Project Detail

Long-term woodland dynamics in Central Europe: from estimations to a realistic model

Name:	Long-term woodland dynamics in Central Europe: from estimations to a realistic model
Researchers:	Szabó Péter (head – principal researcher)
Provider:	European Research Council
Number:	278065
Realization from:	2012
Realization to:	2016
Summary:	Using an extensive range of primary sources from history, historical geography, palaeoecology, archaeology and ecology, the interdisciplinary LONGWOOD project aims to reconstruct the long-term (Neolithic to present) patterns of woodland cover, structure, composition and management in a larger study region (Moravia, the Czech Republic, ca. 27,000 km2) with the highest spatio-temporal resolution possible. Causes for the patterns observed will be analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative factors, both natural and human-driven. The project will introduce woodland management as an equal driving force into long-term woodland dynamics, thus fostering a paradigm shift in ecology towards construing humans as an internal, constitutive element of ecosystems.