinus did not yet grow locally, though a first finding of Pinus charcoal at the Ahrenshöft site, Nord-friesland, raises questions (Usinger 1998). There were still open and low-competition sites, with e.g. Dryas octopetala. On calcareous raw soils in the eastern, Weichselian-glaciated part of the country, Hippophae had a much more significant distribution than further west (Us-inger 1998). Throughout Schleswig-Holstein, Betula nana reached a maximum before those of Hippophae and Juniperus. We imagine an open landscape with smaller and larger groups of shrubs at edaphically favourable sites, still far from being covered by dense vegetation. Thus erosion by water and wind still happened more or less unhampered.


Fig. 3: Chronological overview (Late Glacial and Holocene) for Schleswig-Holstein.


Abb. 3: Chronologische Übersicht (Spätglazial und Holozän) für Schleswig-Holstein.


Fig. 4: Schema of the pollen stratigraphy for the Late Glacial in Schleswig-Holstein. Lower part (Meien-dorf-Allerød) from Usinger (1985), upper part (Younger Dryas-Preboreal) drawn according to profile Kubitzberg Moor B (Usinger 1975, 2004). OD: “Older Dryas”.

Abb. 4: Schema der Pollenstratigraphie des Spätglazials in Schleswig-Holstein. Unterer Teil (Meiendorf- Allerød) aus Usinger (1985), oberer Teil (Jüngere Dryas-Präboreal) gezeichnet nach Profil Kubitzberg Moor B (Usinger 1975, 2004). OD: „Ältere Dryas“.

3.3 Oldest Dryas (11,850 – 11,700 cal BC)

A climatic setback, named after Dryas octopetala, terminated the interstadial and resulted in a sparse, shrub-poor vegetation dominated by grasses and rock-roses, Helianthemum (Helian-themum-Betula nana-PAZ). Juniperus and Hippophae decreased due to the cooler climate (Usinger 1985, 1998). According to sediment features, slightly increased soil erosion took place.

3.4 Allerød Interstadial (11,700 – 10,700 cal BC)

Descriptions and names were first applied to this period by Hartz & Milthers (1901) who found late-glacial interstadial sediments (based on plant macroremain analysis) near the set-tlement Allerød on Seeland (Denmark). This interstadial includes – following Usinger & Wolf (1982) and Usinger (1985, 1998) – the Bølling as the first, warmer phase, and the Older Dryas as a cool phase within the Allerød (see above for differing concepts). The Bølling lasts according to Litt et al. 2007, who treat it as a discrete interstadial, from 13,670 to 13,540 warve years BP (Firbas Ib), the Older Dryas (Firbas Ic) from 13,540 to 13,350 warve years BP. With the expansion of Juniperus, caused by a significant climate warming, and the sub-sequent spread of Betula, including tree-sized species, woodland-type vegetation established for the first time since the last interglacial (Juniperus-Betula nana-B. pubescens-PAZ). Juni-perus built up a kind of pre-woodland phase, before Betula pubescens woods established and supplemented stands of Betula nana. Thus the first late-glacial spread of tree birches in the Geest as well as the young moraine landscapes happened during the Allerød. Hippophae was expanding again. Soils were consolidated and soil erosion decreased, which can be seen in the lithostratigraphy of sediment cores: now mostly organogenic sediments were accumulated. With ongoing warming, the Betula forests grew denser, and Empetrum nigrum, Filipendula ulmaria and Populus tremula appeared (Empetrum-Betula pubescens-PAZ). Shortly after-wards, Sphagnum-spores spread explosively.

