1
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Schmidt MJ, Goldberg SL, Heckenberger M, Fausto C, Franchetto B, Watling J, Lima H, Moraes B, Dorshow WB, Toney J, Kuikuro Y, Waura K, Kuikuro H, Kuikuro TW, Kuikuro T, Kuikuro Y, Kuikuro A, Teixeira W, Rocha B, Honorato V, Tavares H, Magalhães M, Barbosa CA, da Fonseca JA, Mendes K, Alleoni LRF, Cerri CEP, Arroyo-Kalin M, Neves E, Perron JT. Intentional creation of carbon-rich dark earth soils in the Amazon. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh8499. [PMID: 37729404 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh8499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Fertile soil known as Amazonian dark earth is central to the debate over the size and ecological impact of ancient human populations in the Amazon. Dark earth is typically associated with human occupation, but it is uncertain whether it was created intentionally. Dark earth may also be a substantial carbon sink, but its spatial extent and carbon inventory are unknown. We demonstrate spatial and compositional similarities between ancient and modern dark earth and document modern Indigenous practices that enrich soil, which we use to propose a model for the formation of ancient dark earth. This comparison suggests that ancient Amazonians managed soil to improve fertility and increase crop productivity. These practices also sequestered and stored carbon in the soil for centuries, and we show that some ancient sites contain as much carbon as the above-ground rainforest biomass. Our results demonstrate the intentional creation of dark earth and highlight the value of Indigenous knowledge for sustainable rainforest management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan J Schmidt
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Laboratório de Estudos Interdisciplinares em Arqueologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil
| | - Samuel L Goldberg
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Carlos Fausto
- National Museum/ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Bruna Franchetto
- National Museum/ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Jennifer Watling
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | - Wetherbee B Dorshow
- Puente Institute, Nederland, CO, USA
- Earth Analytic Inc., Santa Fe, NM, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - Yamalui Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Kumessi Waura
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Huke Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Taku Wate Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Takumã Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Yahila Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | - Afukaka Kuikuro
- Kuikuro Indigenous Association of the Upper Xingu (AIKAX), Ipatse, MT, Brazil
| | | | - Bruna Rocha
- Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, PA, Brazil
| | | | - Hugo Tavares
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Kelton Mendes
- Tapera - Grupo de Estudos em Arqueologia Amazônica, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Eduardo Neves
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - J Taylor Perron
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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2
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Walker RS, Ferguson JR, Olmeda A, Hamilton MJ, Elghammer J, Buchanan B. Predicting the geographic distribution of ancient Amazonian archaeological sites with machine learning. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15137. [PMID: 37020851 PMCID: PMC10069417 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Amazonia has as least two major centers of ancient human social complexity, but the full geographic extents of these centers remain uncertain. Across the southern rim of Amazonia, over 1,000 earthwork sites comprised of fortified settlements, mound villages, and ditched enclosures with geometric designs known as geoglyphs have been discovered. Qualitatively distinct and densely located along the lower stretches of major river systems and the Atlantic coast are Amazonian Dark Earth sites (ADEs) with deep anthropogenic soils enriched by long-term human habitation. Models predicting the geographic extents of earthworks and ADEs can assist in their discovery and preservation and help answer questions about the full degree of indigenous landscape modifications across Amazonia. We classify earthworks versus ADEs versus other non-earthwork/non-ADE archaeological sites with multi-class machine learning algorithms using soils, climate, and distances to rivers of different types and sizes as geospatial predictors. Model testing is done with spatial cross-validation, and the best model at the optimal spatial scale of 1 km has an Area Under the Curve of 0.91. Our predictive model has led to the discovery of 13 new geoglyphs, and it pinpoints specific areas with high probabilities of undiscovered archaeological sites that are currently hidden by rainforests. The limited, albeit impressive, predicted extents of earthworks and ADEs means that other non-ADE/non-earthwork sites are expected to predominate most of Western and Northern Amazonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert S. Walker
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey R. Ferguson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO, United States of America
- Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO, United States of America
| | - Angelica Olmeda
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO, United States of America
