Papers by Anastasia Christopoulou
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Science of The Total Environment, Mar 1, 2022
The Eastern Mediterranean Basin is experiencing long-term drought conditions that affect the grow... more The Eastern Mediterranean Basin is experiencing long-term drought conditions that affect the growth and mortality of many forest tree species. We analysed tree rings from 113 Pinus brutia (living and dead) trees of different age (<50, 50-85, >85 years old) and size to study how climatic variation during the 20th century has shaped their radial-growth and mortality patterns. We selected the pine forest on the island of Lesvos (Greece) representing the largest continuous P. brutia forest on the Aegean islands, to develop a chronology that could provide a bridge between the available tree-ring data sets from the Western and Eastern Mediterranean region. The analysis of the novel chronology captured well-known drought events during the 20th century, such as those in 1949, 1990 and 2007, and provided an equation to reconstruct the intensity of droughts (10 month time scale). P. brutia tree-growth indicated a positive trend from the beginning until the 3rd quarter of the 21st century and then flattened for living trees. Trees that eventually died between 2010 and 2019, were characterized by a much lower growth than surviving trees and also illustrated a long-lasting negative growth trend. Precipitation and water availability (inferred from the SPEI drought index) were positively related to the growth of living and dead trees, mainly in the middle and old age classes. Temperature effect on tree growth shifted from negative to positive with increasing age of living trees, but remained always negative across all age classes in trees that eventually died. Our findings verify the positive effect of water availability on tree growth and survival of Mediterranean pines and highlight a size-mediated effect of temperature on tree growth, probably coupled with individual-tree access to underground water resources and density-dependent drivers. Increased air temperatures during various time periods related to tree physiological activity seem to negatively affect tree survival across all age classes, in Mediterranean P. brutia forests, highlighting their potential vulnerability to global warming conditions.
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Hacquetia, Feb 7, 2023
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Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Nov 21, 2022
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NeoBiota
The current paper presents the first effort to organize a comprehensive review of the Invasive Al... more The current paper presents the first effort to organize a comprehensive review of the Invasive Alien Species (IAS) of Greece. For this purpose, a database was developed with fields of information on the taxonomy, origin, ecology and pathways of introduction of terrestrial, freshwater and marine species. Our database includes a) taxa in the Union’s list that are present in Greece, b) taxa already present in Greece and considered to be invasive, and c) taxa highly likely to enter Greece in the next 10 years and become invasive. The Database served as the starting point for the compilation of the National List of Alien Invasive Species (HELLAS-ALIENS) in compliance with the EU Regulation 1143/2014. Overall, the HELLAS-ALIENS comprises 126 species, i.e. 32 terrestrial and freshwater plant species, 14 terrestrial invertebrates, 28 terrestrial vertebrates, 30 freshwater fishes and invertebrates and 22 marine species. Terrestrial invertebrates, birds and mammals are mainly of Asiatic origi...
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SSRN Electronic Journal
Southern Greece is a region where available oak reference chronologies are still missing, making ... more Southern Greece is a region where available oak reference chronologies are still missing, making dendroarchaeology and dating of historical buildings rather challenging, if not impossible. In the current study we performed wood identification and dendroarchaeological analysis on timber from three historical buildings: the castles of Androusa and Koroni and the Church of Agios Dimitrios, in Western Peloponnese. The three monuments represent buildings of different uses covering different periods, but also sharing a common characteristic: oak was the only timber used in their construction, while the number of preserved timber elements is very limited. A dendroarchaeological examination of these three historical buildings, together with radiocarbon and wiggle-matching analysis, provided valuable chronological information for the local archaeologists, historians, and other scientists. Application of dendrochronological techniques has helped place the three buildings under study into the Ottoman period. Our results also show that timber was acquired most probably from local non-managed forests, which suggests that oak forests were present in the broader area at least from the late 15th to the first half of the 18th centuries. The discordance between dendrochronological and radiocarbon dates in one of the three cases highlights the need for further exploration of the study area through a combined implementation of both dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating analyses in order to develop well-replicated local oak chronologies. Our study also shows that dendroarchaeology can contribute significantly to the cultural and landscape history of Western Peloponnese even with an examination of limited number of preserved timber elements from historical buildings.
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Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology
Litter decomposition is a key component of the global carbon cycle, and a process of great import... more Litter decomposition is a key component of the global carbon cycle, and a process of great importance for the function of forest ecosystems. The rate of litter decomposition shows significant variation both between different forest types and within forests of different successional stage. Considering that global change is expected to shift (directly) the abiotic conditions experienced by trees in a stand as well as (indirectly) the structure of stands, a sound understanding of how litter decomposition varies within forests of the same dominant species and environmental conditions but of different structure is important. To explore this question, we applied the litterbag method within the permanent forest plot monitoring network established on the island of Lesvos. We selected four Pinus brutia dominated plots under similar environmental conditions, across a fire chronosequence ranging from 15 to 90 years. Twenty-four litterbags were buried in each plot and sequentially removed after...
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EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, Apr 1, 2019
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Vegetation of the European-network ‘Natura 2000’ conservation areas of Naxos island and of nearby... more Vegetation of the European-network ‘Natura 2000’ conservation areas of Naxos island and of nearby islets Mikres Kyklades, including calcareous rocky slope, maquis, phrygana, coastal cliff, dune, marshland, wet meadow, reed bed and aquatic habitats, was studied during 2000. The flora of the investigated regions consists of 365 taxa belonging to 78 families and 247 genera, some of which are endemic or rare in Greece. The majority of the represented in the life form spectrum taxa are Therophytes, Hemicryptophytes, Geophytes and Chamaephytes. From a chorological point of view, the Mediterranean element outweighs the rest, followed by the most diverse group of widespread taxa. The macrophytic vegetation was analysed following the Braun-Blanquet method. Twenty nine plant communities-among them one described for the first time (Theligono cynocrambis-Parietarietum lusitanicae), belonging to nineteen alliances, eighteen orders and fifteen phytosociological classes, were found. The distinguis...
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International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 2021
The current study is a dendroarchaeological/dendroarchitectural investigation of the remains of a... more The current study is a dendroarchaeological/dendroarchitectural investigation of the remains of a historically important multi-phase building, nicknamed 'Enetiko', located in Nafplio. Timber was used for the floors, the roof, and timber-framed walls of the building. Timber elements were also embedded in masonry. Particularly important are the architraves; ground storey timber lintels on the southern façade. According to prior research, the earliest phase was thought to date to the early 18th century with a later 19th century modification. Therefore, we applied dendrochronology to check whether it represents an early construction phase of the building and to confirm the previously mentioned different phases. Timber examination revealed six tree species and 60% of the 85 samples collected in total were dated. Imported deciduous oaks (Quercus spp.), dated c.1530 or after, represent an early Venetian or Ottoman phase of the building. Turkish origin of oaks suggests Ottoman period. Imported fir, most likely Abies alba, was dated in the 17th and 18th centuries. Black pine (Pinus nigra) from Greece and juniper (Juniperus sp.) from the East were used in interventions of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
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Forests, 2022
(1) Background: Pinus heldreichii is a long-living tree subalpine species commonly used for clima... more (1) Background: Pinus heldreichii is a long-living tree subalpine species commonly used for climate reconstruction. Nevertheless, its potential for dendroarchaeology and dating of historical timber remains unknown. In Metsovo and in the surrounding area of Pindus National Park (Northern Greece) it is commonly used for the construction of buildings and wooden objects and artifacts. (2) Methods: We examined timber found in historical buildings within the study area and we tried to date it using local reference chronologies of Bosnian and Black pines. (3) Results: Bosnian pine chronologies can be used to date timber from historical buildings, while they can also be used as reference chronologies against Black pines, giving very high cross-dating values. Therefore, and since the macroscopic identification of the two species’ timber is impossible, the analysis of wood anatomy is necessary to distinguish the two species in the case of historical wood. (4) Conclusions: The current paper presents the first application of dendroarchaeology for Bosnian pine and highlights the potential of the species in studying cultural heritage and the human past.
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Forests, May 4, 2022
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Acta Universitatis Nicolai Copernici Zabytkoznawstwo i Konserwatorstwo, 2022
Chests represented important piece of the household and sacral furniture until the end of 18th ce... more Chests represented important piece of the household and sacral furniture until the end of 18th century. They were commonly used as containers, both for everyday needsand also for special occasions such as in the case of marriage/dowry chests. Nowadays chests can be found in museums, monasteries, palaces, historic buildings, but alsoin private collections, with some of them having great aesthetic, ethnographic and historical interest. In the current study we present the results of wood examinationof five chests exhibited in the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights in Rhodes, Greece. Most of them were made of walnut, while the one made of conifer was useful for further dendrochronological analysis. Macroscopic examination of timber and cross-dating results suggest that the species used for its construction is most probablyCedrus libani, originating from Turkey. 1698 AD is the outermost preserved (most recent) ring, placing the chest’s construction during the Early Modern period o...
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Abstract In the current study we use methods in dendrochronological dating, radiocarbon dating an... more Abstract In the current study we use methods in dendrochronological dating, radiocarbon dating and wiggle-matching analysis to accurately date charcoal samples collected from the archaeological site of Usakli Hoyuk, Yozgat, Turkey. These data contribute to the understanding of the stratigraphical relationships in three different contexts of this multi-period mound. The examined charcoal materials were identified as cedar (Cedrus sp.) and oak (Quercus sp.). The analysis of the cedar samples resulted in establishing a floating chronology with a length of 49 rings. Further analysis of the material revealed that secure dendrochronological dating against the existing reference chronologies cannot be achieved for any of the Usakli Hoyuk samples selected for dendrochronology. This is due to the insufficient length of the developed mean chronology (49 rings), the shortness of single tree-ring sequences (max. 34 rings for cedar and 23 for oak) and the scarcity of reference chronologies that can be used for cross-dating. Therefore, we use radiocarbon tests and wiggle-matching analysis as the main dating method. Radiocarbon testing and further analysis of absolute dating of the charcoal pieces point to three different archaeological periods: the wooden post found in Room 433 of Building III is dated to the range of 1415 – 1363 BCE (2σ), confirming the assumption that it was an architectural element of the original construction of this Late Bronze Age/Hittite building. Radiocarbon dating results of charcoal pieces from the filling of Pit 330, 1008 – 905 BCE (2σ), can only be used tentatively and require cross-checking against additional samples and other organic material from the same context. The results of radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples associated with the Iron Age stone glacis built on top of Building III (763 – 486 BCE, 2σ) confirm that they are associated with the Iron Age occupation at Usakli Hoyuk.
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Hacquetia
The vegetation of the European Natura 2000 protected area of Spercheios river and Maliakos gulf, ... more The vegetation of the European Natura 2000 protected area of Spercheios river and Maliakos gulf, that includes Mediterranean sclerophyllous shrublands, as well as riverine and coastal habitats, was studied during 2000 and 2014–2015. The vegetation was analysed following the Braun-Blanquet method. Twenty six plant communities were recorded, one of which (Pistacio terebinthi-Quercetum cocciferae) described for the first time. The communities belong to fifteen alliances, fourteen orders and eleven phytosociological classes. The distinguished vegetation units are described, presented in phytosociological tables and compared with similar communities from other Mediterranean countries. Eleven different habitat types were identified. Two of them (“Quercus coccifera woods” and “Reed beds”) are Greek habitat types, while the rest are included in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC. Three of the latter (1420, 2110, 3170) have a scattered presence in the Natura 2000 network in Greece, while one...
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iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry
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Regional Environmental Change, 2017
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Forest Ecology and Management, 2014
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Papers by Anastasia Christopoulou