Forest history from a single tree species perspective: natural occurrence, near extinction and reintroduction of European yew (Taxus baccata L.) on the Darss-Zingst peninsula, southern Baltic Sea coast

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Knut Kaiser
  • Martin Theuerkauf
  • Ernst van der Maaten
  • Marieke van der Maaten-Theunissen
  • Annette Beil

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.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Forest Research
Volume143
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)917-942
Number of pages26
ISSN1612-4669
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 06.2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

    Research areas

  • Historical ecology, Late Holocene, North-east Germany, Population history, Reintroduction, Yew
  • Biology

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Eckhard Bollow

Publications

  1. Plasma arcing during contact separation of HVDC relays
  2. Mailen
  3. SpurenLesen 3
  4. Exploring the motivations of protesters in contingent valuation
  5. Evaluating ecosystem services in transhumance cultural landscapes. An interdisciplinary and participatory framework
  6. A Theory of Media as a History of Electricity
  7. Article 30 Review Clause
  8. The cuticular profiles of Australian stingless bees are shaped by resin of the eucalypt tree Corymbia torelliana
  9. Subtle Differences
  10. Contrasting changes in the abundance and diversity of North American bird assemblages from 1971 to 2010
  11. Imaginierte Wirksamkeit
  12. Symmetrical Communication?
  13. Carbon footprinting of large product portfolios. Extending the use of Enterprise Resource Planning systems to carbon information management
  14. Perspektivenwechsel
  15. Tablets im Sportunterricht!? Echt? Wow!
  16. Cultures of sustainability and the aesthetics of the pattern that connects
  17. The Social Case as a Business Case
  18. Implizite Normvermittlung durch Konstituierung von Angemessenheit im Unterrichtsdiskurs
  19. Fiducia
  20. Anaerobic Inhibition and Biodegradation of Antibiotics in ISO Test Schemes
  21. Firm panel data from German official statistics
  22. Indigenous and local knowledge in environmental management for human-nature connectedness
  23. Drawing Lessons: Ruth Asawa’s Early Work on Paper
  24. Offshoring and firm performance
  25. Progress of knowledge in human resources management
  26. New evidence for vegetation development and timing of Upper Middle Pleistocene interglacials in Northern Germany and tentative correlations