| | - Marcus J. Hamilton
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States of America
| | - Jim Elghammer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO, United States of America
| | - Briggs Buchanan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, United States of America
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3
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Müller LM, Kipnis R, Ferreira MP, Marzo S, Fiedler B, Lucas M, Ilgner J, Silva HP, Roberts P. Late Holocene dietary and cultural variability on the Xingu River, Amazon Basin: A stable isotopic approach. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271545. [PMID: 35921285 PMCID: PMC9348659 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although once considered a 'counterfeit paradise', the Amazon Basin is now a region of increasing interest in discussions of pre-colonial tropical land-use and social complexity. Archaeobotany, archaeozoology, remote sensing and palaeoecology have revealed that, by the Late Holocene, populations in different parts of the Amazon Basin were using various domesticated plants, modifying soils, building earthworks, and even forming 'Garden Cities' along the Amazon River and its tributaries. However, there remains a relatively limited understanding as to how diets, environmental management, and social structures varied across this vast area. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis to human remains (n = 4 for collagen, n = 17 for tooth enamel), and associated fauna (n = 61 for collagen, n = 28 for tooth enamel), to directly determine the diets of populations living in the Volta Grande do Rio Xingu, an important region of pre-Columbian cultural interactions, between 390 cal. years BC and 1,675 cal. years AD. Our results highlight an ongoing dietary focus on C3 plants and wild terrestrial fauna and aquatic resources across sites and time periods, with varying integration of C4 plants (i.e. maize). We argue that, when compared to other datasets now available from elsewhere in the Amazon Basin, our study highlights the development of regional adaptations to local watercourses and forest types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letícia Morgana Müller
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
- Graduate Program in Anthropology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
- Scientia Consultoria Científica, São Paulo, São Paulo—SP, Brazil
| | - Renato Kipnis
- Scientia Consultoria Científica, São Paulo, São Paulo—SP, Brazil
| | - Mariane Pereira Ferreira
- Scientia Consultoria Científica, São Paulo, São Paulo—SP, Brazil
- Graduate Program in Archeology, Museum of Archaeology and Etnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sara Marzo
- The Roslin Institute & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Bianca Fiedler
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
| | - Mary Lucas
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
| | - Jana Ilgner
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
| | - Hilton P. Silva
- Graduate Program in Anthropology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
- isoTROPIC Independent Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (formerly the Science of Human History), Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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4
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Maezumi SY, Elliott S, Robinson M, Betancourt CJ, Gregorio de Souza J, Alves D, Grosvenor M, Hilbert L, Urrego DH, Gosling WD, Iriarte J. Legacies of Indigenous land use and cultural burning in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200499. [PMID: 35249381 PMCID: PMC8899619 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The southwestern Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (ARE) is the transitional landscape between the tropical forest and seasonally flooded savannahs of the Bolivian Llanos de Moxos. These heterogeneous landscapes harbour high levels of biodiversity and some of the earliest records of human occupation and plant domestication in Amazonia. While persistent Indigenous legacies have been demonstrated elsewhere in the Amazon, it is unclear how past human-environment interactions may have shaped vegetation composition and structure in the ARE. Here, we examine 6000 years of archaeological and palaeoecological data from Laguna Versalles (LV), Bolivia. LV was dominated by stable rainforest vegetation throughout the Holocene. Maize cultivation and cultural burning are present after ca 5700 cal yr BP. Polyculture cultivation of maize, manioc and leren after ca 3400 cal yr BP predates the formation of Amazonian Dark/Brown Earth (ADE/ABE) soils (approx. 2400 cal yr BP). ADE/ABE formation is associated with agroforestry indicated by increased edible palms, including Mauritia flexuosa and Attalea sp., and record levels of burning, suggesting that fire played an important role in agroforestry practices. The frequent use of fire altered ADE/ABD forest composition and structure by controlling ignitions, decreasing fuel loads and increasing the abundance of plants preferred by humans. Cultural burning and polyculture agroforestry provided a stable subsistence strategy that persisted despite pronounced climate change and cultural transformations and has an enduring legacy in ADE/ABE forests in the ARE. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Yoshi Maezumi
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1090N
| | - Sarah Elliott
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Mark Robinson
