caa a22 4500 445359013 CHVBK 20180317142909.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110501xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00334-011-0281-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00334-011-0281-7 Grazing impacts and woodland management in Eriksfjord [Elektronische Daten] Betula , coprophilous fungi and the Norse settlement of Greenland [J. Schofield, Kevin Edwards] This paper focuses on the impact of Norse settlement on vegetation and landscape around the head of Tunulliarfik (Eriksfjord) in southern Greenland. Pollen, radiocarbon, microscopic charcoal and fungal spore data are presented from a peat monolith which was collected close to the ruins of a large Norse farm complex (group Ø39 at Qinngua in the former Eastern Settlement). Landnám is identified at ca. cal. a.d. 1020 by a small decrease in pollen from Betula, a slight increase in Poaceae, and the appearance of pollen from Norse apophytes (native plants favoured and spread by human activity) and anthropochores (not native and unintentionally introduced by people). Increases in microscopic charcoal and palynological richness are also apparent. This pattern is broadly consistent with that seen in other pollen diagrams from this region. The sequence is unusual for Greenland, however, in that relatively high Betula pollen percentages (average 20% TLP) are recorded throughout the period of settlement, up to the end of the 14th century a.d. before the profile becomes truncated. If these data are primarily representative of the dry land vegetation, then they suggest that birch woodland and scrub may well have persisted close to the farm throughout the Norse period. Given the potential resource value of woodland to the settlers, this may imply that birch was being managed sustainably, as was the case in Iceland during the medieval period. Coprophilous fungal spores typically found on animal dung are abundant during the early phase of settlement, yet subsequently decline in abundance. This may indicate a likely decrease in grazing intensity or livestock numbers over time, possibly in response to climatic deterioration and/or soil erosion that is expected to have placed increased stress on the pastoral farming system. Springer-Verlag, 2011 Greenland nationallicence Norse nationallicence Pollen analysis nationallicence Betula nationallicence Woodland management nationallicence Coprophilous fungal spores nationallicence Schofield J. Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, AB24 3UF, Aberdeen, UK aut Edwards Kevin Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, AB24 3UF, Aberdeen, UK aut Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Springer-Verlag 20/3(2011-05-01), 181-197 0939-6314 20:3<181 2011 20 334 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-011-0281-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-011-0281-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schofield J. Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, AB24 3UF, Aberdeen, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Edwards Kevin Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, AB24 3UF, Aberdeen, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Springer-Verlag 20/3(2011-05-01), 181-197 0939-6314 20:3<181 2011 20 334 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer