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Hussain ST, Baumann C. The human side of biodiversity: coevolution of the human niche, palaeo-synanthropy and ecosystem complexity in the deep human past. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230021. [PMID: 38583478 PMCID: PMC10999276 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Today's biodiversity crisis fundamentally threatens the habitability of the planet, thus ranking among the primary human challenges of our time. Much emphasis is currently placed on the loss of biodiversity in the Anthropocene, yet these debates often portray biodiversity as a purely natural phenomenon without much consideration of its human dimensions and frequently lack long-term vistas. This paper offers a deep-time perspective on the key role of the evolving human niche in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity dynamics. We summarize research on past hunter-gatherer ecosystem contributions and argue that human-environment feedback systems with important biodiversity consequences are probably a recurrent feature of the Late Pleistocene, perhaps with even deeper roots. We update current understandings of the human niche in this light and suggest that the formation of palaeo-synanthropic niches in other animals proffers a powerful model system to investigate recursive interactions of foragers and ecosystems. Archaeology holds important knowledge here and shows that ecosystem contributions vary greatly in relation to different human lifeways, some of which are lost today. We therefore recommend paying more attention to the intricate relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity, contending that promotion of the former depends on fostering the latter. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon T. Hussain
- MESH – Center for Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities & Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Weyertal 59, 50937 Cologne, Germany
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark
- BIOCHANGE – Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Chris Baumann
- Biogeology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, PL 64 (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Dias TDC, Silveira LF, Francisco MR. Spatiotemporal dynamics reveals forest rejuvenation, fragmentation, and edge effects in an Atlantic Forest hotspot, the Pernambuco Endemism Center, northeastern Brazil. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291234. [PMID: 37682943 PMCID: PMC10490850 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Large forested tracts are increasingly rare in the tropics, where conservation managers are often presented with the challenge of preserving biodiversity in small and isolated fragments. The Atlantic Forest is one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots, jeopardized by habitat loss and fragmentation. The Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC) is the most degraded of the Atlantic Forest regions and because of the dramatic levels of deforestation, fragmentation, and ongoing species losses, studies on the distribution and configuration of the PEC's forest cover are necessary. However, across dynamic tropical landscapes, investigating changes over time is essential because it may reveal trends in forest quality attributes. Here, we used Google Earth Engine to assess land use and land cover data from MapBiomas ranging from 1985 to 2020 to calculate current landscape metrics and to reveal for the first time the spatiotemporal dynamics of the PEC's forests. We identified a forest cover area that ranged from 571,661 ha in 1985 to 539,877 ha in 2020, and about 90% of the fragments were smaller than 10 ha. The average fragment size was about 11 ha, and only four fragments had more than 5,000 ha. Deforestation was mostly concentrated in northern Alagoas, southern Pernambuco, and non-coastal Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. On average, borders represented 53.6% of the forests from 1985 to 2020, and younger forests covered 52.3% of the area in 2017, revealing a vegetation rejuvenation process 2.5 times higher than in total Atlantic Forest. In 2017, older forest cores in fragments larger than 1000 ha (i.e., higher-quality habitats) represented only 12% of the remaining forests. We recommend that the amount of forest cover alone may poorly assist conservation managers, and our results indicate that ensuring legal protection and increasing surveillance of the PEC's few last higher-quality habitats is urgently needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago da Costa Dias
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luís Fábio Silveira
- Seção de Aves, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mercival Roberto Francisco
- Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Campus de Sorocaba, Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil
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Fossile T, Herbst DF, McGrath K, Toso A, Giannini PCF, Milheira RG, Gilson SP, Ferreira J, Bandeira DDR, Haimovici M, Ceretta B, Bender MG, Colonese AC. Bridging archaeology and marine conservation in the Neotropics. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285951. [PMID: 37228060 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic impacts on tropical and subtropical coastal environments are increasing at an alarming rate, compromising ecosystem functions, structures and services. Understanding the scale of marine population decline and diversity loss requires a long-term perspective that incorporates information from a range of sources. The Southern Atlantic Ocean represents a major gap in our understanding of pre-industrial marine species composition. Here we begin to fill this gap by performing an extensive review of the published data on Middle and Late Holocene marine fish remains along the southern coast of Brazil. This region preserves archaeological sites that are unique archives of past socio-ecological systems and pre-European biological diversity. We assessed snapshots of species compositions and relative abundances spanning the last 9500 years, and modelled differences in species' functional traits between archaeological and modern fisheries. We found evidence for both generalist and specialist fishing practices in pre-European times, with large body size and body mass caught regularly over hundreds of years. Comparison with modern catches revealed a significant decline in these functional traits, possibly associated with overfishing and escalating human impacts in recent times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago Fossile
