Natural and anthropogenic changes in the environment during the Holocene at the Kraków region (Southern Poland) from study of mollusc assemblages

Malacological analysis was used to reconstruct Holocene environmental changes from profiles of calcareous tufa and fluvial deposits exposed in the Kobylanka stream valley, several kilometres west of Kraków in southern Poland. The abundant and diversified mollusc fauna was characterized by clear variability within the vertical succession where five types of molluscan assemblages were distinguished. The pattern of sedimentary and molluscan facies allowed characterization of two main intervals of environmental change during Holocene. In the lower interval, until the end of the Middle Holocene, human activity was not detected and environmental processes were controlled by natural factors. In the upper interval, corresponding to the Late Holocene, human impact can be seen, in the form of rapid deforestation and agricultural development. Anthropogenic impact has been particularly evident during the last millennium. The mollusc assemblages studied allowed accurate reconstruction of natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the natural environment.