3.5 Younger Dryas (10,700 – 9,650 cal BC)

The Younger Dryas was an era of northern-hemisphere cooling probably caused by a change of North Atlantic deepwater formation, and reduction in cross-equatorial flow of warm sur-face waters to the North Atlantic (Alley 2000 and literature cited therein). A temperature re-duction of 3–6 °C is assumed (Schaub et al. 2008 and references therein). A park tundra vege-tation established, with herbs, grasses, shrubs and probably some scattered trees or groups of trees where conditions were suitable. Empetrum nigrum was abundant in the western parts of Schleswig-Holstein. Betula percentages were in general higher than Pinus (Usinger 2004). Hiati in the sediment transition Allerød-Younger Dryas seem to be due to erosion of Allerød gyttja, which can be explained with lowered lake levels (Usinger 1981a). This makes the in-


terpretation of these sediments difficult: eroded material from older Allerød sediments might be resedimented together with Younger Dryas-sediments. A Baltic lake existed, which was dammed by ice at Mt. Billingen in Sweden. When the ice retreated, a breakthrough and runoff to the North Sea resulted in a lake level drop of 25 m. Large areas of the sea floor became dry up to the Trelleborg-Rügen line, even connecting the island of Bornholm by a land bridge (Jakobsson et al. 2007).

4 Holocene

4.1 Preboreal (9,650 – 8,100 cal BC)

The Holocene, our recent warm phase or interglacial, begins with the Preboreal around 11 700 BP according to ice core data from NorthGRIP (reference date 2000 AD), 11 590 warve years BP (reference date 1950 AD) according to Brauer et al. (1999) and Litt & Stebich (1999), and 11 570 years BP according to tree ring dating (Friedrich et al. 1999).

The proportion of arboreal pollen increases and heliophytes typical of the Late Glacial de-crease or disappear. Betula became dominant in the pollen spectra, but the Pinus-curve rises and reaches the Betula percentages or even outrun them. Populus is present with several per-cent. Juniperus appears regularly only at the beginning of the Preboreal (Overbeck 1975).

With the warming at the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition, open shrub vegetation with Juniperus established before birch woods became predominant. Usinger (2004) considers this “Juniperus phase” as a pre-woodland stage, indicating “the passing of the woodland limit through an area”. In the early Preboreal, Juniperus preferred the better soils, thus the Junipe-rus phase was best pronounced in the east of Schleswig-Holstein. With the spread of Betula pubescens, Populus tremula extended its areal (Usinger 2004). Empetrum, Artemisia, Cheno-podiaceae and Caryophyllaceae decreased. Dry sites retained tundra vegetation. However, open grounds were now covered by grasses. Filipendula increases, showing the climatic warming. Betula became the main component of the patchy woodland, and tree cover reached Allerød-levels. After the climatic improvement at the beginning of the Preboreal, climatic deteriorations, the Preboreal Oscillations, occured, which are not detectable in all pollen dia-grams. Only in some records there is evidence for two short-termed climatic setbacks (Us-inger 2004).

4.2 Boreal (8,100 – 6,800 cal BC)

The start of the Boreal is characterised by a rise of the Corylus-curve. Pinus usually main-taimed higher percentages than Betula. Ulmus and Quercus gained now continuous curves, Tilia was still lacking. The younger part of the Boreal shows a strong increase of Corylus, reaching its first maximum. Pinus became the dominating woodland tree. Quercus and Ulmus reach more than 1% of the arboreal pollen sum. Tilia and Alnus occur only at the end of the Boreal. (Overbeck 1975).

During the course of the Boreal, Pinus reached its postglacial maximum first in the area of the Geest, and later in the moraine areas further east, where Betula seems to haved compete a little longer against Pinus (Overbeck 1975: 445). A sharp increase of Corylus, which is a more or less synchronous event throughout Europe, can best be explained by now optimal growth conditions for the shrub. It immigrated a little earlier, but showed only local and mi-


nor presence to that time. However, Corylus was used by humans, as e.g. at the Mesolithic site Duvenseemoor, where middens of millions of nut shells have been found (Overbeck 1975: 446). Thus it is assumed that its rapid spread was enhanced by human action, e.g. the carrying of nuts during the hunting journeys of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (Bokelmann et al. 1981). Woodland fires occured frequently (e.g. Rickert 2006), probably due to the high proportion of Pinus in the woods, but it could also have been connected with the drier, more continental climate.

