Vegetation dynamics and land-use history during the Holocene in Corsica (Western Mediterranean): Regional patterns and local landscape transformation in changing coastal ecosystems

Abstract

The archaeoecological research conducted in Corsica underscores the critical role of integrating palynological studies from sedimentary deposits to reconstruct past human-environment interactions. This approach sheds new light on evidence of farming activities and redefines archaeological territories and human occupation temporalities. Understanding the influence of human activities on coastal ecosystems requires outlining natural and climatic dynamics at a regional scale while evaluating landscape transformations at local scale, where human imprints are clearly evidenced. To achieve this, we applied quantitative methodologies to disentangle regional pollen loading from local vegetation signals. The Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) was employed as an advanced tool to quantify vegetation cover within the source area of pollen sites, enabling the estimation of the relative abundance of key taxa around pollen sites and distinguishing these from the regional vegetation background. Specifically, the REVEALS and LOVE models were used to reconstruct vegetation history at two spatial scales: regional and local.

This study reconstructs Holocene vegetation dynamics and human impact in Corsica using quantitative pollen-based models (REVEALS, LOVE) applied to fifteen coastal wetland records and one high-mountain lake. Results reveal that farming activities began around 7400 cal yr BP and intensified during the Roman period, profoundly altering Mediterranean forests and maquis. Coastal landscape evolution was shaped by marine transgression, deltaic progradation, and anthropogenic transformation, with key phases of environmental change aligning with major climatic oscillations and land-use intensification. These findings offer valuable insights into long-term Mediterranean socio-ecological dynamics.