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK
| | | | | | - Daiana Alves
- Department of Anthropology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, PA-66075-110, Brazil
| | - Mark Grosvenor
- Department of Geography, King's College London, London WC2B 4BG, UK
| | - Lautaro Hilbert
- Laboratório de Arqueologia dos Trópicos, Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP-05508-070, Brazil
| | - Dunia H Urrego
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK
| | - William D Gosling
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1090N
| | - José Iriarte
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK
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5
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Fletcher MS, Hamilton R, Dressler W, Palmer L. Indigenous knowledge and the shackles of wilderness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2022218118. [PMID: 34580210 PMCID: PMC8501882 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022218118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The environmental crises currently gripping the Earth have been codified in a new proposed geological epoch: the Anthropocene. This epoch, according to the Anthropocene Working Group, began in the mid-20th century and reflects the "great acceleration" that began with industrialization in Europe [J. Zalasiewicz et al., Anthropocene 19, 55-60 (2017)]. Ironically, European ideals of protecting a pristine "wilderness," free from the damaging role of humans, is still often heralded as the antidote to this human-induced crisis [J. E. M. Watson et al., Nature, 563, 27-30 (2018)]. Despite decades of critical engagement by Indigenous and non-Indigenous observers, large international nongovernmental organizations, philanthropists, global institutions, and nation-states continue to uphold the notion of pristine landscapes as wilderness in conservation ideals and practices. In doing so, dominant global conservation policy and public perceptions still fail to recognize that Indigenous and local peoples have long valued, used, and shaped "high-value" biodiverse landscapes. Moreover, the exclusion of people from many of these places under the guise of wilderness protection has degraded their ecological condition and is hastening the demise of a number of highly valued systems. Rather than denying Indigenous and local peoples' agency, access rights, and knowledge in conserving their territories, we draw upon a series of case studies to argue that wilderness is an inappropriate and dehumanizing construct, and that Indigenous and community conservation areas must be legally recognized and supported to enable socially just, empowering, and sustainable conservation across scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael-Shawn Fletcher
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
- Indigenous Knowledge Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Rebecca Hamilton
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Wolfram Dressler
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Lisa Palmer
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
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6
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Abstract
The current biodiversity crisis is often depicted as a struggle to preserve untouched habitats. Here, we combine global maps of human populations and land use over the past 12,000 y with current biodiversity data to show that nearly three quarters of terrestrial nature has long been shaped by diverse histories of human habitation and use by Indigenous and traditional peoples. With rare exceptions, current biodiversity losses are caused not by human conversion or degradation of untouched ecosystems, but rather by the appropriation, colonization, and intensification of use in lands inhabited and used by prior societies. Global land use history confirms that empowering the environmental stewardship of Indigenous peoples and local communities will be critical to conserving biodiversity across the planet. Archaeological and paleoecological evidence shows that by 10,000 BCE, all human societies employed varying degrees of ecologically transformative land use practices, including burning, hunting, species propagation, domestication, cultivation, and others that have left long-term legacies across the terrestrial biosphere. Yet, a lingering paradigm among natural scientists, conservationists, and policymakers is that human transformation of terrestrial nature is mostly recent and inherently destructive. Here, we use the most up-to-date, spatially explicit global reconstruction of historical human populations and land use to show that this paradigm is likely wrong. Even 12,000 y ago, nearly three quarters of Earth’s land was inhabited and therefore shaped by human societies, including more than 95% of temperate and 90% of tropical woodlands. Lands now characterized as “natural,” “intact,” and “wild” generally exhibit long histories of use, as do protected areas and Indigenous lands, and current global patterns of vertebrate species richness and key biodiversity areas are more strongly associated with past patterns of land use than with present ones in regional landscapes now characterized as natural. The current biodiversity crisis can seldom be explained by the loss of uninhabited wildlands, resulting instead from the appropriation, colonization, and intensifying use of the biodiverse cultural landscapes long shaped and sustained by prior societies. Recognizing this deep cultural connection with biodiversity will therefore be essential to resolve the crisis.
