We review the effects of climate variability and land use / land cover changes in the Central Spanish Pyrenees at different spatial and temporal scales. Paleoclimatic studies based upon multi-proxy analyses of lacustrine, glacial and speleothematic deposits, among others, have demonstrated the occurrence of intense climatic fluctuations not only during the Late Upper Pleistocene associated to deglaciation, but also during the Holocene, affecting plant cover distribution, runoff generation, flood frequency, and the spatial organization of human activities, particularly during the 8.2 event, the Bronze Age, the Medieval Climatic Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. The study of the impact of human activity on landscape dynamics during the last 150 years has revealed dramatic changes in plant cover structure and distribution, in both the montane and the sub-alpine belts and, consequently, changes in runoff generation, soil erosion intensity, and sediment sources, whatever the spatial scale used. In general, the maximum human pressure on the territory was reached during the middle of the 19th century, with the cultivation of most of the south-facing slopes up to approximately 1650 m a.s.l., and the frequent use of fire to control shrub colonization, resulting in intense soil erosion and degradation processes, as well as the development of braided rivers with a high torrentiality. Farmland abandonment since the beginning of the 20th century (and, particularly, since the 1960s) and the declining livestock pressure have favoured plant recolonization, with the expansion of shrubs and forests in the old cultivated and grazing areas, the human-induced reforestation of large hillslopes, and the treeline upward in the subalpine belt, in this latter case with the contribution of climate warming. The most outstanding consequences of such an evolution have been: (i) the sustained decline of discharge in the Pyrenean rivers since the 1970s because of increasing actual evapotranspiration; (ii) the spatial shrinkage of sediment source areas; (iii) the increasing uncoupled geomorphic dynamics between hillslopes and channels; (iv) the decreasing importance of snow accumulation and snowmelt processes in the fluvial regime of the Pyrenean rivers, with earlier onset of the high spring discharges; (v) the changes in reservoir hydrological dynamics and the need for new management policies; and (vi) the increasing scouring processes that affect most of the Pyrenean rivers. The studies carried out on Global Change and its consequences in the Central Pyrenees confirm the extreme complexity of interactions occurring in the natural systems, and the quick response of plant cover, runoff generation and soil erosion as a consequence of climatic and land use changes.

/pdf/los-efectos-geoecologicos-del-cambio-global-en-el-pirineo-2eae6nj9e5.pdf

Los efectos geoecológicos del cambio global en el Pirineo Central español: una revisión a distintas escalas espaciales y temporales

Archaeological survey and test excavations were conducted at high altitude in the western Catalan Pyrenees since 2001 to 2010. Together with palaeoecological studies of lake cores and peat bogs, these studies (including a series of 27 radiocarbon dates) permit one to discuss human occupations of the high mountains from Mesolithic times to the early Bronze Age. We evaluate the role played by mountain areas in the development of prehistoric communities with particular attention to the process of postglacial colonization, the introduction and development of farming and other agricultural practices, as well as complementary economic activities like mining, charcoal-burning and lumber production, with particular attention to the relation of mountain communities to those of other regions.

/pdf/la-alta-montana-durante-la-prehistoria-10-anos-de-4xvjxtypab.pdf

La alta montaña durante la Prehistoria: 10 años de investigación en el Pirineo catalán occidental

Surface surveying in high mountain areas, is it possible? Some methodological considerations

A unique Pyrenean varved record provides a detailed reconstruction of Mediterranean vegetation and land-use dynamics over the last three millennia

Bronze Age to Medieval vegetation dynamics and landscape anthropization in the southern-central Pyrenees

Para el sondeo y estudio mineralogico se ha contado con la colaboracion de financiacion adicional a traves del proyecto «Multidisciplinary research consortium on gradual and abrupt climate changes, and their impacts on the environment (GRACCIE), CSD2007-00067, Programa Consolider 2007»

Interacción entre clima y ocupación humana en la configuración del paisaje vegetal del Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici a lo largo de los últimos 15.000 años

The vegetation of the National Park of Aiguestortes and Lake of Sant Maurici is the result of an interaction process between climate, plant community dynamics and the human occupation of the territory. The OCUPA project aims to reconstruct this interaction ovar the last millennia using methods of palaeoecolagy and archaeology. Here, we describe the main features of the project and summarize the results obtained so far. The study focuses primarily on the Sant Nicolau valley and bases on the multidisciplinary analysis of the sedimentary archive of two lakes (LLebreta and Redo) and a number of archaeological sites located in shelters and outdoors. There is archaaological evidence of human presence since 9.000 yr cal BP. and a continuous record since 7.500 yr cal BP. At early stages, they transformad the surroundings of the shelters occupied and lithic tools indicate contacts with areas as lar as the Ebro plains. Since the Bronze Age (ca. 4,300 yr cal BP) there has been human impact on the vegetation without interruption until present. Initialty, the impacts were mostly related to livestock: use of fire to open grassing areas, soil erosion and, during the medieval period, forestry and water eutrophication of lakes. The agricultura impact in lhe lower part of the valley (e.g., Llebreta) occurred about 2,100 yr ago, although some cereal grains and tools for harvesting have been found from the Neolithic. In the medieval period, the impact was much higher than during the last centurias. In general, it can be concluded that changes in the human land use approximately follow the major changes in climate, but the specific causal link is likely to be related to the social and cultural dynamics of a broader territory since the Neoliihic.

Interacció entre clima i ocupació humana en la configuració del paisatge vegetal del Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici

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Interacción entre clima y ocupación humana en la configuración del paisaje vegetal del Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici a lo largo de los últimos 15.000 años

Interacció entre clima i ocupació humana en la configuració del paisatge vegetal del Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici