Abstract
AimsThe extent and persistence of pre-Columbian human legacies in old-growth Amazonian forests are still controversial, partly because modern societies re-occupied old settlements, challenging the distinction between pre- and post-Columbian legacies. Here, we compared the effects of pre-Columbian vs. recent landscape domestication processes on soils and vegetation in two Amazonian regions.MethodsWe studied forest landscapes at varying distances from pre-Columbian and current settlements inside protected areas occupied by traditional and indigenous peoples in the lower Tapajós and the upper-middle Madeira river basins. By conducting 69 free-listing interviews, participatory mappings, guided-tours, 27 forest inventories, and soil analysis, we assessed the influences of pre-Columbian and current activities in soils and plant resources surrounding the settlements.ResultsIn both regions, we found that pre-Columbian villages were more densely distributed across the landscape than current villages. Soil nutrients (mainly Ca and P) were higher closer to pre-Columbian villages but were generally not related to current villages, suggesting past soil fertilization. Soil charcoal was frequent in all forests, suggesting frequent fire events. The density of domesticated plants used for food increased in phosphorus enriched soils. In contrast, the density of plants used for construction decreased near current villages.ConclusionsWe detected a significant effect of past soil fertilization on food resources over extensive areas, supporting the hypothesis that pre-Columbian landscape domestication left persistent marks on Amazonian landscapes. Our results suggest that a combination of pre-Columbian phosphorus fertilization with past and current management drives plant resource availability in old-growth forests.
Highlights
The extraordinary capacity of human societies to domesticate landscapes has promoted global alterations in natural ecological processes, ecosystems and species distributions (Boivin et al 2016)
We detected a significant effect of past soil fertilization on food resources over extensive areas, supporting the hypothesis that pre-Columbian landscape domestication left persistent marks on Amazonian landscapes
Our results suggest that a combination of preColumbian phosphorus fertilization with past and current management drives plant resource availability in old-growth forests
Summary
The extraordinary capacity of human societies to domesticate landscapes has promoted global alterations in natural ecological processes, ecosystems and species distributions (Boivin et al 2016). Landscape domestication is defined as a continuum of land transformations by humans extending from semi-natural landscapes to cultivated lands and densely settled areas (Clement 1999; Ellis 2015; Clement and Cassino 2018) in which human manipulation of species populations and soil properties resulted in more secure and productive areas (Clement 1999; Erickson 2008). Evidence of landscape domestication has been found in extensive areas that - to the untrained eye - may seem natural (van Gemerden et al 2003; Dambrine et al 2007; Ross 2011; Levis et al 2017). In Mesoamerican forests, a higher abundance of plant species used by Maya people for daily needs persists in densely-settled forest areas even after
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