A recent Cannabis pollen increase on the Iberian Pyrenees
Rull, Valentí (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	The continuous, varved and absolutely dated sedimentary record of Lake Montcortès (Iberian Pyrenees) has provided evidence for a distinct and characteristic 20th century (1980s) increase in Cannabis pollen (20C) that persists today. This event was coeval with the geographical shift of the hemp production center in the Iberian Peninsula from east to northeast (where Lake Montcortès lies), which was accompanied by a significant production increase. This increasing trend was fostered by the renewed interest of the paper industry in hemp and was promoted by the onset of European Union subsidies to hemp cultivation. Illegal cannabis crops could have also contributed to the Cannabis pollen increase, but sound evidence is still lacking. These preliminary conclusions should be reinforced by increasing the resolution of the current palynological record and modeling the dispersal of Cannabis pollen around the Montcortès region. More similar high-resolution records are needed to verify the geographical extent of the 20C event. Additionally, Lake Montcortès varved sediments are proposed as a suitable candidate to characterize the onset of the "Anthropocene" epoch (mid-20th century), as currently defined by the Anthropocene Working Group.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL 2012-3665 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL 2017-85682-R
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Cannabis ; Hemp ; Pollen ; Cultivation ; Retting ; 20th century ; Pyrenees ; Iberian Peninsula
Published in:	Science of the total environment, Vol. 886 (August 2023) , art. 163947, ISSN 1879-1026

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163947

6 p, 1.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles