Human impact on Mediterranean wetland Coleoptera: an historical perspective at Tourves (Var, France)

Very little is known about the Neolithic human impact on the coleopteran fa una in the Mediterranean region. The site of Tourves provides an exceptiona l opportunity to document this major event in Provence because it offers a continuous upper Holocene sedimentary record, showing unambiguous pollen si gnals for anthropic activities during the Atlantic and Subboreal periods. T he level dated 4310 BP is marked by a drastic change in the coleopteran ass emblages: a rich marshy fauna is suddenly replaced by an impoverished fauna in which running-water elements suggest a change in the hydrological regim e, probably induced by drainage of the site which may be attributed to huma n activities. Some wetland species such as Odacantha melanura and Ceraphele s lateplagiatus, present below the level dated 4310 years BP, are now extin ct in the area.