Within the chosen timeframe of this project ranging from the onset of\n Neolithic (in Sweden some 6000 years ago), it is quite well known that \nmajor changes in land-use have occurred. Deliberate removal of forests, \nachieved by cutting or fire, has been one of the most significant ways \nin which humans have modified the environment. Less well known are the \nenvironmental effects of historical changes in land-use, especially when\n it comes to the ecosystem response in coastal and open parts of the \nBaltic Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overarching aim of this proposed project is to \ndisentangle the long-term role of human impact (through the periods of \nexpansion, colonization, deforestation versus the periods of recession, \nretreat, reforestation) and natural driven processes (e.g. earlier \nclimate change and isostatic uplift) to determine the mutual \nsignificance of the multiple stressors resulting in events of hypoxia in\n the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The geographical focus is put on the Baltic Sea \ncoastal zone in order to investigate how the ecosystem has responded to \nchanges in land-use, as well as the other way around; how humans \nresponded to changes in the configuration of the landscape (e.g. \nshifting shorelines). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our study is multidisciplinary and has a \nunique combination of expertise in both Earth Science and Archaeological\n Landscape analyze. Methodologically we will focus on a couple of \nspecific small scale Baltic coastal sites chosen carefully from a \ncombination of these two perspectives. The practical fieldwork and the \nsampling strategy will be a combination of our joint experience from \npaleoecology and maritime archaeology. Selected area for the case study \nis Gamlebyviken in the Tjust area, situated in the province of Sm\u00e5land, a\n rural coastal area exceptionally rich regarding prehistoric remains \nfrom different periods, and with a topography which makes it a very well\n suited place for this kind of study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also believe that the \nhistorical development of the selected case study area is representative\n for many similar areas around the Baltic Sea. Our results can thus be \nextrapolated and used regionally. The results will be used to obtain an \noverall picture of environmental change through time, important to \nconsider when aiming for sustainable environmental governance of the \nwhole Baltic Sea. Through our proposed multidisciplinary research \nstrategy, we take a novel holistic approach which will lead to a more \nintegrated view on natural variation, climate change, human impact and \nadaptation through time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-603","project","type-project","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n