Recurring Taiga forest-steppe habitats in the Carpathian Basin in the Upper Weichselian

Many loess profiles, some lake sediments and archaeological sites in different parts of the Carpathian Basin were analysed in respect of their geology, sedimentology, Molluscs and macro-charcoal remains. Radiocarbon dating was also carried out on charcoal remains as well as on Molluscan shells. The loess profiles prove to have been formed during the last glacial period, between ca. 70,000 and 15,000 years BP. Two well-developed and a weakly developed charcoal layer can be found at the sites dating from that period. All rest on the top of a palaeosol. On the basis of palaeoecological investigations of these charcoal layers and the Molluscs found within the loess, it is concluded that recurring boreal forest-steppe habitats characterised the Carpathian Basin, the woodlands mostly consisting of Picea trees in the North and Pinus selvestris in the South, as well as six other arboreal species. By reference to the subsequent charcoal layers, reforestation occurred every 2000-5000 years with the same composition, although their density may have varied. These forests thus recur in the same places, after extensive forest fires. How often and why these reforestation events took place, and how much time was needed for the Forests-steppes to redevelop needs further clarification. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.