IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/climat/v176y2023i2d10.1007_s10584-022-03474-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climatic controls on the survival and loss of ancient types of barley on North Atlantic Islands

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Martin

    (Agronomy Institute, Orkney College UHI)

  • Terence A. Brown

    (Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester)

  • Timothy S. George

    (The James Hutton Institute)

  • Björn Gunnarson

    (Stockholm University)

  • Neil J. Loader

    (Swansea University)

  • Paul Ross

    (University of St Andrews)

  • John Wishart

    (Agronomy Institute, Orkney College UHI)

  • Rob Wilson

    (University of St Andrews)

Abstract

For ancient types of barley at sites in the Scottish Isles, Faroes, and Iceland, we calculated minimum temperature requirements for grain production (grain production threshold, GPT) as accumulated degree days over the cropping season. Site suitability for barley from AD 1200 to 2000 was investigated by comparing these thresholds with reconstructions of annual cropping season degree days (CSDD) using temperature and tree-ring data. In Iceland, between AD 1200 and 1500, reconstructed CSDD were more favorable in the southwest (Reykjavik), with fewer years below the GPT, than in the North, East and West, but there were two periods (1340–1389 and 1426–1475) with low average CSDD and several years below the GPT which possibly influenced the abandonment of barley cultivation around this time. Reconstructed CSDD for the Faroes (Tórshavn) had only one year below the GPT, but 15 periods of four or more consecutive years with low CSDD which would have challenged barley cultivation, especially in the thirteenth century. Reconstructed CSDD were highest for the Scottish Isles, allowing a more prominent role of barley in the farming system and economy. Nevertheless, years with poor harvests or famines were common and about half were associated with low CSDD, resulting in a significant temperature link but also demonstrating the important contribution of other factors. Despite frequent unfavorable years in both the Faroes and Scottish Isles, resilient production systems, well-adapted barley strains and socio-economic factors allowed barley cultivation to continue, and some ancient types to survive to the present day.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Martin & Terence A. Brown & Timothy S. George & Björn Gunnarson & Neil J. Loader & Paul Ross & John Wishart & Rob Wilson, 2023. "Climatic controls on the survival and loss of ancient types of barley on North Atlantic Islands," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:176:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-022-03474-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-022-03474-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-022-03474-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10584-022-03474-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ole Humlum & Hanne H. Christiansen, 1998. "Mountain climate and periglacial phenomena in the Faeroe Islands," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 189-211, July.
    2. Mike J. Church & Símun V. Arge & Seth Brewington & Thomas H. McGovern & Jim M Woollett & Sophia Perdikaris & Ian T. Lawson & Gordon T. Cook & Colin Amundsen & Ramona Harrison & Yekaterina Krivogorskay, 2005. "Puffins, Pigs, Cod and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands," Environmental Archaeology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 179-197, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ragnheiður Bogadóttir, 2020. "The Social Metabolism of Quiet Sustainability in the Faroe Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Zbyněk Engel & Marek Křížek & Régis Braucher & Tomáš Uxa & David Krause & AsterTeam, 2021. "10Be exposure age for sorted polygons in the Sudetes Mountains," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 154-168, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:176:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-022-03474-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.