Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition

Levis, Carolina; Costa, Fl�via R.C.; Bongers, Frans; Pe�a-Claros, Marielos; Clement, Charles R.; Junqueira, Andr� B.; Neves, Eduardo G.; Tamanaha, Eduardo K.; Figueiredo, Fernando O.G.; Salom�o, Rafael P.; Castilho, Carolina V.; Magnusson, William E.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Guevara, Juan Ernesto; Sabatier, Daniel; Molino, Jean-Fran�ois; C�rdenas L�pez, Dairon; Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel; Pitman, Nigel C.A.; Duque, Alvaro; N��ez Vargas, Percy; Zartman, Charles Eugene; Vasquez, Rodolfo; Andrade, Ana; Camargo, Jos� Lu�s; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Laurance, Susan G.W.; Laurance, William F.; Killeen, Timothy J.; Mendon�a Nascimento, Henrique Eduardo; Montero, Juan Carlos; Mostacedo, Bonifacio; Le�o Amaral, I�da; van der Heijden, Geertje; Guimar�es Vieira, Ima C�lia; van der Heijden, Geertje; ter Steege, Hans

Abstract

The extent to which pre-Columbian societies altered Amazonian landscapes is hotly debated. We performed a basin-wide analysis of pre-Columbian impacts on Amazonian forests by overlaying known archaeological sites in Amazonia with the distributions and abundances of 85 woody species domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples. Domesticated species are five times more likely to be hyperdominant than non-domesticated species. Across the basin the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species increases in forests on and around archaeological sites. In southwestern and eastern Amazonia distance to archaeological sites strongly influences the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species. Our analyses indicate that modern tree communities in Amazonia are structured to an important extent by a long history of plant domestication by Amazonian peoples.

Citation

Levis, C., Costa, F. R., Bongers, F., Peña-Claros, M., Clement, C. R., Junqueira, A. B., …ter Steege, H. (2017). Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science, 355(6328), 925-931. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal0157

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 25, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 4, 2017
• Journal: Science
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 355
• Issue: 6328
• Pages: 925-931
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal0157
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/848161
• Publisher URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6328/925
• Additional Information: This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on 3rd of March, vol. 355, no. 6328, p. 925-931; DOI:10.1126/science.aal0157; ; 94 authors in total