Abstract
A new reconstruction of Late Holocene biomass burning in the tropical Americas is consistent with the expansion of fire use by Mesoamerican and Amazonian agriculturalists and a subsequent period of fire reduction beginning ∼ 500 years BP. The marked reduction of biomass burning after ∼ 500 years BP, a unique feature of the fire history of the tropical Americas relative to other regions of the globe, is synchronous with the collapse of the American indigenous population during pandemics accompanying European conquest. We predict that fire reduction contemporaneous with pandemics in the tropical Americas was associated with massive forest regeneration on ∼ 5 × 10 5 km 2 of land and sequestration of 5–10 Gt C into the terrestrial biosphere, which contributed to the ∼ 2% global reduction in atmospheric CO 2 levels and the 0.1‰ increase in δ 13C of atmospheric CO 2 from 1500 to 1750 A.D. This study 1) builds upon prior fire history reconstructions by synthesizing a substantially greater number of stratigraphic charcoal accumulation records and soil charcoal 14C dates to resolve features of the Late Holocene biomass burning record in the tropical Americas; and 2) corroborates the hypothesis advanced by Ruddiman [Ruddiman, W.F., 2003. The Anthropogenic Era began thousands of years ago. Climatic Change 61, 261–293, Ruddiman, W.F., 2005. Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey] that biospheric carbon sequestration via reforestation of cropland abandoned during pandemics contributed to changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration during the past millennium.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.