Late holocene environments in Las Tablas de Daimiel (south central Iberian peninsula, Spain)

The use of a high resolution pollen record in\udcombination with geochemical data from sediments composed\udmainly of layers of charophytes alternating with layers\udof vegetal remains plus some detrital beds permits the\udreconstruction of the environmental evolution of the last\ud3000 years in an inland wetland of the Mediterranean domain,\udthus introducing a new climatic dataset for the Late\udHolocene. Hydrological fluctuations, reflected in the relationship\udbetween emerged and aquatic vegetation and\udinorganic and organic C and N changes, can be related\udto aridity or humid phases, while relations among arboreal\udtaxa (Quercus and Pinus) and Artemisia are used as temperature\udindicators. Five climatic periods have been identified:\uda Subatlantic Cold Period (<150 b.c.), cold and arid; the\udRomanWarm Period (150 b.c.–a.d. 270), warmer and wetter;\udthe Dark Ages (a.d. 270–a.d. 950), colder and drier;\udthe Medieval Warm Period (a.d. 950–a.d. 1400), warmer\udand wetter; and the Little Ice Age (>a.d. 1400) indicated\udby a cooling and drying trend. Despite the lack of any direct\udevidence of human action, there are some episodes related\udto deforestation during the Reconquista (Middle Ages) that\udmask the real climatic signal