A high-resolution, continuous 10,500 cal. yrs-long macroscopic charcoal record from a peat and lake sediment deposit at Storasjö, in the hemiboreal vegetation zone of southern Sweden, is presented. This record was compared with the microscopic charcoal record from the same core, and tentatively correlated with the macroscopic and microscopic charcoal records from another site (Stavsåkra), situated 30 km West of Storasjö. The charcoal records are also compared with regional climate proxy records with the aim to separate climate microscopic and macroscopic charcoal records represents local history was obtained from the continuous macroscopic charcoal analysis. A tentative correlation of the charcoal records between the sites indicates that most probably of regional character. Both sites exhibit three major phases of high 7250 BC to ca. 4000 BC, and 3) 750 BC to the 19th century. These three phases are separated by periods with lower or very low from the analysis of the recently developed global charcoal database. Fire appears to have been controlled by climate during the early and middle Holocene and by humans during the late Holocene. Warmer and drier climate during the early and middle Holocene caused frequent and intensive natural was an important disturbance factor in the hemiboreal vegetation zone of Sweden and played an important role in the forest dynamics and characteristics of the — from human-induced fire activity. The results suggest that the major signal of bothfire history. The best record of local firefire episodes of the early and middle Holocene arefire activity 1) 8700–8300 BC, 2)fire activity. This general trend is in good agreement with the pattern emerging for Europefires, which suggests thatfire activity might increase under predicted future climate scenarios. The results also suggest that fireflora and fauna of the region.

Beetle remains from a small bog in southern Sweden contribute information concerning the forest history of the study area. The study shows that beetles are valuable indicators of woodland structures such as openness, field vegetation, presence of dead wood and disturbance factors such as climate change, fire regimes, grazing and land use. The early Holocene, ca. 8600-6450 cal. BC, was characterised by open, pine-dominated woodlands maintained by fire and grazing disturbances. The changes in the wetland fauna, between 8600 and 7500 cal. BC, correlate well with low lake levels in southern Sweden. During the mid Holocene, ca. 6450-2400 cal. BC, the woodlands were relatively dense, with few openings in the canopy. Around 4200 cal. BC, there was a shift to a dominance of deciduous trees. Fire and grazing pressures were particularly low. Numbers of aquatic and hygrophilic beetles indicate dry conditions between ca. 5000 and 3000 cal. BC. During the late Holocene, ca. 2400 cal. BC to present, the woodlands opened up mainly through increased land use. The main disturbance factors were fire and grazing. The beetles indicate the formation of heather-dominated heathland around 800 cal. BC.

A continues Holocene beetle record from a small bog in southern Sweden is presented and compared with results from a similar study that was previously presented. The comparison reveals both regional trends in the development of the woodlands and local differences, particularly during the late Holocene. The early Holocene, ca. 8900 – 7500 cal. BC, was characterised by open, pine dominated woodlands at both sites. Fire and probably grazing maintained the openness of the woodlands and favoured a certain vegetation and fauna. During the mid Holocene, ca. 7500 – 900 cal. BC, the woodlands grew denser with elements of broadleaved trees. However, there were local differences in vegetation composition at the two sites. Grazing impacts were probably low at both sites, whereas fires were more frequent at the presented site. The late Holocene, ca. 900 cal. BC to the present, was characterised by a progressive opening up of the woodlands, mainly by land use such as grazing and clearance by fire. This process started ca. 2400 cal. BC at the formerly studied site, where there were settlements already during the late Neolithic. At the presented site, which was mainly used as outland until Medieval Time, the woodlands gradually opened up about 1500 years later. Heather-dominated heathland formed ca. between 900 and 800 cal. BC at both sites. The twostudies show that insect data may contribute with valuable information on long term changes in woodland structures and disturbances.

In this paper, we discuss the contribution of a multi-proxy approach to the study of long-term forest dynamics and biodiversity (at the species to landscape levels), using the records from a palaeoecological investigation at Stavsåkra, province of Småland, southern Sweden. The results from all the proxies, i.e. beetles, pollen, plant macrofossils, charred plant remains, andmicroscopical and macroscopical charcoal, are compared. The study of all charred material has the advantage of providing valuable information on the local plants that burnt (charred plant remains) and a more robust reconstruction of the local fire history and its regional representativeness. The plant macrofossil analysis allows specifying the origin of pollen from plants that may grow either on the coring site (fen or bog) or in the surrounding vegetation on dry land. This is particularly crucial for the interpretation of pollen types such as Gramineae, Cyperaceae, and Ericaceae (Calluna, Empetrum and Vaccinium species). The origin of Calluna pollen (bog, forest floor or open heaths) is often difficult to establish with certainty. In this study, the total absence of Calluna remains in the plant macrofossil record, and theoccurrence of beetle species dependant on Calluna heath ecosystems from the Late Neolithic (ca. 2000 BC) suggest that Calluna pollen originated from the surrounding vegetation, probably from the under-storey of the pine forests in early Holocene, and from the Calluna heaths during late Holocene. The beetle record further strengthens the inferred fire history by providing findings of species dependant on fire and, therefore, confirms the existence ofrelatively large burnt areas. Moreover, the insect analysis provides information on vegetation characteristics that cannot be inferred from pollen and plant macrofossil with certainty - or cannot be inferred at all - such as the forest structure in terms of openness, sun exposure, occurrence of dead wood and old trees. The results at Stavsåkra demonstrate that disturbances such as fire, forest clearance, and grazing can have both positive and negative impacts onbiodiversity, depending on the character and intensity of the disturbance in both time and space, and on the type of biota concerned, in this case plants and beetles.