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

Levis, Carolina;Costa, Flávia;Bongers, Frans;Peña-Claros, Marielos;Clement, Charles R.;Junqueira, André B.;Neves, Eduardo G.;Tamanaha, Eduardo K.;Figueiredo, Fernando O.G.;Salomão, Rafael P.;Castilho, Carolina V.;Magnusson, William E.;Phillips, Oliver L.;Guevara, Juan Ernesto;Sabatier, Daniel;Molino, Jean-François;Cárdenas López, Dairon;Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel;Pitman, Nigel C.A.;Duque, Alvaro;Núñez Vargas, Percy;Zartman, Charles Eugene;Vásquez, Rodolfo;Andrade, Ana;Camargo, José Luís;Feldpausch, Ted R.;Laurance, Susan G.W.;Laurance, William F.;Killeen, Timothy J.;Mendonça Nascimento, Henrique Eduardo;Montero, Juan Carlos;Mostacedo, Bonifacio;Amaral, Iêda Leão;Guimarães Vieira, Ima Célia;Brienen, Roel;Castellanos, Hernán;Terborgh, John;de Jesus Veiga Carim, Marcelo;da Silva Guimaraes, José Renan;de Souza Coelho, Luiz;de Almeida Matos, Francisca Dionízia;Wittman, Florian;Mogollón, Hugo F.;Damasco, Gabriel;Dávila, Nállarett;García-Villacorta, Roosevelt;Honorio Coronado, Euridice N.;Emilio, Thaise;de Andrade Lima Filho, Diogenes;Schlietti, Juliana;Souza, Priscilla;Targhetta, Natalia;Comiskey, James A.;Marimon, Beatriz S.;Marimon Jr., Ben-Hur;Neill, David;Alonso, Alfonso;Arroyo, Luzmila;Carvalho, Fernanda Antunes;Coelho de Sousa, Fernanda;Dallmeier, Francisco;Pansonato, Marcelo Petratti;Duivenvoorden, Joost F.;Fine, Paul V.A.;Stevenson, Pablo R.;Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro;Aymard C., Gerardo A.;Baraloto, Chris;do Amaral, Dário Dantas;Engel, Julien;Henkel, Terry W.;Maas, Paul;Petronelli, Pascal;Cardenas Revilla, Juan David;Stropp, Juliana;Daly , Doug;Gribel, Rogerio;Ríos Paredes, Marcos;Silviera, Marcos;Thomas-Caesar, Raquel;Baker, Tim R.;Ferriera da Silva, Naara;Ferriera, Leandro Valle;Peres, Carlos A.;Silman, Miles R.;Cerón, Carlos;Valverde, Fernando Cornejo;Di Fiore, Anthony;Jiminez, Eliana M.;Peñuala Mora, Maria Cristina;Toledo, Marisol;Barbosa, Edelcilio Marques;de Matos Bonates, Luiz Carlos;Arboleda, Nicolás Castaño;de Sousa Farias, Emanuelle;Fuentes, Alfredo;Guillaumet, Jean-Louis;Jørgensen, Peter Møller;Malhi, Yadvinder;de Andrade Miranda, Ires Paula;Phillips, Juan Fernando;Prieto, Adriana;Rudas, Agustín;Ruschell, Ademir R.;Silva, Natalino;von Hildebrand, Patricio;Vos, Vincent A.;Zent, Egleé;Zent, Stanford;Ladvocat Cintra, Bruno Barçante;Nascimento, Marcelo Trindade;Oliveira, Alexandre A.;Ramírez-Angulo, Hirma;Ramos, José Ferreira;Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo;Schöngart, Jochen;Sierra, Rodrigo;Tirado, Milton;van der Heijden, Geertje;Vilanova Torre, Emilio;Wang, Ophelia;Young, Kenneth R.;Baider, Cláudia;Cano, Angela;Farfan-Rios, William;Ferreira, Cid;Hoffman, Bruce;Mendoza, Casimiro;Mesones, Italo;Torres-Lezama, Armando;Umaña Medina, Maria Natalia;van Andel, Tinde R.;Villarroel, Daniel;Zagt, Roderick;Alexiades, Miguel;Balslev, Henrik;Garcia-Cabrera, Karina;Gonzales, Therany;Hernandez, Lionel;Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau;Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto;Milliken, William;Palacios Cuenca, Walter;Pansini, Susamar;Pauletto, Daniela;Ramirez Arevalo, Freddy;Costa Reis, Neidiane Farias;Sampaio, Adeilza Felipe;Urrego Giraldo, Ligia Estela;Valderrama Sandoval, Elvis H.;Valenzuela Gamarra, Luis;Vela, César I.A.;ter Steege, Hans

William Laurance

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.

Journal

Science

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N/A

Volume

355

ISBN/ISSN

1095-9203

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Issue

6328

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Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science

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DOI

10.1126/science.aal0157