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Witteveen NH, White C, Sanchez Martinez BA, Booij R, Philip A, Gosling WD, Bush MB, McMichael CNH. Phytolith assemblages reflect variability in human land use and the modern environment. VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY 2023; 33:221-236. [PMID: 38404455 PMCID: PMC10884070 DOI: 10.1007/s00334-023-00932-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Phytoliths preserved in soils and sediments can be used to provide unique insights into past vegetation dynamics in response to human and climate change. Phytoliths can reconstruct local vegetation in terrestrial soils where pollen grains typically decay, providing a range of markers (or lack thereof) that document past human activities. The ca. 6 million km2 of Amazonian forests have relatively few baseline datasets documenting changes in phytolith representation across gradients of human disturbances. Here we show that phytolith assemblages vary on local scales across a gradient of (modern) human disturbance in tropical rainforests of Suriname. Detrended correspondence analysis showed that the phytolith assemblages found in managed landscapes (shifting cultivation and a garden), unmanaged forests, and abandoned reforesting sites were clearly distinguishable from intact forests and from each other. Our results highlight the sensitivity and potential of phytoliths to be used in reconstructing successional trajectories after site usage and abandonment. Percentages of specific phytolith morphotypes were also positively correlated with local palm abundances derived from UAV data, and with biomass estimated from MODIS satellite imagery. This baseline dataset provides an index of likely changes that can be observed at other sites that indicate past human activities and long-term forest recovery in Amazonia. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00334-023-00932-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina H. Witteveen
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Cheryl White
- Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Anton de Kom University, Universiteitscomplex, Gebouw 7, Leysweg 86, Paramaribo, Suriname
| | - Barbara A. Sanchez Martinez
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Roemer Booij
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Annemarie Philip
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - William D. Gosling
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Mark B. Bush
- Institute for Global Ecology, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901 USA
| | - Crystal N. H. McMichael
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Heijink BM, Mattijs QA, Valencia R, Philip AL, Piperno DR, McMichael CNH. Long‐term fire and vegetation change in northwestern Amazonia. Biotropica 2022; 55:197-209. [PMID: 37081906 PMCID: PMC10108220 DOI: 10.1111/btp.13175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Amazonian forest plots are used to quantify biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and provide the foundation for much of what is known about tropical ecology. Many plots are assumed to be undisturbed, but recent work suggests that past fire, forest openings, and cultivation created vegetation changes that have persisted for decades to centuries (ecological legacies). The Yasuní Forest Dynamics plot is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, yet its human history remains unknown. Here, we use charcoal and phytolith analysis to investigate the fire and vegetation history of the Yasuní forest plot, and compare results with nearby forest plots in Colombia (Amacayacu) and Peru (Medio Putumayo-Algodón [MPA]) to explore the spatial variability of past disturbances and ecological legacies in northwestern Amazonia. Three 14C dated charcoal fragments provided evidence for a modern (1956 CE) and a past fire event ca. 750 years ago at Yasuní, compared with fire ages of 1000-1600 years ago documented at Amacayacu and MPA. Small-scale disturbances and localized canopy openings also occurred in the Yasuní plot. Phytolith assemblages from Yasuní and Amacayacu showed more variability in past vegetation change than MPA. Low-intensity, non-continuous disturbances occurred at all three plots in the past, and our results highlight the variability of past human activities both in space and time in northwestern Amazonia. Our data also suggest that post-Columbian human disturbances from the Rubber Boom (AD 1850-1920) and subsequent oil exploration have likely left stronger ecological legacies than those left by pre-Columbian peoples in our studied regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Britte M. Heijink
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Quinten A. Mattijs
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Renato Valencia
- Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Quito Ecuador
| | - Annemarie L. Philip
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Dolores R. Piperno
- Department of Anthropology Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Washington District of Columbia USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama
| | - Crystal N. H. McMichael
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
