Abstract
Amazonian forest plots are used to quantify biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and provide the foundation for much of what is known about tropical ecology. Many plots are assumed to be undisturbed, but recent work suggests that past fire, forest openings, and cultivation created vegetation changes that have persisted for decades to centuries (ecological legacies). The Yasuní Forest Dynamics plot is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, yet its human history remains unknown. Here, we use charcoal and phytolith analysis to investigate the fire and vegetation history of the Yasuní forest plot, and compare results with nearby forest plots in Colombia (Amacayacu) and Peru (Medio Putumayo-Algodón [MPA]) to explore the spatial variability of past disturbances and ecological legacies in northwestern Amazonia. Three 14C dated charcoal fragments provided evidence for a modern (1956 CE) and a past fire event ca. 750 years ago at Yasuní, compared with fire ages of 1000–1600 years ago documented at Amacayacu and MPA. Small-scale disturbances and localized canopy openings also occurred in the Yasuní plot. Phytolith assemblages from Yasuní and Amacayacu showed more variability in past vegetation change than MPA. Low-intensity, non-continuous disturbances occurred at all three plots in the past, and our results highlight the variability of past human activities both in space and time in northwestern Amazonia. Our data also suggest that post-Columbian human disturbances from the Rubber Boom (AD 1850–1920) and subsequent oil exploration have likely left stronger ecological legacies than those left by pre-Columbian peoples in our studied regions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 197-209 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Biotropica |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Authors. Biotropica published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.
Funding
This work was funded by the European Research Council Starting Grant StG853394 (2019) and by a Center for Tropical Forest Science-ForestGEO grant #341243 to C.N.H.M. We would like to thank Henk Cornelissen and Andres Melo Burbano for their help with sample collection in the field at the Yasun\u00ED Biological Research Station, and Susana Le\u00F3n at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Ecuador for logistical support. We would also like to thank Majoi de Novaes Nascimento, Yoshi Maezumi, and Nina Witteveen for their support and help in the laboratory. Finally, we would like to thank Nigel Pitman, Alvaro Duque, and Daniel Zuleta for their help and their insight in the MPA and Amacayacu forest plots. Fieldwork was performed under MAE permit number MAE-SG-2018-8785-E. This work was funded by the European Research Council Starting Grant StG853394 (2019) and by a Center for Tropical Forest Science\u2010ForestGEO grant #341243 to C.N.H.M. We would like to thank Henk Cornelissen and Andres Melo Burbano for their help with sample collection in the field at the Yasun\u00ED Biological Research Station, and Susana Le\u00F3n at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Ecuador for logistical support. We would also like to thank Majoi de Novaes Nascimento, Yoshi Maezumi, and Nina Witteveen for their support and help in the laboratory. Finally, we would like to thank Nigel Pitman, Alvaro Duque, and Daniel Zuleta for their help and their insight in the MPA and Amacayacu forest plots. Fieldwork was performed under MAE permit number MAE\u2010SG\u20102018\u20108785\u2010E.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador | |
| Center for Tropical Forest Science-ForestGEO | |
| European Research Council | |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 853394 |
| Majoi de Novaes Nascimento | MAE-SG-2018-8785-E |
| Center for Tropical Forest Science‐ForestGEO | 341243 |
Keywords
- charcoal
- ecological legacies
- forest plots
- hyperdominants
- past human disturbance
- past vegetation change
- phytoliths
- tropical forest
