Human‑induced Vegetation Dynamics Reconstructed through Pollen Analysis of a Recent Salt Marsh Sedimentary Sequence (Nalón estuary, N Spain)
The effects of sea-level rise due to global climate change, coupled with socioeconomic development and population growth, have exerted constant pressure on coastal wetlands, leading to their decline. Sediment dynamics, along with other natural processes, are significantly affected, resulting in a ge...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad del País Vasco |
| Repositorio: | Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/72915 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10810/72915 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | coastal wetland erosion historical floods land use change pollen secondary succession |
| Sumario: | The effects of sea-level rise due to global climate change, coupled with socioeconomic development and population growth, have exerted constant pressure on coastal wetlands, leading to their decline. Sediment dynamics, along with other natural processes, are significantly affected, resulting in a general reduction in coastal wetland areas and alteration of the ecological processes within their plant communities. In this context, the present study evaluates the vegetation dynamics of a highly-impacted salt marsh in the Nalón estuary, Asturias, Spain, using high-temporal-resolution pollen analysis, granulometry, elemental geochemistry, and sediment accumulation rates. In the early twentieth century, several flooding events influenced sediment accumulation rates and modified the structure of local marsh vegetation. Subsequently, a process of secondary succession was detected, triggered by the removal of the salt marsh herbaceous cover between the 1970s and 1990s. Aerial images from the Plan Nacional de Ortofotografía Aérea (PNOA), the Vuelo de Costas 1989–1991, and the Sistema de Información Territorial del Principado de Asturias provide evidence of these land use changes. The regional vegetation was impacted by Pinus and Eucalyptus plantations. The pollen record reveals a transition from high to low marsh vegetation during the early twenty-first century, caused by the effects of hydraulic infrastructure construction in the upper and middle basin sections and the decrease in fluvial sediment input. This study highlights the global problem of coastal wetland area reduction, reveals the effects of human activities on ecosystem dynamics, and helps to clarify the response of vegetation to constant natural and anthropogenic pressure. |
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