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Coelho SD, Levis C, Baccaro FB, Figueiredo FOG, Pinassi Antunes A, ter Steege H, Peña-Claros M, Clement CR, Schietti J. Eighty-four per cent of all Amazonian arboreal plant individuals are useful to humans. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257875. [PMID: 34597306 PMCID: PMC8486103 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants have been used in Amazonian forests for millennia and some of these plants are disproportionally abundant (hyperdominant). At local scales, people generally use the most abundant plants, which may be abundant as the result of management of indigenous peoples and local communities. However, it is unknown whether plant use is also associated with abundance at larger scales. We used the population sizes of 4,454 arboreal species (trees and palms) estimated from 1946 forest plots and compiled information about uses from 29 Amazonian ethnobotany books and articles published between 1926 and 2013 to investigate the relationship between species usefulness and their population sizes, and how this relationship is influenced by the degree of domestication of arboreal species across Amazonia. We found that half of the arboreal species (2,253) are useful to humans, which represents 84% of the estimated individuals in Amazonian forests. Useful species have mean populations sizes six times larger than non-useful species, and their abundance is related with the probability of usefulness. Incipiently domesticated species are the most abundant. Population size was weakly related to specific uses, but strongly related with the multiplicity of uses. This study highlights the enormous usefulness of Amazonian arboreal species for local peoples. Our findings support the hypothesis that the most abundant plant species have a greater chance to be useful at both local and larger scales, and suggest that although people use the most abundant plants, indigenous people and local communities have contributed to plant abundance through long-term management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara D. Coelho
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Fabrício B. Baccaro
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Fernando O. G. Figueiredo
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - André Pinassi Antunes
- RedeFauna - Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Hans ter Steege
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Systems Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marielos Peña-Claros
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Charles R. Clement
- Coordenação de Tecnologia e Inovação, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Juliana Schietti
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
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Pereira Cruz A, Giehl ELH, Levis C, Machado JS, Bueno L, Peroni N. Pre-colonial Amerindian legacies in forest composition of southern Brazil. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0235819. [PMID: 32701950 PMCID: PMC7377383 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Past human societies have left persistent marks on forests worldwide. However, the degree to which pre-colonial Amerindian societies have affected forest structure is still not fully understood, especially in southern Brazil. This study investigated the influence of two distinct Amerindian groups (Southern-Jê and Guarani) over tree composition of forest fragments in the State of Santa Catarina. Vegetation data was obtained from the Santa Catarina Forest and Floristic Inventory (SCFFI): a statewide systematic vegetation sampling project. Archaeological data was collated from literature reviews as well as existing databases for archaeological sites occupied by Guarani and Southern-Jê groups. Using these sites of known Amerindian occupation, and corresponding environmental variables, ecological niche models were developed for each Amerindian group, predicting potential archaeological sites occupied by these groups across southern Brazil. Maps of these potential occupation sites of pre-colonial Amerindian groups were compared with 417 corresponding floristic inventory plots. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to identify floristic composition patterns linked to areas with a high probability of Southern-Jê or Guarani presence. Southern-Jê and Guarani pre-colonial occupations overlapped near main rivers; however, Southern-Jê groups generally occupied elevated areas whereas Guarani occupied mostly coastal areas. We observed differences in forest composition associated with the predicted occurrence of these pre-colonial Amerindian groups. Based on these results, we argue there is a relationship between tree species distribution and pre-colonial human occupation by these two Amerindian groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Pereira Cruz
- Department of Zoology and Ecology, Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Luiz Hettwer Giehl
- Department of Zoology and Ecology, Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Department of Zoology and Ecology, Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Juliana Salles Machado
- Department of History, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Lucas Bueno
- Department of History, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Nivaldo Peroni
- Department of Zoology and Ecology, Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
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Maezumi SY, Robinson M, de Souza J, Urrego DH, Schaan D, Alves D, Iriarte J. New Insights From Pre-Columbian Land Use and Fire Management in Amazonian Dark Earth Forests. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Maezumi SY, Alves D, Robinson M, de Souza JG, Levis C, Barnett RL, Almeida de Oliveira E, Urrego D, Schaan D, Iriarte J. The legacy of 4,500 years of polyculture agroforestry in the eastern Amazon. NATURE PLANTS 2018; 4:540-547. [PMID: 30038410 PMCID: PMC6119467 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0205-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The legacy of pre-Columbian land use in the Amazonian rainforest is one of the most controversial topics in the social1-10 and natural sciences11,12. Until now, the debate has been limited to discipline-specific studies, based purely on archaeological data8, modern vegetation13, modern ethnographic data3 or a limited integration of archaeological and palaeoecological data12. The lack of integrated studies to connect past land use with modern vegetation has left questions about the legacy of pre-Columbian land use on the modern vegetation composition in the Amazon, unanswered11. Here, we show that persistent anthropogenic landscapes for the past 4,500 years have had an enduring legacy on the hyperdominance of edible plants in modern forests in the eastern Amazon. We found an abrupt enrichment of edible plant species in fossil lake and terrestrial records associated with pre-Columbian occupation. Our results demonstrate that, through closed-canopy forest enrichment, limited clearing for crop cultivation and low-severity fire management, long-term food security was attained despite climate and social changes. Our results suggest that, in the eastern Amazon, the subsistence basis for the development of complex societies began ~4,500 years ago with the adoption of polyculture agroforestry, combining the cultivation of multiple annual crops with the progressive enrichment of edible forest species and the exploitation of aquatic resources. This subsistence strategy intensified with the later development of Amazonian dark earths, enabling the expansion of maize cultivation to the Belterra Plateau, providing a food production system that sustained growing human populations in the eastern Amazon. Furthermore, these millennial-scale polyculture agroforestry systems have an enduring legacy on the hyperdominance of edible plants in modern forests in the eastern Amazon. Together, our data provide a long-term example of past anthropogenic land use that can inform management and conservation efforts in modern Amazonian ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Yoshi Maezumi
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
| | - Daiana Alves
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Mark Robinson
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Carolina Levis
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Robert L Barnett
- Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Dunia Urrego
- Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Denise Schaan
- Department of Anthropology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - José Iriarte
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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Levis C, Flores BM, Moreira PA, Luize BG, Alves RP, Franco-Moraes J, Lins J, Konings E, Peña-Claros M, Bongers F, Costa FRC, Clement CR. How People Domesticated Amazonian Forests. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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