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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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Coelho SD, Levis C, Baccaro FB, Figueiredo FOG, Pinassi Antunes A, ter Steege H, Peña-Claros M, Clement CR, Schietti J. Eighty-four per cent of all Amazonian arboreal plant individuals are useful to humans. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257875. [PMID: 34597306 PMCID: PMC8486103 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants have been used in Amazonian forests for millennia and some of these plants are disproportionally abundant (hyperdominant). At local scales, people generally use the most abundant plants, which may be abundant as the result of management of indigenous peoples and local communities. However, it is unknown whether plant use is also associated with abundance at larger scales. We used the population sizes of 4,454 arboreal species (trees and palms) estimated from 1946 forest plots and compiled information about uses from 29 Amazonian ethnobotany books and articles published between 1926 and 2013 to investigate the relationship between species usefulness and their population sizes, and how this relationship is influenced by the degree of domestication of arboreal species across Amazonia. We found that half of the arboreal species (2,253) are useful to humans, which represents 84% of the estimated individuals in Amazonian forests. Useful species have mean populations sizes six times larger than non-useful species, and their abundance is related with the probability of usefulness. Incipiently domesticated species are the most abundant. Population size was weakly related to specific uses, but strongly related with the multiplicity of uses. This study highlights the enormous usefulness of Amazonian arboreal species for local peoples. Our findings support the hypothesis that the most abundant plant species have a greater chance to be useful at both local and larger scales, and suggest that although people use the most abundant plants, indigenous people and local communities have contributed to plant abundance through long-term management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara D. Coelho
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Fabrício B. Baccaro
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Fernando O. G. Figueiredo
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - André Pinassi Antunes
- RedeFauna - Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Hans ter Steege
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Systems Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marielos Peña-Claros
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Charles R. Clement
- Coordenação de Tecnologia e Inovação, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Juliana Schietti
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
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Ferreira E, Kalliola R, Ruokolainen K. Bamboo, climate change and forest use: A critical combination for southwestern Amazonian forests? AMBIO 2020; 49:1353-1363. [PMID: 31797166 PMCID: PMC7240005 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-019-01299-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2019] [Revised: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
About 160 000 km2 of forests in the border zone between Brazil and Peru are dominated by semi-scandent bamboos (Guadua spp.). We argue that both predicted decreased precipitation during the dry season and widespread anthropogenic disturbances will significantly increase the distribution and biomass of bamboos in the area. Seasonal dryness favours the growth of evergreen bamboos in relation to trees that shed their leaves during the dry season. Disturbance can be beneficial for the bamboo because, as a clonal plant, it is often able to recover more rapidly than trees. It also withstands dry season better than many trees. The bamboo life cycle ends in a mass mortality event every 28 years, producing potential fuel for a forest fire. Presently, natural forest fires hardly exist in the area. However, in the projected future climate with more pronounced dry season and with increased fuel load after bamboo die-off events the forests may start to catch fire that has escaped from inhabited areas or even started naturally. Fires can kill trees, thus further increasing the fuel load of the forest. As a result, the landscape may start to convert to a savanna ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evandro Ferreira
- Research Center of INPA in Acre, Estrada Dias Martins, 3868, Chácara Ipê, 69, Rio Branco, Acre 917-560 Brazil
| | - Risto Kalliola
- Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
| | - Kalle Ruokolainen
- Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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6
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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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Odonne G, van den Bel M, Burst M, Brunaux O, Bruno M, Dambrine E, Davy D, Desprez M, Engel J, Ferry B, Freycon V, Grenand P, Jérémie S, Mestre M, Molino JF, Petronelli P, Sabatier D, Hérault B. Long-term influence of early human occupations on current forests of the Guiana Shield. Ecology 2019; 100:e02806. [PMID: 31257578 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
To decipher the long-term influences of pre-Columbian land occupations on contemporary forest structure, diversity, and functioning in Amazonia, most of the previous research focused on the alluvial plains of the major rivers of the Amazon basin. Terra firme, that is, nonflooded forests, particularly from the Guiana Shield, are yet to be explored. In this study, we aim to give new insights into the subtle traces of pre-Columbian influences on present-day forests given the archaeological context of terra firme forests of the Guiana Shield. Following archaeological prospects on 13 sites in French Guiana, we carried out forest inventories inside and outside archaeological sites and assessed the potential pre-Columbian use of the sampled tree species using an original ethnobotanical database of the Guiana Shield region. Aboveground biomass (320 and 380 T/ha, respectively), basal area (25-30 and 30-35 m2 /ha, respectively), and tree density (550 and 700 stem/ha, respectively) were all significantly lower on anthropized plots (As) than on nonanthropized plots (NAs). Ancient human presence shaped the species composition of the sampled forests with Arecaceae, Burseraceae, and Lauraceae significantly more frequent in As and Annonaceae and Lecythidaceae more frequent in