Science· 2017Q1
Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition
- 680citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Amazonian forests are significantly structured by pre-Columbian plant domestication, with domesticated species five times more likely to be hyperdominant and increasing in abundance and richness near archaeological sites.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Domesticated plant species are five times more likely to be hyperdominant in Amazonian forests.
- The relative abundance and richness of domesticated species are higher in forests near archaeological sites.
- Distance to archaeological sites influences the distribution of domesticated species in southwestern and eastern Amazonia.
- Modern Amazonian tree communities are significantly structured by historical plant domestication.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
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 than nondomesticated species to be hyperdominant. Across the basin, the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species increase 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.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2017 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: History
HistoryArts and Humanities