Quercus and Ulmus then slowly immigrated during the late Boreal. At the end of the Bo-real, pine- and birch-woods were replaced by Quercus- and Ulmus-dominated stands, with Pinus as a minor component. This Quercus-Ulmus-Pinus woodland was rich in Hedera and also Corylus. Alnus gained slowly against Betula on wet sites. And finally, Tilia immigrated and spread immediately, presumably finding optimal conditions from the outset. With Tilia, the forests became denser; the change to a Quercus-Ulmus-Tilia forest is rapid, as indicated by the relatively rapid decline of Corylus (e.g. profile Schwelbek, Venus 2004). Around the Lake Belau, Wiethold (1998) reconstructs Corylus-rich oak-birch-forests with low propor-tions of Tilia and Ulmus for the late Boreal. Ulmus has higher proportions in the east and lower on poorer, sandier soils in the west, due to its higher demand for nutrients.

To summarise the Boreal: Initially the landscape was covered with open woodland consist-ing of pine and birch, and increasingly hazel, which was an understorey shrub in stands, fa-voured on richer, moister sites. The climate was warm and dry. At the end of the Boreal, oak and elm played a much bigger role in the woodland composition than seemed to be obvious when looking only at the percentages. On poor sites in eastern Schleswig-Holstein and the Geest oak-birch-dominated forests prevailed, while on nutrient-rich but not wet sites of the Young Moraine oak-mixed forests with lime and elm developed.

4.3 Atlantic (6,800 – 3,800 cal BC)

The Atlantic period begins with a steep rise in frequency of Alnus. Ulmus, Quercus and Tilia also spread further. These elements built up the palynologically so-called mixed oak forest. At the same time, Pinus decreased. Fraxinus has a continuous curve only in the second part. Some Fagus pollen grains appear in diagrams of the young moraine, and disappear again, interpreted as far-distance dispersed pollen (Overbeck 1975).

The Atlantic period is a difficult time for the survival of light-demanding species of open habitats. The forests now were dense, and open sites became rare. However, there were still open sites, like mires and mire margins, coastal areas, lake shores, and flood plains. Catastro-phic events caused temporarily open sites, like wind-blown woodland openings that might have stayed open for a while due to grazing by wild game. So some species of open habitats could still cope with the overall densely forested landscape. Human impact reopened the land-scape again and fostered those species which now grow on open sites.

Alnus quickly occupied the wet sites. Quercus became the main woodland tree in some parts of the country, together with Ulmus, Tilia and Corylus, additionally with Fraxinus in the later portions of the period. Corylus was outcompeted in the denser mixed-oak-forests and decreased (Wiethold 1998). Pinus decreased, but was present with higher values in the east than in the west. The amount of Hedera pollen indicates good insolation remained in the woodlands. Today this heterophyllous (and heteromorphous) liana species thrives in herb-rich oak- and mixed-beech forests, as well as in floodplain woodland (Oberdorfer 2001).


Tilia, as an insect-pollinated tree, produces lower quantities of pollen and thus the species is under-represented in pollen diagrams. Average values of around 10% in the east and 2–5% in the west indicate lime-rich woodland very different from all woodland types known today. The lime-rich woodland of Białowieza national park in Poland might be a reference system, though these woods are also rich in hornbeam, which was not yet present in Schleswig-Holsteins Atlantic woods.

Fig. 5: Composite pollen diagram for central Schleswig-Holstein, based on Lake Belau and Dosenmoor profiles. Calculation based on the sum of arboreal pollen excluding Corylus. Bars represent 250-year aver-ages of pollen values. White bars exaggerated by 10 and truncated at end of graph. Data from Wiethold (1998) and Glos (1998).


In parts of the Riesewohld, an extensive forest area in Dithmarschen at the western edge of the Geest, there is a lime-rich forest which is assumed to be natural. In some diagrams, lime has even the highest percentages of the mixed oak forest-species. Being underrepresented, this leads us to conclude that at some sites or even areas the lime tree was the main species in the Atlantic woodlands. Venus (2004) found high values of Tilia in the east (Wagrien) and con-firmed the older data compiled by Overbeck (1975). This might be due to the nutrient-rich soils and the slightly continental character of the eastern part.

