Two millenia of vegetation history in the Smolyan lake area, Central Rhodopes Mountains (Bulgaria)

A palynological study was conducted on a 460 cm long core from Lake Blatisto (1540 m, Smolyan lake area) located in the Central Rhodopes Mountains and supplemented by two radiocarbon dates. The core consists mainly of peat deposited since the first centuries AD. The results show several distinct periods in the vegetation development and human impact, starting with a cultural phase at ca. 400 AD and followed by Picea - Pinus forest expansion between 590 AD and 910 AD. An enlargement of Fagus and Abies forests was established for the time interval 910-1600 AD with an intermediate short cultural phase ca. 1360 AD. During the last centuries the present-day vegetation dominated by spruce forests was shaped under a strong anthropogenic pressure. The analysis of the seeds preserved in the sediments allowed the reconstruction of the local vegetation in and around the lake. The basin with much influx of sandy gyttja material at the beginning of its existence has changed to a lake with stagnant water with accumulation of peat.