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7
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Silva LCR, Corrêa RS, Wright JL, Bomfim B, Hendricks L, Gavin DG, Muniz AW, Martins GC, Motta ACV, Barbosa JZ, Melo VDF, Young SD, Broadley MR, Santos RV. A new hypothesis for the origin of Amazonian Dark Earths. Nat Commun 2021; 12:127. [PMID: 33397930 PMCID: PMC7782733 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20184-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are unusually fertile soils characterised by elevated concentrations of microscopic charcoal particles, which confer their distinctive colouration. Frequent occurrences of pre-Columbian artefacts at ADE sites led to their ubiquitous classification as Anthrosols (soils of anthropic origin). However, it remains unclear how indigenous peoples created areas of high fertility in one of the most nutrient-impoverished environments on Earth. Here, we report new data from a well-studied ADE site in the Brazilian Amazon, which compel us to reconsider its anthropic origin. The amounts of phosphorus and calcium-two of the least abundant macronutrients in the region-are orders of magnitude higher in ADE profiles than in the surrounding soil. The elevated levels of phosphorus and calcium, which are often interpreted as evidence of human activity at other sites, correlate spatially with trace elements that indicate exogenous mineral sources rather than in situ deposition. Stable isotope ratios of neodymium, strontium, and radiocarbon activity of microcharcoal particles also indicate exogenous inputs from alluvial deposition of carbon and mineral elements to ADE profiles, beginning several thousands of years before the earliest evidence of soil management for plant cultivation in the region. Our data suggest that indigenous peoples harnessed natural processes of landscape formation, which led to the unique properties of ADEs, but were not responsible for their genesis. If corroborated elsewhere, this hypothesis would transform our understanding of human influence in Amazonia, opening new frontiers for the sustainable use of tropical landscapes going forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas C R Silva
- Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA. .,Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
| | - Rodrigo Studart Corrêa
- Environmental Sciences Program - PPGCA/FUP, University of Brasília, Planaltina, DF, Brazil
| | - Jamie L Wright
- Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Barbara Bomfim
- Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Daniel G Gavin
- Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | | | - Gilvan Coimbra Martins
- Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - CPAA/Embrapa Amazônia Ocidental, Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Scott D Young
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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8
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Rutishauser E, Wright SJ, Condit R, Hubbell SP, Davies SJ, Muller-Landau HC. Testing for changes in biomass dynamics in large-scale forest datasets. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:1485-1498. [PMID: 31498520 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Tropical forest responses to climate and atmospheric change are critical to the future of the global carbon budget. Recent studies have reported increases in estimated above-ground biomass (EAGB) stocks, productivity, and mortality in old-growth tropical forests. These increases could reflect a shift in forest functioning due to global change and/or long-lasting recovery from past disturbance. We introduce a novel approach to disentangle the relative contributions of these mechanisms by decomposing changes in whole-plot biomass fluxes into contributions from changes in the distribution of gap-successional stages and changes in fluxes for a given stage. Using 30 years of forest dynamic data at Barro Colorado Island, Panama, we investigated temporal variation in EAGB fluxes as a function of initial EAGB (EAGBi ) in 10 × 10 m quadrats. Productivity and mortality fluxes both increased strongly with initial quadrat EAGB. The distribution of EAGB (and thus EAGBi ) across quadrats hardly varied over 30 years (and seven censuses). EAGB fluxes as a function of EAGBi varied largely and significantly among census intervals, with notably higher productivity in 1985-1990 associated with recovery from the 1982-1983 El Niño event. Variation in whole-plot fluxes among census intervals was explained overwhelmingly by variation in fluxes as a function of EAGBi , with essentially no contribution from changes in EAGBi distributions. The high observed temporal variation in productivity and mortality suggests that this forest is very sensitive to climate variability. There was no consistent long-term trend in productivity, mortality, or biomass in this forest over 30 years, although the temporal variability in productivity and mortality was so strong that it could well mask a substantial trend. Accurate prediction of future tropical forest carbon budgets will require accounting for disturbance-recovery dynamics and understanding temporal variability in productivity and mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
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9