Abb. 5: Zusammengesetztes Pollendiagramm für Zentral Schleswig-Holstein, basierend auf den Profilen Belauer See und Dosenmoor. Bezugssumme: Baumpollen exkl. Corylus. Balken geben 250-Jahr-Mittel der Pollenwerte. Weiße Balken: 10fach überhöht und am Graph-Ende abgeschnitten. Quelle: Wiethold (1998) und Glos (1998).


During the Late Atlantic, Acer and Taxus immigrated. Which Acer species is concerned – A. platanoides, A. pseudoplatanus, A. campestre – is difficult to tell since the pollen grains are not distinguishable. But the fruits are: Acer platanoides fruit was found near Elmshorn (Kolumbe & Beyle 1942, in Overbeck 1975: 466). Additionally, as an insect-pollinated tree with low pollen production, maple is like lime underrepresented in the diagrams. Also, pollen grains of Acer are assumed to be less resistant to corrosion (Overbeck 1975: 466).

To summarise, the Atlantic is the time of the mixed oak forest. On wet sites and on fens al-der-rich stands became common. Sites along rivers and streams were occupied by stands of alder and oak, and also ash in the second half. We imagine a site-related differentiation of the “Quercetum mixtum”: with the quantities of oak, lime, elm, ash, maple and yew varying, de-pending on soil quality and hydrology.

4.4 Subboreal (3,800 – 700 cal BC)

The transition from the Atlantic to the Subboreal period is defined by a distinctive phenome-non: the elm decline. In the late Atlantic elm had values of 10 to 12% of the arboreal sum in the east, and around 8% in the west of Schleswig-Holstein. This is due to differences in soil nutrient quality between the young moraine area and the old moraine and sander areas. In older publications the criterion was just “the elm decline”, nowadays it is necessary to define whether the beginning, the middle or the end of the decrease is meant. The higher the resolu-tion the more complex is this process. As an example, the Lake Belau diagram (Fig. 5) shows two steps of the decline that lasts for 244 years (Wiethold 1998). Here the middle of the de-cline is chosen. The chronological assignment is not yet fixed to an absolute date but a num-ber of conventional and AMS-14C-datings assemble it around 3800 cal BC. The elm decline is one of the most discussed phenomena in the palynological literature (e.g. Parker et al. 2002). Several explanations for the drastic drop in the elm curve exist: from climatic changes, human influence, and the elm disease caused by the ascomycete fungus Ceratocystis ulmi (syn. Ophiostoma ulmi) which is transported by the bark beetle species Scolytus scolytus and S. multistriatus. As the decline does not show the same pattern throughout northern and middle Europe, a combination of factors is most probable: When trees were injured by pollarding and shredding, the fungus had a higher chance to infect a tree than in intact woods. This was pos-sibly enhanced by unfavourable climatic conditions, like a shift to more continental-type cli-matic regime (Parker et al. 2002).

In the course of the Subboreal other changes in woodland composition occurred. A slow climatic shift, newly invading species and progressive soil development were responsible for changing conditions of competition. Additionally, anthropogenic pressures influenced the vegetation development from the late Atlantic onwards.

Apart from Ulmus, other pollen types show diminishing values. Tilia has a distinct drop in the early Subboreal. In the Lake Belau diagram this event dates around 700 years after the middle of the elm decline (Wiethold 1998). Other diagrams show a synchronous decrease of elm and lime (e.g. Kosel 10, Dörfler 2001) or a lime decline synchronous with increasing hu-man influence like in the Bültsee diagram (Dörfler 2001). Thus this process seems to be initi-ated more by anthropogenic woodland use than by natural causes. It is probable that diverse natural woodland products were gathered. Table 1 summarises potential and historically known human uses of woodlands. As the lime decline is a human-induced phenomenon it cannot be interpreted as a synchronous event.


Table 1: Potential and historically known ways of woodland exploitation (from Dörfler & Mitlöhner 1998, supplemented).

