Abstract
This project contributes a new addition to the explanatory framework of ecological processes and biodiversity. The major part of the present biodiversity in Europe is found in the traditional cultural landscape occurring as islands in the modern production land-use of agri-, silviculture and urban areas. The working hypothesis is that the dynamics of discontinuous management at different temporal and spatial scales is essential for this biodiversity by allowing species groups favoured by traditional management, succession, and old growth forest, to coexist. A time perspective of several thousand years is essential for the understanding of this dynamics and asks for a combination of historical, archaeological and palaeoecological methodology and data-sources. The various temporal frequencies of ceased management will be captured by a systematic overview of timing and duration of war, epidemics, epizooty, and socio-economic factors during the last 3000 years. The spatial distribution of the ceased management on a local and regional scale will be assessed in three case study areas using a new palaeocological methodology. The scope of spatial distribution of ceased management will then be expanded to twenty sites distributed in southern Sweden. The accumulated result will be frequency maps of discontinuous management and enables comparison with present distribution pattern of species within different organism groups such as vascular plants, insects, birds and fungi.
Sweden