Mid- to late holocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological dynamics in Lake Azaplı (Gölbaşı Basin, SE Türkiye): Insights from pollen and non-pollen palynomorph records

Palynological and sedimentological records from Lake Azaplı (Gölbaşı Basin, southeastern Türkiye) reveal a dynamic environmental history shaped by the combined influence of hydroclimatic variability and human land-use practices on the northwestern margin of the Fertile Crescent over the last 5420 years. Between 5420 and 3250 yr BP, marshy littoral development and pronounced catchment destabilisation indicate progressively shallower lake conditions under increasing hydroclimatic stress. Forest clearance, persistent anthropogenic indicators, and significant charcoal peaks centred at 5420–4950 and 4205 yr BP reflect the combined effects of aridification and landscape transformation throughout the Chalcolithic Period and Bronze Age. From 3250 to 2520 yr BP, cultivated trees (Juglans, Pistacia, and Olea europaea), along with agropastoral non-pollen palynomorph (NPP) indicators, reflect intensified human activity during the Beyşehir Occupation Phase (BOP). Concurrently, rising abundances of deciduous Quercus and Pinus may suggest expanding forest cover and a reorganisation of land use following environmental and socio-economic changes during the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition. The expansion of temperate broadleaf and coniferous taxa persisted into the interval broadly corresponding to the Roman Warm Period (RWP) until ca. 1410 yr BP. During this interval, cultivated and anthropogenic taxa indicate a temporary decline in agropastoral activity, followed by renewed cultivation from the later phase. Increasing algal abundances and associated NPP assemblages, alongside declines in aquatic herbs, reveal pronounced hydrological reorganisation and trophic change during the interval encompassing the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), with these changes becoming more pronounced after ca. 740 yr BP.