Sediment cores recovered from wetlands constitute valuable natural archives for reconstructing long-term interactions among climate, vegetation, and human activities. Characterized by pronounced climatic, topographic, and biogeographical contrasts, Anatolia provides an ideal setting for evaluating regional differences in vegetation responses to past environmental change. In this study, fossil pollen records from Lakes Aktaş, Tecer, Sapanca, and Nar, together with those from the Bereket Basin and the Gölbaşı peatland, were compared to investigate vegetation and land-use changes over approximately the last millennium. These sites represent a range of environmental settings across Anatolia. Pollen data were compiled from published studies and accessible databases, and the records were evaluated within a common chronological framework based on changes in major arboreal, open-land, and anthropogenic indicator taxa.

Forest dynamics were assessed using Pinus, deciduous Quercus, Fagus, Betula, Picea, Abies, and Alnus, whereas Poaceae, Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, and Artemisia were considered indicators of open-land and steppe conditions. Agricultural activity and broader human influence were evaluated through changes in land-use-related pollen indicators, particularly Cerealia-type, Olea, Juglans, and Plantago lanceolata-type.

The comparative assessment indicates that vegetation development across the investigated sites during the last millennium did not follow a uniform or unidirectional trajectory. Instead, vegetation changes varied according to regional environmental conditions and the intensity of human activities. At Sapanca, the comparatively strong representation of arboreal pollen and mesophilous forest elements is consistent with the humid conditions of northwestern Anatolia. In contrast, the greater prominence of open-land and steppe taxa in the Tecer and Nar records reflects the drier and more continental character of Central Anatolia. The Aktaş record highlights shifts between forest and steppe components under high-altitude continental conditions. Records from the Bereket Basin and the Gölbaşı peatland reveal more complex vegetation trajectories shaped by interactions among local environmental conditions, grazing, agricultural activity, and wetland dynamics.

Vegetation changes coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age cannot be attributed solely to climatic variability. Changes in agriculture, grazing pressure, and land-use intensity appear to have locally amplified or attenuated climate-related vegetation signals. Differences in the timing and magnitude of change among the investigated sites demonstrate that vegetation dynamics in Anatolia during the Late Holocene were shaped by regionally variable interactions between climate and human activities. These findings emphasize the value of integrating different wetland archives to improve our understanding of the respective influences of climatic variability and human activities on vegetation and to establish the long-term context of the human-driven ecological transformations associated with the Anthropocene.

Wetlands as Natural Archives of the Anthropocene: Evidence from Anatolian Pollen Records
Sediment cores recovered from wetlands constitute valuable natural archives for reconstructing long-term interactions among climate, vegetation, and human activities. Characterized by pronounced climatic, topographic, and biogeographical contrasts, Anatolia provides an ideal setting for evaluating regional differences in vegetation responses to past environmental change. In this study, fossil pollen records from Lakes Aktaş, Tecer, Sapanca, and Nar, together with those from the Bereket Basin and the Gölbaşı peatland, were compared to investigate vegetation and land-use changes over approximately the last millennium. These sites represent a range of environmental settings across Anatolia. Pollen data were compiled from published studies and accessible databases, and the records were evaluated within a common chronological framework based on changes in major arboreal, open-land, and anthropogenic indicator taxa.
Forest dynamics were assessed using Pinus, deciduous Quercus, Fagus, Betula, Picea, Abies, and Alnus, whereas Poaceae, Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, and Artemisia were considered indicators of open-land and steppe conditions. Agricultural activity and broader human influence were evaluated through changes in land-use-related pollen indicators, particularly Cerealia-type, Olea, Juglans, and Plantago lanceolata-type.
The comparative assessment indicates that vegetation development across the investigated sites during the last millennium did not follow a uniform or unidirectional trajectory. Instead, vegetation changes varied according to regional environmental conditions and the intensity of human activities. At Sapanca, the comparatively strong representation of arboreal pollen and mesophilous forest elements is consistent with the humid conditions of northwestern Anatolia. In contrast, the greater prominence of open-land and steppe taxa in the Tecer and Nar records reflects the drier and more continental character of Central Anatolia. The Aktaş record highlights shifts between forest and steppe components under high-altitude continental conditions. Records from the Bereket Basin and the Gölbaşı peatland reveal more complex vegetation trajectories shaped by interactions among local environmental conditions, grazing, agricultural activity, and wetland dynamics.
Vegetation changes coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age cannot be attributed solely to climatic variability. Changes in agriculture, grazing pressure, and land-use intensity appear to have locally amplified or attenuated climate-related vegetation signals. Differences in the timing and magnitude of change among the investigated sites demonstrate that vegetation dynamics in Anatolia during the Late Holocene were shaped by regionally variable interactions between climate and human activities. These findings emphasize the value of integrating different wetland archives to improve our understanding of the respective influences of climatic variability and human activities on vegetation and to establish the long-term context of the human-driven ecological transformations associated with the Anthropocene.