Forest conservation: Humans' handprints.

Abstract

Neotropical forests have been home to humans since the end of the Pleistocene, and large pre-Columbian societies emerged in tropical dry forests in Central and South America and in wetter forests of the Amazon basin during the past several millennia. The role of humans in shaping species distributions, however, tends to be overlooked in ecological studies. For example, in their Research Article analyzing the largest data set of floristic inventories in neotropical dry forests (“Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications,” 23 September 2016, p. [1383][1]), DRYFLOR et al. mentioned humans occasionally, but not as a potential driver of the patterns observed. Although DRYFLOR et al. showed neotropical dry forests to be dominated by woody plant species with geographically restricted distributions, 17 of the 4660 species recorded were widespread across dry forests, occurring in at least 9 of 12 floristic groups. Interestingly, 8 of these 17 widespread species are known to be cultivated today ([ 1 ][2]), and two of those have populations that were cultivated and probably domesticated by pre-Columbian societies ( Sapindus saponaria and Trema micrantha ) ([ 1 ][2]). Surprisingly, all eight widespread species of the dry biome that were cultivated by past or modern Amerindians also occur in Amazonian forests ([ 2 ][3]). Amazonian forests are partly dominated by useful species, a pattern that might result from past management activities ([ 2 ][3]). The widespread distribution of cultivated and/or domesticated species across wet and dry biomes suggests that human-plant interactions transcend ecological boundaries and supports the hypothesis of a substantial effect of past human societies in shaping plant distributions across the neotropics. Accordingly, it is important that ecological studies take into account the potential role of prehistorical and historical human dispersal as a driver of plant distributions within and among neotropical biomes. ![Figure][4] Trema micrantha has been cultivated in both tropical dry forests and Amazonian forests. PHOTO: ALEX POPOVKIN/FLICKR 1. [↵][5]The Mansfeld's World Database of Agriculture and Horticultural Crops ( ). 2. [↵][6]1. H. terSteege, et al ., Science 342, 1243092 (2013). [OpenUrl][7][Abstract/FREE Full Text][8] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf5080 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: pending:yes [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [6]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DScience%26rft.stitle%253DScience%26rft.aulast%253Dter%2BSteege%26rft.auinit1%253DH.%26rft.volume%253D342%26rft.issue%253D6156%26rft.spage%253D1243092%26rft.epage%253D1243092%26rft.atitle%253DHyperdominance%2Bin%2Bthe%2BAmazonian%2BTree%2BFlora%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1126%252Fscience.1243092%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24136971%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6Mzoic2NpIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjE2OiIzNDIvNjE1Ni8xMjQzMDkyIjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MjI6Ii9zY2kvMzU1LzYzMjQvNDY2LmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==