We studied the transformation of a middle-to-late Holocene forested ecosystem using the highly indicative remains of land snails. The study areas were sandstone landscapes of northern Bohemia (Czech Republic) that provide extremely rich terrestrial fossil records. As far as we know, nowhere else in the world does such a type of sedimentary environment provide Holocene records of snail shells. Currently, these sandstone landscapes are covered by low productivity coniferous forests with very low species pools. In sharp contrast, in the middle Holocene, they were dominated by species-rich productive woodland communities. Such ecosystems were then supported by a favourable warm and wet climate and by nutrient-rich, calcareous substrata formed of late Pleistocene aeolian dust (loess). A radical transformation of this temporal ecological equilibrium began in the third millennium BC. Over the next millennia, the species-rich canopy forest mollusc assemblages almost completely disappeared, together with calciphilous rock dwellers. The main driving force of this transformation was gradual soil leaching that resulted in the loss of calcium carbonate and principal nutrients (like P and N) and subsequent ecosystem retrogression. Synergistically with this background trend, the unstable climatic regime of the late Holocene, along with long-term anthropogenic pressure that peaked for the first time during the late Bronze Age, accelerated the transformation.

中文翻译：

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失落的蜗牛天堂：陆地蜗牛多样性下降揭示的捷克波希米亚中全新世森林生态系统的转变

我们使用具有高度指示性的陆生蜗牛遗骸研究了中晚期全新世森林生态系统的转变。研究区域是北波希米亚（捷克共和国）的砂岩地貌，提供极其丰富的陆地化石记录。据我们所知，世界上其他任何地方都没有这种类型的沉积环境提供蜗牛壳的全新世记录。目前，这些砂岩景观被低生产力的针叶林覆盖，物种库非常低。与此形成鲜明对比的是，在全新世中期，它们以物种丰富的生产林地群落为主。然后，这种生态系统得到了有利的温暖潮湿气候和由晚更新世风尘（黄土）形成的营养丰富的钙质基质的支持。这种时间生态平衡的根本转变始于公元前第三个千年。在接下来的几千年里，物种丰富的冠层森林软体动物组合几乎完全消失了，还有钙质岩石居民。这种转变的主要驱动力是土壤逐渐淋失，导致碳酸钙和主要养分（如 P 和 N）流失，随后生态系统退化。与这种背景趋势相辅相成的是，全新世晚期不稳定的气候状况，以及在青铜时代晚期首次达到顶峰的长期人为压力，加速了转变。这种转变的主要驱动力是土壤逐渐淋失，导致碳酸钙和主要养分（如 P 和 N）流失，随后生态系统退化。与这种背景趋势相辅相成的是，全新世晚期不稳定的气候状况，以及在青铜时代晚期首次达到顶峰的长期人为压力，加速了转变。这种转变的主要驱动力是土壤逐渐淋失，导致碳酸钙和主要养分（如 P 和 N）流失，随后生态系统退化。与这种背景趋势相辅相成的是，全新世晚期不稳定的气候状况，以及在青铜时代晚期首次达到顶峰的长期人为压力，加速了转变。