Tab. 1: Mögliche und historisch überlieferte Arten der Waldnutzung (nach Dörfler & Mitlöhner 1998, ergänzt).

• Timber for construction purpose (e.g. houses, trackways, bridges, dikes, carriages, boats, ships) • Wood as raw material (e.g. tools, buckets, vessels, music instruments) • Wood as fuel (e.g. cooking and heating; glass, salt and calcium production) • Wood as charcoal (fuel and reducing agent for smelting of metals and iron working) • Wood as raw material for the production of tar, pitch and soot • Production of ash as fertilizer; as a stain for dyeing, as a soap substitute, and for glass production • Bark for tanning • Twigs, bark and bast as fodder (especially in wintertime) • Bast (fibres) as raw material for ropes and textiles • Leaves as fodder (shredding, pollarding, etc.) • Fallen leaves as animal litter • Mast fodder, especially acorns as a pig food • Fruits and seeds as source for oil production (especially beech, hazel, walnut and pine) • Resin, fruits, herbs and mushrooms as food, spices and medicine – in time of emergency, even

bark and acorns were used as food • Woodland as pasture, i.e. "Hudewald" • Temporary woodland clearances as arable land • Woodland as a hunting ground (birds, eggs and game) • Woodland as source of pollen and nectar for honey production • Woodland as a holy grove, and also particular trees, for worship of the gods

By the end of the Atlantic, Fagus sylvatica and Carpinus betulus had reached northern Ger-many. They started to establish during the Subboreal. Both occur with single pollen grains from ca. 3,500 cal BC onwards and show a continuous curve in the middle Subboreal. As beech is the dominant tree in modern deciduous forests and beech forest is assumed to be the potential natural vegetation in large regions of Schleswig-Holstein (Dierßen 2004), it might be surprising that this attribute is of relatively recent nature. A stable mixed oak woodland and not yet advanced soil development seem to have prevented the rapid spread of Fagus and also Carpinus. Other causes for delayed expansion might have been the density of the wild game population and specific practises of woodland exploitation. A single cause has not yet been identified.

4.5 Anthropogenic influence during the Subboreal

According to local and regional settlement history human indicators in pollen diagrams of Schleswig-Holstein differ from site to site. For single periods, a regional comparison is made, e.g. for the late Atlantic and early Subboreal by Wiethold (1998: 247−269), for the third mil-lennium BC (middle of the Subboreal) by Dörfler (in press) and for the Migration Period and Medieval Times by Wiethold (1998: 269−304).


Human influence superimposed the natural development from the late Atlantic onwards. Hunter-gatherers did not have a lasting effect on the landscape, thus human indicators do not occur regularly before the Neolithic. The first settlers with agrarian food production belong to the funnel beaker (Trichterbecher) culture (stage Rosenhof) dating to 4,100 cal BC (Hartz et al. 2000, Dörfler 2001). Postulation of older agrarian activities (Kalis & Meurers-Balke 1998) cannot be confirmed by critical analyses (Behre 2007a). Nevertheless, the neolithisation in Schleswig-Holstein is not a revolution but a process of adaptation that lasted for several gen-erations.

Well-delimited clearings around settlements predominantly along the coast and a few inland lakeshore sites characterise the first phase. These activities pursue the Mesolithic tradi-tions with a small scale agriculture and very limited effect on the landscape. It is not before the middle Neolithic that a rapid increase of Plantago lanceolata, pollen grains of the cereal type and further human indicators are observed. This “Neolithic landnam” indicates the first large-scale opening of the forest and the beginning of the formation of a cultural landscape, at the transition from the Early- to Middle-Neolithic around 3,500 cal BC (Lütjens & Wiethold 1999). Also woodland composition is now influenced by humans: synchronously with settle-ment indicators, pollen-values of lime decline in the diagrams. The overall landscape was still dominated by forest vegetation, but large open areas must have existed around settlements. Phases of wood regeneration in the pollen diagrams indicate changes in human pressure that vary from site to site (Dörfler in press). Towards the end of the Neolithic the opening of the landscape increased after more than 2,000 years of variable but continuous settlement. This was around 1,700 cal BC. Following this, in the Bronze Age, the first indications of heathland point to the deterioration of soils by continuous exploitation. Typical profiles of podzol soils can be found beneath Bronze Age burial mounds, and frequently the mounds themselves are built up by plaggen. The landscape presumably has had a park-like appearance around the villages, but woodland was still present and quite dense in remote areas. High values of Cory-lus and Pteridium aquilinum indicate forest grazing on a larger scale without complete de-struction of the tree cover.

