The Holocene plant landscape close to the Garigliano river mouth

he study presents a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on pollen and non pollen palynomorphs (= NPPs) on 20 samples of three cores (C1, C2, C3) from Garigliano Delta Plain, a coastal/delta plain between Latium and Campania. Two systems of beach ridges with a NW-SE trend, referring to the Euthyrrenian (inner system) and to Holocene (outer system), border a depressed area separated by the Garigliano channel (Ferrari et al. 2013). The sedimentary succession of the northern depression is recorded from cores C1 and C2 while the core C3 records the succession of the southern depression. The pollen sequence from C1 core (12 samples, from 10 to 180 cm) shows an environment almost always domi- nated by wetland vegetation. In the examined sequence, from the late Bronze age the studied area was covered by rich riparian woods, mostly represented by Salix and Alnus glutinosa type. The herbaceous vegetation was mostly composed by Cyperaceae and wild Poaceae, probably representing local elements of marshy environments (1). In the upper part of the sequence, corresponding to the modern age, the increase of Cichorieae and wild Poaceae, with the good presence of coprophilous fungal spores, gives proof of grazing. In the whole pollen diagram the anthropogenic markers are very low and include Juglans, Morus, Vitis and Olea (though in this contest Olea pol- len might belong to the wild species). The cultivated fields appear to be far from the studied area, as documented by the very low value of cereals, whose presence is more constant in the upper part of the sequence (1). The pollen analysis of C2 and C3 cores has affected the samples of the lower part. Both the cores are dated at the bottom to 8030÷8180 BP. The short pollen sequence from C2 core (5 samples from 530 to 625 cm in depth) is characterized by arboreal pollen values exceeding 60%. The most important arboreal component is represented by riparian trees, mostly by Alnus (26-69%). A broad alder carr seems to characterize the coastal landscape in the Northern palaeo-lagoon around 8000 BP. The lower part of C3 core (3 samples from 410 to 450 cm in depth) shows arboreal pollen values between 29 and 47 %. The area appears as a mosaic of environments: open landscape, related to the development of a marshy environment, oak woods with evergreen and deciduous elements and riparian woods with Alnus and Salix. The herbaceous vegetation is mostly composed by Cyperaceae and wild Poaceae. The recording of aquatics, in particular Myriophyllum spicatum, a typical freshwater species that does not tolerate salinity, suggests the pres- ence of freshwater bodies (2). The deciduous oak woods with Corylus, Ulmus, Ostrya carpinifolia/Carpinus orientalis, Carpinus betulus probably extended from the retro-dunal wetland up to the first hills inland, while evergreen oak woods was abundant along the coastal belt.