Domestication of Amazonian Forests
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Domestication of Amazonian Forests CAROLINA LEVIS 1 Propositions 1. The Amazon forest is a natural-cultural heritage of global importance. (this thesis) 2. Forests hold legacies of their interactions with humans. (this thesis) 3. To prosper in collaborative studies scientists need to practice tolerance and trust. 4. The main privilege of a scientific career is the freedom to pursue curiosity. 5. Human societies are increasing their capacity to modify the environment, but not how to deal with the consequences. 6. Effective community governance, not technology, is essential to solve socio-environmental problems. Propositions belonging to the thesis, entitled Domestication of Amazonian Forests Carolina Levis Wageningen, 14 June 2018 Domestication of Amazonian Forests Carolina Levis Domestication of Amazonian Forests Thesis committee Promotor Carolina Levis Prof. Dr F.J.J.M. Bongers Personal chair at the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Wageningen University & Research Co-promotors Dr M. Peña-Claros Associate professor, Forest Ecology and Forest Management Wageningen University & Research Dr F.R.C. Costa Associate Researcher at the Biodiversity Coordination Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil Dr C.R. Clement Senior Researcher at the Technology and Innovation Coordination Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil Thesis Other members submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the joint degree of doctor between Prof. Dr T.W. Kuyper, Wageningen University & Research Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazônia Prof. Dr J. Iriarte, University of Exeter, United Kingdom by the authority of the Director, Prof. Dr L.R. de França, and Dr W.D. Gosling, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Wageningen University Dr S. Gourlet-Fleury, CIRAD, Montpellier, France by the authority of the Rector Magnificus, Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol in the presence of the This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate Program in Ecology at the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil, and the Graduate School for Produc- to be defended in public tion Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC), The Netherlands, and as part of the on Thursday 14 June 2018 Joint Supervision Agreement of the PhD candidate. at 11 a.m. in the Aula of Wageningen University. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 General introduction 07 Widespread distribution of ancient 25 2 peoples along tributary rivers of Central Amazonia Published as “What do we know about the distribution of Amazonian dark earth along tributary rivers in Central Amazonia” in Antes de Orellana. Actas del 3er Encuentro Internacional de Arqueologia Amazónica: 305-311, 2014. Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant 39 3 domestication on Amazonian forest composition Published in Science 355: 925-931, 2017. Disentangling pre-Columbian from recent human 99 4 influence in old-growth Amazonian forests Published as “Response to Comment on “Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition” in Science 358: eaan8837, 2017. How people domesticated Amazonian forests 107 5 Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 5: 171, 2017. Extensive pre-Columbian soil improvement maintains 165 6 human legacies in old-growth Amazonian forests 7 General discussion 205 References 223 Summary 244 Resumo 247 Carolina Levis Domestication of Amazonian Forests, 268 pages. Acknowledgments 251 Short biography 262 Joint PhD thesis, Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil, and Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands (2018) List of publications 264 With references, with summaries in English and Portuguese PE&RC Training and Education Statement 266 ISBN 978-94-6343-873-5 DOI https://doi.org/10.18174/448424 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 1 General introduction 6 7 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION VISIONS OF NATURE 1 There was a time when humans were not yet part of the scene. Starting at least 60,000 years ago, modern humans expanded out of Africa and occupied most parts of the world (Mellars, 2006). Since then human societies have interpreted their surroundings in multiple ways, producing different visions and concepts of the natural and social worlds. A few centuries ago, Western culture defined Nature as “The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations”1, suggesting that all physical and biological elements on Earth exist apart from humanity. Immersed in this dichotomy between nature and society, ecologists have historically quantified, measured and analysed nature and its parts - plants, animals and ecosystems - without considering human influences (Clark, 1996). Today, this concept is still being used among scientists who wish to keep some places on Earth separated from humans (e.g., the Half-Earth project led by Edward Wilson, created to devote half of the surface of the Earth to nature2). In contrast to this dichotomous view of the world, many indigenous societies do not conceive the natural world without humans (Descola, 2013; Egleé, 2013). In Amerindian languages the word “Nature” is often non-existent: “They do not have words equivalent or even approximating to the Western scientific idea of nature, nor do they have words to label our corresponding sociocultural sphere.” For them, there is “one sphere of life, a non-divisible one and all entities are in it.” (Egleé, 2013, p. 6) Anthropologists have argued that the idea of “Nature” as a pristine refuge of wildlife is an imaginary place created by Westerners during a particular moment in their history (Dwyer, 1996; Descola, 2013). In fact, it is very complicated to find a place on this Planet where “Nature” remains pristine in its original form, i.e., in the same condition as it was before humans. A NEW EPOCH EMERGES Human domination of “Nature” Humans have significantly modified their living environments while expanding their presence to most of the planet since the late Pleistocene (Smith and Zeder, 2013; Boivin et al., 2016). In the last few centuries, atmospheric and biotic alterations 1 Definition of nature according to the English Oxford Living Dictionary (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nature) 2 Half-Earth Project: half the earth for the rest of life (http://www.half-earthproject.org/) 8 9 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION caused by human activities have left signs in stratigraphic records that may persist concept that can be used as a unit of analysis (Balée, 1998; 2006; Crumley, 2007; for millions of years into the future (Waters et al., 2016; Lewis and Maslin, 2015). Armstrong et al., 2017). Since humans are considered the main agents of landscape 1 This unprecedented human footprint on Earth suggests that we are living in a new transformation (Balée, 2006), landscapes can be seen as “an enduring record of and geological epoch, called the Anthropocene (Crutzen, 2006; Steffen et al., 2007; testimony to the lives and works of past generations” (Ingold, 1993, p. 152). For Ellis, 2011), in which most ecosystems are being shaped primarily by human agency instance, by investigating human-made earthworks (e.g., mounds and causeways) (Ellis, 2011; Ellis, 2015). found in the Neotropics, historical ecologists have revealed legacies of past Under this new paradigm, scientists are shifting the focus from protecting generations in modern landscapes (Erickson and Balée, 2006). The vegetation above nature from people to understanding how we can minimize the negative aspects of these structures also holds human signatures, identified by the abundance of fruit human-nature interactions and, when possible, accentuate the benefits of positive trees and other useful species (Balée, 1989; Balée, 2013; Campbell et al., 2006; Ford interactions (Sanderson et al., 2002; Kareiva et al., 2007; Rockström et al., 2009). and Emery, 2008; Ross, 2011). Thus, earthworks and plant communities can provide Some interactions can result in degraded ecosystems for both humans and other insights into the various ways that landscapes were transformed over time (Erickson species; others only improve the systems for humans but not for other species; and and Balée, 2006). some may result in improved ecosystems for both humans and for other species (Kareiva et al., 2007). For instance, past and modern farmers have constructed Human Niche Construction Theory raised fields in flooded areas, expanding the living environment of ants, termites, While social scientists were creating the research program of Historical Ecology, earthworms, and woody plants (McKey et al., 2010a; Mckey et al., 2014). On the evolutionary biologists were also developing a new theory to explain how organisms other hand, farmers have increased food production by using fertilizers that leach to - including humans - have interacted with the Earth system. Both historical ecologists nearby water bodies, often polluting river basins and coastal zones (Galloway et al., and evolutionary biologists agree that humans have altered the biosphere and Niche 2003). Only by facing this novel reality of the world, can scientists help humanity to Construction Theory can help elucidate how this happened. This theory re-examines understand how we create or reclaim more balanced relations with the natural world standard evolutionary concepts by incorporating the ecological and evolutionary (Sanderson et al., 2002; Kareiva et al., 2007). effects of niche construction activities