TY - JOUR

T1 - Forest history from a single tree species perspective

T2 - natural occurrence, near extinction and reintroduction of European yew (Taxus baccata L.) on the Darss-Zingst peninsula, southern Baltic Sea coast

AU - Kaiser, Knut

AU - Theuerkauf, Martin

AU - van der Maaten, Ernst

AU - van der Maaten-Theunissen, Marieke

AU - Beil, Annette

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - The forests along the southern Baltic Sea coast harbour some stands of the rare and endangered European yew (Taxus baccata L.), which are hypothesised to be autochthonous. Using the example of an occurrence on the Darss-Zingst peninsula, the population dynamics of the yew since the late Holocene are interdisciplinarily investigated and linked to the forest history of this area. Pollen analysis shows that yew has been present in the study area for at least 2600 years and thus indeed represents an autochthonous tree species in the area. The yew was probably originally part of a second tree storey and of forest margins within a mixed forest mainly consisting of several deciduous tree species and Scots pine. Historical evidence reveals that yew was still occurring in the forest in the middle of the eighteenth century, but then had nearly disappeared by the end of the nineteenth century. This was caused by several factors including forest grazing by livestock, high game populations and clear-cutting. First replanting of yew took place in the 1930s/1940s and 1950s/1960s, followed by planting campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s. Planting material from local and regional autochthonous relict populations was used, at least in part. The current yew population mainly comprises young individuals with a total number of ca. 1300 trees. It has thus been possible here to re-establish an autochthonous yew occurrence that was nearly extinct in historical times. This local example of targeted re-enrichment of native tree diversity may also encourage further measures to give this species a new chance again elsewhere in the wider region.

AB - The forests along the southern Baltic Sea coast harbour some stands of the rare and endangered European yew (Taxus baccata L.), which are hypothesised to be autochthonous. Using the example of an occurrence on the Darss-Zingst peninsula, the population dynamics of the yew since the late Holocene are interdisciplinarily investigated and linked to the forest history of this area. Pollen analysis shows that yew has been present in the study area for at least 2600 years and thus indeed represents an autochthonous tree species in the area. The yew was probably originally part of a second tree storey and of forest margins within a mixed forest mainly consisting of several deciduous tree species and Scots pine. Historical evidence reveals that yew was still occurring in the forest in the middle of the eighteenth century, but then had nearly disappeared by the end of the nineteenth century. This was caused by several factors including forest grazing by livestock, high game populations and clear-cutting. First replanting of yew took place in the 1930s/1940s and 1950s/1960s, followed by planting campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s. Planting material from local and regional autochthonous relict populations was used, at least in part. The current yew population mainly comprises young individuals with a total number of ca. 1300 trees. It has thus been possible here to re-establish an autochthonous yew occurrence that was nearly extinct in historical times. This local example of targeted re-enrichment of native tree diversity may also encourage further measures to give this species a new chance again elsewhere in the wider region.

KW - Historical ecology

KW - Late Holocene

KW - North-east Germany

KW - Population history

KW - Reintroduction

KW - Yew

KW - Biology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186460838&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/02e2a85b-4633-304e-88fa-0bbdb5a8b217/

U2 - 10.1007/s10342-024-01665-1

DO - 10.1007/s10342-024-01665-1

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85186460838

VL - 143

SP - 917

EP - 942

JO - European Journal of Forest Research

JF - European Journal of Forest Research

SN - 1612-4669

IS - 3

ER -