Environmental changes during the Holocene climatic optimum in central Europe - human impact and natural causes

This article appears in the special issue "Environmental response to climate and human impact in central Europe during the last 15,000 years", which summarizes and synthesizes major results of the German priority research program "Changes of the geo-biosphere during the last 15,000 years - continental sediments as evidence for changing environmental conditions." The program, involving more than 40 research groups, was funded by the German Research Council (DFG) between 1994 to 2000 as a contribution to PAGES.