NAs. Although alpha diversity was not different between As and NAs, the presence of pre-Columbian sites enhances significantly the forest beta diversity at the landscape level. Finally, trees with edible fruits are positively associated with pre-Columbian sites, whereas trees used for construction or for their bark are negatively associated with pre-Columbian sites. Half a millennium after their abandonment, former occupied places from the inner Guiana Shield still bear noticeable differences with nonanthropized places. Considering the lack of data concerning archaeology of terra firme Amazonian forests, our results suggest that pre-Columbian influences on the structure (lower current biomass), diversity (higher beta diversity), and composition (linked to the past human tree uses) of current Amazonian forests might be more important than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Odonne
- LEEISA (Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens), CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Martijn van den Bel
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Maxime Burst
- UMR 1434 Silva, Faculté des Sciences et Technologies, Université de Lorraine-AgroParisTech-INRA, 54506, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France
| | - Olivier Brunaux
- ONF-Guyane, Réserve de Montabo, 97307, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Miléna Bruno
- LEEISA (Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens), CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Etienne Dambrine
- Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, INRA, CARRTEL, 74200, Thonon-les-Bains, France
| | - Damien Davy
- LEEISA (Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens), CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Mathilde Desprez
- Cirad, UMR Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (AgroParisTech, CNRS, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane), 97310, Kourou, France
| | - Julien Engel
- Department of Biological Sciences, International Center for Tropical Botany, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA.,AMAP, IRD, Cirad, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, 34000, Montpellier, France
| | - Bruno Ferry
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Vincent Freycon
- Cirad, UR Forests and Societies, Université Montpellier, 34000, Montpellier, France
| | - Pierre Grenand
- LEEISA (Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens), CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Sylvie Jérémie
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Mickael Mestre
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, 97300, Cayenne, French Guiana
| | - Jean-François Molino
- AMAP, IRD, Cirad, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, 34000, Montpellier, France
| | - Pascal Petronelli
- Cirad, UMR Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (AgroParisTech, CNRS, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane), 97310, Kourou, France
| | - Daniel Sabatier
- AMAP, IRD, Cirad, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, 34000, Montpellier, France
| | - Bruno Hérault
- Cirad, UR Forests and Societies, Université Montpellier, 34000, Montpellier, France.,Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouet-Boigny (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
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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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9
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Watling J, Shock MP, Mongeló GZ, Almeida FO, Kater T, De Oliveira PE, Neves EG. Direct archaeological evidence for Southwestern Amazonia as an early plant domestication and food production centre. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0199868. [PMID: 30044799 PMCID: PMC6059402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Southwestern Amazonia is considered an early centre of plant domestication in the New World, but most of the evidence for this hypothesis comes from genetic data since systematic archaeological fieldwork in the area is recent. This paper provides first-hand archaeobotanical evidence of food production from early and middle Holocene (ca. 9,000-5000 cal. BP) deposits at Teotonio, an open-air site located on a 40 m-high bluff on the south bank of the Madeira river. Such evidence includes the presence of local and exotic domesticates such as manioc (Manihot esculenta), squash (Cucurbita sp.) and beans (Phaseolus sp.), alongside edible fruits such as pequiá (Caryocar sp.) and guava (Psidium sp.) that point to the beginnings of landscape domestication. The results contribute to an ever-growing number of studies that posit southwest Amazonia as an important centre for early crop domestication and experimentation, and which highlight the longue-durée of human impacts on tropical forest biodiversity around the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Watling
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Myrtle P. Shock
- Anthropology and Archaeology Program, Institute of Social Science, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Pará, Brazil
| | | | - Fernando O. Almeida
- Department of Archaeology, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracajú, Sergipe, Brazil
| | - Thiago Kater
- Department of Archaeology, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracajú, Sergipe, Brazil
| | - Paulo E. De Oliveira
- Institute of Geosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Botany, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Eduardo G. Neves
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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10
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Levis C, Flores BM, Moreira PA, Luize BG, Alves RP, Franco-Moraes J, Lins J, Konings E, Peña-Claros M, Bongers F, Costa FRC, Clement CR. How People Domesticated Amazonian Forests. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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11
