- Changes in landscape structure in the northwestern Alps over the last 7000 years -
713
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Conclusion
The past structure of the woody vegetation was
different from that of today. The landscape pattern dur-
ing the mid-Holocene cannot be a proper model the
prediction of the future climate, because the late-
Holocene experienced an invasion of a very competitive
species, Picea abies, which is also strongly selected by
forest management for economic use. However, the past
landscape organisation shows evidence of the potential
of trees in the area. With a warming climate and ongoing
land-use abandonment, we may expect an important
development at the upper tree line, similar to the previ-
ous tree line which was located around 2650 – 2700m in
the mid-Holocene. Moreover, Abies alba could be ex-
pected to expand at elevations between 1700 and 2000
m in mixed communities together with Picea abies,
Pinus cembra and Pinus sylvestris.
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Acknowledgements. This research was supported by the
French Environment Office – ‘Ministère de l’Environnement’,
subvention DRAEI 92184 (supervisor L. Tessier), DRAEI
93019 (to J.-J. Brun) and DGAD 95227 (to C. Carcaillet), and
by a Ph. D. grant to C. Carcaillet from the French Education
Office – ‘Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale, de l’Enseigne-
ment Supérieur et de la Recherche’. We gratefully appreciate
the contribution of anonymous reviewers, of L. Mucina and
D.A. Wardle who helped to improve the manuscript.
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