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dannieli Firme Herbst
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Krista McGrath
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alice Toso
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- BoCAS, Bonn Center for ArchaeoSciences, Institut für Archäologie und Kulturanthropologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Rafael Guedes Milheira
- Departamento de Antropologia e Arqueologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Simon-Pierre Gilson
- Instituto de Ciências Humanas e da Informação, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil
| | - Jessica Ferreira
- Programa em Patrimônio Cultural e Sociedade, Universidade da Região de Joinville, Joinville; Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Joinville, Brazil
| | - Dione da Rocha Bandeira
- Programa em Patrimônio Cultural e Sociedade, Universidade da Região de Joinville, Joinville; Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Joinville, Brazil
| | - Manuel Haimovici
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Instituto de Oceanografia, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
| | - Bruna Ceretta
- Laboratório de Macroecologia e Conservação Marinha, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Mariana G Bender
- Laboratório de Macroecologia e Conservação Marinha, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - André Carlo Colonese
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
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Greco I, Paddock CL, McCabe GM, Barelli C, Shinyambala S, Mtui AS, Rovero F. Calibrating occupancy to density estimations to assess abundance and vulnerability of a threatened primate in Tanzania. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
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Acevedo MA, Fankhauser C, Papa R. Recolonization of secondary forests by locally extinct fauna through the lens of range expansion: Four open questions. Biotropica 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.13178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A. Acevedo
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation University of Florida Gainesville Florida USA
| | - Carly Fankhauser
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation University of Florida Gainesville Florida USA
| | - Riccardo Papa
- Department of Biology University of Puerto Rico San Juan Puerto Rico
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Ford A. Scrutinizing the paleoecological record of the Maya forest. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.868660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Human expansion into and occupation of the New World coincided with the great transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch, yet questions remain about how we detect human presence in the paleoecological record. In the Maya area of southern Mesoamerica, archeological evidence of the human imprint is largely invisible until ∼4,000 years ago. How do environmental changes after that time correspond and relate to human impacts? Are the archeological signatures of initial settlements in the Early Preclassic detected? Later, by ∼2,000 years ago when the Maya had fully settled the landscape, how does the evidence of forest compositional changes relate to human intervention? This paper evaluates published paleoecological data in light of the rise of the Maya civilization and reflects on interpretations of how swidden agriculture and the milpa cycle impacted the environment. Evaluating the contrast between the long archeological sequence of successful Maya development and paleoecological interpretations of destructive human-induced environmental impacts requires a concordance among pollen data, archeological evidence, ethnohistoric observations, ethnological studies of traditional Maya land use, and the historical ecology of the Maya forest today.
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McAdams C, Morley MW, Fu X, Kandyba AV, Derevianko AP, Nguyen DT, Doi NG, Roberts RG. Late Pleistocene shell midden microstratigraphy indicates a complex history of human-environment interactions in the uplands of North Vietnam. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200493. [PMID: 35249386 PMCID: PMC8899622 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
North Vietnam is situated on a major route of Pleistocene hominin dispersal in East Asia, and the area's karstic caves preserve many prehistoric shell middens. Fossil and genomic evidence suggest a complex human history in this region and more widely across Southeast Asia and southern China, but related archaeological investigations are hampered by challenging site stratigraphies. Recent investigations of shell middens in other geographical settings have revealed the microstratigraphic complexity of these anthropogenic deposits. But caves promote distinctive site formation processes, while tropical climates may catalyse geomorphic and diagenetic changes. These environmental factors complicate the interpretation of North Vietnam's shell middens and constraining their effects upon the formation, preservation and destruction of these sites is critical to understanding the archaeology of this region. We examine two archaeological cave sites, dated to the Late Pleistocene and located in the limestone uplands surrounding the Hanoi Basin. Each contains multiple shell midden layers associated with prehistoric occupation and burials. Using thin-section micromorphology (microstratigraphy), we reconstruct the depositional and post-depositional histories of these sites, presenting a geoarchaeological framework of interpretation that is applicable to shell middens in mainland Southeast Asia and tropical zones more widely. This work represents a further step towards improving our understanding of prehistoric human dispersals and adaptations in this region. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conor McAdams
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia
| | - Mike W Morley
- College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Xiao Fu
- School of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People's Republic of China
| | - Alexander V Kandyba
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
| | - Anatoly P Derevianko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
| | - Dong Truong Nguyen
- Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Gia Doi
- Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Richard G Roberts
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia
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