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Neves EG, Heckenberger MJ. The Call of the Wild: Rethinking Food Production in Ancient Amazonia. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102218-011057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Amazon basin is accepted as an independent center of plant domestication in the world. A variety of important plants were domesticated in the Amazon and its surroundings; however, the majority of plants cultivated today in the Amazon are not domesticated, if this descriptor is understood to convey substantial genetic and phenotypic divergence from wild varieties or species. Rather, many domesticates are trees and tubers that occupy an intermediate stage between wild and domesticated, which seems to be a prevailing pattern since at least the middle Holocene, 6,000 years ago. Likewise, basin-wide inventories of trees show a remarkable pattern where a few species, called hyperdominant, are overrepresented in the record, including many varieties that are economically and symbolically important to traditional societies. Cultivation practices among indigenous groups in the Amazon are embedded in other dimensions of meaning that go beyond subsistence, and such entanglement between nature and culture has long been noticed at the conceptual level by anthropologists. This principle manifests itself in ancient and dynamic practices of landscape construction and transformation, which are seriously threatened today by the risks posed by economic development and climate change to Amazonian traditional societies and biomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo G. Neves
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-070, Brazil
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10
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Wubs ERJ, van der Putten WH, Mortimer SR, Korthals GW, Duyts H, Wagenaar R, Bezemer TM. Single introductions of soil biota and plants generate long-term legacies in soil and plant community assembly. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1145-1151. [PMID: 31020756 PMCID: PMC6850328 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent demonstrations of the role of plant–soil biota interactions have challenged the conventional view that vegetation changes are mainly driven by changing abiotic conditions. However, while this concept has been validated under natural conditions, our understanding of the long‐term consequences of plant–soil interactions for above‐belowground community assembly is restricted to mathematical and conceptual model projections. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that one‐time additions of soil biota and plant seeds alter soil‐borne nematode and plant community composition in semi‐natural grassland for 20 years. Over time, aboveground and belowground community composition became increasingly correlated, suggesting an increasing connectedness of soil biota and plants. We conclude that the initial composition of not only plant communities, but also soil communities has a long‐lasting impact on the trajectory of community assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R Jasper Wubs
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.,Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Nematology, P.O. Box 8123, 6700 ES, Wageningen, The Netherlands.,ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Sustainable Agroecosystems Group, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Wim H van der Putten
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.,Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Nematology, P.O. Box 8123, 6700 ES, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Simon R Mortimer
- The University of Reading, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, Reading, UK
| | - Gerard W Korthals
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Henk Duyts
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Roel Wagenaar
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - T Martijn Bezemer
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.,Leiden University, Institute of Biology, Section Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry, P.O. Box 9505, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
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11
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Determining Subarctic Peatland Vegetation Using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). REMOTE SENSING 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/rs10091498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Rising global temperatures tied to increases in greenhouse gas emissions are impacting high latitude regions, leading to changes in vegetation composition and feedbacks to climate through increased methane (CH4) emissions. In subarctic peatlands, permafrost collapse has led to shifts in vegetation species on landscape scales with high spatial heterogeneity. Our goal was to provide a baseline for vegetation distribution related to permafrost collapse and changes in biogeochemical processes. We collected unmanned aerial system (UAS) imagery at Stordalen Mire, Abisko, Sweden to classify vegetation cover types. A series of digital image processing routines were used to generate texture attributes within the image for the purpose of characterizing vegetative cover types. An artificial neural network (ANN) was developed to classify the image. The ANN used all texture variables and color bands (three spectral bands and six metrics) to generate a probability map for each of the eight cover classes. We used the highest probability for a class at each pixel to designate the cover type in the final map. Our overall misclassification rate was 32%, while omission and commission error by class ranged from 0% to 50%. We found that within our area of interest, cover classes most indicative of underlying permafrost (hummock and tall shrub) comprised 43.9% percent of the landscape. Our effort showed the capability of an ANN applied to UAS high-resolution imagery to develop a classification that focuses on vegetation types associated with permafrost status and therefore potentially changes in greenhouse gas exchange. We also used a method to examine the multiple probabilities representing cover class prediction at the pixel level to examine model confusion. UAS image collection can be inexpensive and a repeatable avenue to determine vegetation change at high latitudes, which can further be used to estimate and scale corresponding changes in CH4 emissions.
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Maezumi SY, Robinson M, de Souza J, Urrego DH, Schaan D, Alves D, Iriarte J. New Insights From Pre-Columbian Land Use and Fire Management in Amazonian Dark Earth Forests. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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