Cultural innovation can increase and maintain biodiversity: A case study from medieval Europe.

ABSTRACT: Numerous research efforts have used paleoecological data to reconstruct past biodiversity in Europe. In these projects, researchers have identified increases in biodiversity over the Holocene and hinted at a positive correlation with human population. These are important findings but are not easily translated into effective biodiversity conservation and restoration policy. We argue that, in order to better inform policymaking, studies of past biodiversity dynamics should include analyses of contemporaneous cultural phenomena in order to identify and describe specific anthropogenic drivers of past biodiversity changes. We present an example here, a case study from the Lake Constance region (southwestern Germany), one of the core areas of the Carolingian Empire, the foundational political st

SUBMITTER: Spitzig A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12663956 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature