THE LATE-QUATERNARY VEGETATIONAL HISTORY OF LOCH ABHOGAIDH, RINNS OF ISLAY SSSI, SCOTLAND

Holocene and partial Lateglacial age percentage and concentration pollen diagrams are presented of two profiles from the Inner Hebridean site of Loch a'Bhogaidh, Islay. The Lateglacial deposits may extend back to Lateglacial Interstadial times and a relative lack of Funiperus communis pollen is noted. The early Holocene deposits contain abundant Betula and Corylus avellana-type pollen, followed by substantial amounts of pollen from other arboreal taxa, namely Pinus sylvestris, Ulmus, Quercus, Alnus glutinosa and Salix. There is pollen, charcoal and sedimentary evidence for possible Mesolithic age environmental impacts, and a hunter-gatherer presence on Islay may date from the 10th millennium BP. Major woodland clearance dates from middle Bronze Age times onwards (c. 3610 BP) and involved a mixed farming regime. The later Holocene records show that soil deterioration was occurring as heath and acid grassland taxa become prominent. These events may have resulted from land use pressures or climate change.