To summarise, the Subboreal was a time of changing wood-composition due to invasion and expansion of new species (Fagus and Carpinus), to climatic variations and to anthropo-genic pressure. Human influence on the landscape is minor but increasing with consequences for forest composition and vegetation dynamics. Woodland was not just replaced by arable fields and pastures but was used as an important economic source of resources.

4.6 Subatlantic (700 cal BC – present)

The transition from the Subboreal to the Subatlantic, characterised by climatic and vegetation development, is synchronous with the transition from Bronze- to Iron Age in Northern Ger-many. Other changes like a rise in sea-levels in the North Sea (Behre 2003) and in the Baltic (Hoffmann 1998) occur around the same time (see Fig. 3). In many bogs of Northern Europe a transition from high to low amounts of decomposed peat is observed in the first half of the first millennium BC, called “Grenzhorizont” by Weber (1900). Van Geel et al. (1998, 2004) found arguments to link this stratigraphic phenomenon to a climatic shift around 850 cal BC (also: Blaauw et al. 2004, Mauquoy et al. 2004). Other investigations have shown that this phenomenon is not synchronous everywhere and sometimes not even in a single bog (Hayen 1966, Overbeck 1975, van den Bogaard et al. 2002). The differences might be due to local hydrology and different buffering of the bog system in reaction to changes in precipitation.


Generally, the middle of the first millennium BC is a time of ecological and cultural changes. In the pollen diagrams these changes are expressed by a distinct decrease of Corylus values. The maximum at the end of the Subboreal is very common in Northern Germany, named Co4 by Overbeck (1975). Fagus and Carpinus show a continuous but slight increase, though being still far from dominating the woodland composition. By the Birth of Christ Fagus has reached only about 2% of the arboreal pollen in the diagrams. For example, no Fagus was found in charcoals of a Roman Iron smelting site at Joldelund, Nordfriesland, and only 3 charcoal pieces in an ore roasting pit dating to the Viking age (Dörfler & Wiethold 2000). Oak and alder wood was used for iron smelting, pointing to the use of stands of oak and alder domi-nated woodland. Fagus seems to be present in the area around Joldelund as assessed by pollen analysis, but reaches higher proportions here only since around 700 AD (Dörfler 2000). Other tree-values like those of elm, lime and ash decline during the Subatlantic. Woodland exploita-tion probably reached a level that no longer promotes hazel undergrowth but which changes the semi-natural composition of the woodland lastingly. Higher values of birch indicate forest succession stages and higher values of pine can be interpreted as increased far-distance pollen input due to a more open landscape. The formation of heath vegetation, initiated in the Bronze Age, is strengthened during the Iron Age (e.g. Wiethold & Lütjens 2001). The Calluna-dominated heath spread at this time mainly on poor soils. Pollen diagrams from small areas show that during the Pre-roman Iron Age Calluna built an important component of the cul-tural landscape. This process continued to the Roman Iron Age. In this period the first Secale pollen appeared, a crop which is favourably grown on poor soils. Iron Age settlers changed woodland composition intensively in many regions, but forest vegetation still remained in Schleswig-Holstein (e.g. Dörfler 2000).

