Advances in Italian palynological studies: Late Pleistocene and Holocene records

An overview of the palynological research carried out in Italy is presented, including 94 late Quaternary dated pollen sites, mainly studied in the last ten years. These pollen records are mostly distributed in northern and central Italy, while in the southern part of the peninsula and in the islands they are very sparse. They are representative of different vegetational belts, being located at all altitudes between the sea level and 2300 m a.s.l. A number of late Pleistocene records provide a unique opportunity to study the last glacial period. Over 40 pollen diagrams record the late glacial vegetation development and over 60 diagrams span time intervals of at least 4000 years during the postglacial. These records show very diversified vegetational features, which are partly due to the mosaic of physiographic and climatic conditions of the Italian peninsula, partly to a long-term human impact on the landscape, and partly to the location and extent of the glacial refugia for temperate and Mediterranean species, together determining a considerable modern floristic richness and genetic diversity in the Italian peninsula. Some of the scientific questions currently addressed by pollen stratigraphers in Italy are highlighted, including human versus climatic factors of postglacial vegetation change, the evidence of sub-Milankovitch events, the influence of African air masses on vegetation changes, and the combination of palaeobotanical and genetic studies in assessing the location of glacial refugia for trees.