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Palace MW, McMichael CNH, Braswell BH, Hagen SC, Bush MB, Neves E, Tamanaha E, Herrick C, Frolking S. Ancient Amazonian populations left lasting impacts on forest structure. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- M. W. Palace
- Earth Systems Research Center; Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire 03834 USA
- Department of Earth Science; College of Engineering and Physical Sciences; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire 03834 USA
| | - C. N. H. McMichael
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics; University of Amsterdam; 904 Science Park 1098XH Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - B. H. Braswell
- Earth Systems Research Center; Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire 03834 USA
- Applied GeoSolutions; 55 Main Street, Suite 125 Newmarket New Hampshire 03857 USA
| | - S. C. Hagen
- Applied GeoSolutions; 55 Main Street, Suite 125 Newmarket New Hampshire 03857 USA
| | - M. B. Bush
- Department of Biological Sciences; Florida Institute of Technology; 150 W. University Boulevard Melbourne Florida 32901 USA
| | - E. Neves
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia; Universidade de São Paulo; Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, 1466 Sao Paulo Sao Paulo 05508-070 Brazil
| | - E. Tamanaha
- Laboratório de Arqueologia; Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá; Estrada do Bexiga, 2.584, Bairro Fonte Boa Tefé Amazonas 69553-225 Brazil
| | - C. Herrick
- Earth Systems Research Center; Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire 03834 USA
| | - S. Frolking
- Earth Systems Research Center; Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire 03834 USA
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Levis C, Costa FRC, Bongers F, Peña-Claros M, Clement CR, Junqueira AB, Neves EG, Tamanaha EK, Figueiredo FOG, Salomão RP, Castilho CV, Magnusson WE, Phillips OL, Guevara JE, Sabatier D, Molino JF, López DC, Mendoza AM, Pitman NCA, Duque A, Vargas PN, Zartman CE, Vasquez R, Andrade A, Camargo JL, Feldpausch TR, Laurance SGW, Laurance WF, Killeen TJ, Nascimento HEM, Montero JC, Mostacedo B, Amaral IL, Guimarães Vieira IC, Brienen R, Castellanos H, Terborgh J, Carim MDJV, Guimarães JRDS, Coelho LDS, Matos FDDA, Wittmann F, Mogollón HF, Damasco G, Dávila N, García-Villacorta R, Coronado ENH, Emilio T, Filho DDAL, Schietti J, Souza P, Targhetta N, Comiskey JA, Marimon BS, Marimon BH, Neill D, Alonso A, Arroyo L, Carvalho FA, de Souza FC, Dallmeier F, Pansonato MP, Duivenvoorden JF, Fine PVA, Stevenson PR, Araujo-Murakami A, Aymard C. GA, Baraloto C, do Amaral DD, Engel J, Henkel TW, Maas P, Petronelli P, Revilla JDC, Stropp J, Daly D, Gribel R, Paredes MR, Silveira M, Thomas-Caesar R, Baker TR, da Silva NF, Ferreira LV, Peres CA, Silman MR, Cerón C, Valverde FC, Di Fiore A, Jimenez EM, Mora MCP, Toledo M, Barbosa EM, Bonates LCDM, Arboleda NC, Farias EDS, Fuentes A, Guillaumet JL, Jørgensen PM, Malhi Y, de Andrade Miranda IP, Phillips JF, Prieto A, Rudas A, Ruschel AR, Silva N, von Hildebrand P, Vos VA, Zent EL, Zent S, Cintra BBL, Nascimento MT, Oliveira AA, Ramirez-Angulo H, Ramos JF, Rivas G, Schöngart J, Sierra R, Tirado M, van der Heijden G, Torre EV, Wang O, Young KR, Baider C, Cano A, Farfan-Rios W, Ferreira C, Hoffman B, Mendoza C, Mesones I, Torres-Lezama A, Medina MNU, van Andel TR, Villarroel D, Zagt R, Alexiades MN, Balslev H, Garcia-Cabrera K, Gonzales T, Hernandez L, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco I, Manzatto AG, Milliken W, Cuenca WP, Pansini S, Pauletto D, Arevalo FR, Reis NFC, Sampaio AF, Giraldo LEU, Sandoval EHV, Gamarra LV, Vela CIA, ter Steege H. Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science 2017; 355:925-931. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aal0157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 306] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Ancient human disturbances may be skewing our understanding of Amazonian forests. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:522-527. [PMID: 28049821 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1614577114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the Amazon rainforest houses much of Earth's biodiversity and plays a major role in the global carbon budget, estimates of tree biodiversity originate from fewer than 1,000 forest inventory plots, and estimates of carbon dynamics are derived from fewer than 200 recensus plots. It is well documented that the pre-European inhabitants of Amazonia actively transformed and modified the forest in many regions before their population collapse around 1491 AD; however, the impacts of these ancient disturbances remain entirely unaccounted for in the many highly influential studies using Amazonian forest plots. Here we examine whether Amazonian forest inventory plot locations are spatially biased toward areas with high probability of ancient human impacts. Our analyses reveal that forest inventory plots, and especially forest recensus plots, in all regions of Amazonia are located disproportionately near archaeological evidence and in areas likely to have ancient human impacts. Furthermore, regions of the Amazon that are relatively oversampled with inventory plots also contain the highest values of predicted ancient human impacts. Given the long lifespan of Amazonian trees, many forest inventory and recensus sites may still be recovering from past disturbances, potentially skewing our interpretations of forest dynamics and our understanding of how these forests are responding to global change. Empirical data on the human history of forest inventory sites are crucial for determining how past disturbances affect modern patterns of forest composition and carbon flux in Amazonian forests.
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