Vineyards, hopgardens and recent afforestation: effects of late Holocene land use change on soil erosion in northern Bavaria, Germany

Human impacts on soil erosion and landscape evolution during the late Holocene were quantified in a small catchment near the city of Bamberg in northern Bavaria, Germany. Along the valley of the Wolfsgraben, a 400-m-long ravine, a gully has been incised to a depth of 3 m into colluvial sediments. Field investigations and historical data are used to appraise geomorphic responses to land use changes. The first settlements in the region existed around 5000 BC. With the foundation of the Diocese of Bamberg in 1007 AD, more and more land was cleared. In the Wolfsgraben, vineyards, hopgardens and intensive forest use increased soil erosion resulting from heavy rainfall events. High−resolution stratigraphy, with archaeological dating of pottery and 14C dating of wood and charcoal indicated two main periods of gully erosion: during the 14th and in the late 18th and early 19th centuries AD. Almost 5 m of colluvial sediment cover the Triassic sandstone in the Wolfsgraben today. Land use changed with population density, hop production and decreasing soil fertility. Today, almost the whole catchment and the surrounding hills are covered with forest.