Wetland place names as indicators of manifestations of recent climate change in SW Spain (Doñana Natural Park)

Recent studies have shown the value of place names as environmental indicators. Until now they have not been applied to the effects of climate change, because verifying such relationship by this approach requires a multidisciplinary analysis and a study area where the anthropic impact has been recent. This study aims to test the possibility in a study area little altered by man until the second half of the twentieth century (Doñana Natural Park, SW Spain), and with a heritage very rich in wetlands. The results show that the desiccation of these wetlands is reflected in the local toponymy, and that in turn this regression is related with the end of the Little Ice Age and with the beginning of warming in southern Europe during the twentieth century. The coincidence of these results with data published for Arctic latitudes reveals—in our opinion—the possibility that certain place names can be used as indicators of recent climate changes, at least in some ecosystems.