Homepage › Man has helped maintain the steppes of western Ukraine since prehistoric times

Man has helped maintain the steppes of western Ukraine since prehistoric times

The Western Podillia region of Ukraine is a unique biogeographic area, known for its high biodiversity. Scientists at the Institute of Botany of the CAS have found that many species are maintained here due to the long-term stability of the open landscape since the end of the Ice Age. Both climate and humans have influenced the representation of forests and non-forest habitats, and fire seems to have contributed to the maintenance of the open landscape. The results of the research, which have been published in the leading international journal Quaternary Science Reviews, serve to better understand the origins of the local steppe and other non-forest habitats of conservation value.

Source:

Hájková P., Petr L., Horsák M., Jamrichová E. & Roleček J. (2022): Holocene history of the landscape at the biogeographical and cultural crossroads between Central and Eastern Europe (Western Podillia, Ukraine), Quaternary Science Reviews, 288, 107610, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107610.