At around 450 AD a distinct drop in human pressure on the landscape is detectable. During the end of the Migration Period and early Medieval Time, most Schleswig-Holstein pollen diagrams show a regeneration of forest ecosystems and just a few traces of settlement indica-tors occur. This small human impact coincided with very few archaeological finds of this era. For the formation of new vegetation types, it was a very important time of change. With the regeneration of the woodlands, Fagus sylvatica prevailed and reached high proportions in the forest composition. Often a pioneer woodland is indicated by a short peak in birch in dia-grams with a high resolution (e.g. Dörfler et al. 1992). The settlement area is almost com-pletely reforested. However, single cereal grains and the slow decrease of Artemisia and Plan-tago evidence the presence of a small local human population. Archaeologically no settlement is known from this period so far for Schleswig-Holstein. The gap lasted for ca. 200 to 250 years. For example, around Lake Belau woodland regenerated during the 6th and 7th century AD, the settlement-poor phase lasted for a little bit more than 200 years (Wiethold & Lütjens 2001). From that time on, a Fagus-dominated woodland established, which we today map as the potential natural vegetation in more than half of Schleswig-Holstein.

No indications of new settlement activities occur before the 8th century. Friesian settlers occupied the west-coast area, Slavonic tribes spread into the eastern part of Schleswig-Holstein and Saxon people inhabited the central parts. These activities were accompanied by new openings in the woodland. During the first centuries, settlement indicators remained on a relatively small scale. A strong increase is detected not before the middle of the 12th century AD. Firbas (1949: 51−53) and Overbeck (1975: 491−494) used this very common increase as criterion for a pollenstratigraphic border but both authors state that there is no exact date for the end of the older part of the Subatlantic. The increase in settlement indicators and the tran-sition from woodland to forest is not synchronous in central Europe. In Schleswig-Holstein


the clearest gap dates to around 1200 AD, when cereal pollen increases sharply and most tree species are affected strongly. The younger part of the Subatlantic (phase Firbas X) is charac-terised by high values of cultivated plants and weeds. Indicators for winter cereals like Cen-taurea cyanus occur regularly. New cultivated plants like hemp, Cannabis sativa (Dörfler 1990) or buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum (Wiethold 1998) and rare finds of walnut, Jug-lans regia, are recorded. Medieval and modern times show the strongest changes in landscape composition that are not comparable to prehistoric effects. For a long time the growth of population and exploitation of natural resources changed the landscape with only minor inter-ruptions. The soil exhaustion resulted in a spread of heather that covered half of the old mo-raine area end of the 18th century (Behre 2000). In sensitive regions, like the former sander areas, inland dunes endangered fields, pastures and meadows (Mager 1930, Dörfler 2000). In the high-resolution diagram of Lake Belau even the historically known phase of late medieval crisis – triggered by the Black Death and characterised by the abandonment of settlements and agricultural ground - is recorded as a short phase of forest regeneration. Apart from these in-terruptions woodland degeneration continued. In the old moraine-area many former woods have been converted into coppice wood. The so called “Niederwaldwirtschaft” was a common economy in these areas and timber for house-building was rare. With the help of charcoal analysis from charcoal production sites (Nelle 2002, 2003), we started to reconstruct the com-position of the used woods on a site-related scale (Arnold pers. comm., Ehlers 2006, Paysen PhD thesis in prep.). There was a different situation in the eastern young moraine-regions where noble owners and unfavourable relief protected the woodlands for a longer time. Other sheltered forests where owned by the king or Duke and were reserved for game hunting. The lowest degree of forest cover was reached around 1870 with not more than 4.2% of Schleswig-Holstein covered by woodland (Wagner 1875, cited in Härdtle 1995).

Regular reforestation did not start before the late 18th century. The age of enlightenment also brought insight into ideas of sustainability and a division of pasture and forest (Hase 1997). The hedge banks, so called “Knicks”, a typical feature of Schleswig-Holstein land-scapes, were established at that time. Nowadays (2002) forests cover an area of 162,466 ha, which is about 10% of the state, with a balance between deciduous and coniferous trees.

Acknowledgements

We thank Hartmut Usinger for spirited discussions and Björn Rickert and Julian Wiethold for valuable remarks and comments on the manuscript.

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Coordinating editor: Christian Dolnik Manuscript received: 08.04.08 Manuscript accepted: 28.04.08

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