Humboldt’s Tableau Physique revisited
Humboldt’s Tableau Physique revisited
复制标题
洪堡的《画面体格》重温
DOI：
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发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Olivier Dangles
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
P. Moret;Priscilla Muriel;Ricardo Jaramillo;Olivier Dangles
在过去的几十年里，历史数据对评估全球变暖的生态影响做出了重要贡献。亚历山大·冯·洪堡（Alexander von Humboldt）的Tableau图谱（1807）是迄今为止关于热带山地植被海拔范围的最古老的现有数据集，代表了评估气候变化下植被变化的独特数据源。然而，我们在这里表明，这项工作并不是直截了当的，历史学家和生态学家之间的合作需要梳理出过去和现在生物多样性记录的相互联系和差异。我们的发现揭示了对洪堡最具代表性的作品的普遍误解；为热带阿尔卑斯山脉的植被变化提供新的估计；并深刻地更新我们对洪堡的科学思想、方法和现代意义的理解。亚历山大·冯·洪堡的表形体（1807）是环境科学史上最具影响力的图表之一。特别是洪堡在钦博拉索山横断面上对赤道安第斯山脉植物物种的垂直分布进行了详细的观察，使洪堡建立了植被带的概念，从而奠定了生物地理学的基础。令人惊讶的是，洪堡的原始数据从未被批判性地重新审视过，可能是由于收集和解释分散的档案的困难。通过挖掘和分析被忽视的历史文献，我们发现Tableau体质的顶部部分（树线以上）是基于未经验证的、因此部分错误的实地数据的直观构建，洪堡在随后的出版物中不断试图修改这些数据。这一发现对记录热带安第斯山脉的气候变化影响具有重要意义。我们发现洪堡在林木线以上的原始植物数据大多是在安提萨那山收集的，而不是在钦博拉索山收集的，这可以与目前的记录进行比较。我们在Antisana山的调查显示，在215年的时间里，海拔高度变化了215- 266米。这一估计比以前对该地区的估计低了大约两倍，但与全球观测到的10- 12米/ 10年的上坡范围变化一致。我们的研究结果表明，需要谨慎的方法来解释历史数据，并将它们作为记录环境变化的资源。它们也深刻地更新了我们对洪堡的科学思想、方法和现代相关性的理解。
Significance Over the last decades, historical data have made significant contributions to assess the ecological effects of global warming. Alexander von Humboldt’s Tableau Physique (1807) is by far the oldest existing dataset on altitudinal ranges of tropical mountain vegetation and represents a unique data source to assess vegetation shift in response to climate change. Yet, we show here that this exercise is not straightforward, and that partnerships between historians and ecologists are needed to tease out the intermeshing and discrepancies of past and present biodiversity records. Our findings reveal a generalized misinterpretation of Humboldt’s most iconic work; provide new estimates of vegetation shifts for the tropical alpine Andes; and profoundly renew our understanding of Humboldt’s scientific thinking, methods, and modern relevance. Alexander von Humboldt’s Tableau Physique (1807) has been one of the most influential diagrams in the history of environmental sciences. In particular, detailed observations of the altitudinal distribution of plant species in the equatorial Andes, depicted on a cross-section of Mt. Chimborazo, allowed Humboldt to establish the concept of vegetation belt, thereby laying the foundations of biogeography. Surprisingly, Humboldt’s original data have never been critically revisited, probably due to the difficulty of gathering and interpreting dispersed archives. By unearthing and analyzing overlooked historical documents, we show that the top section of the Tableau Physique, above the tree line, is an intuitive construct based on unverified and therefore partly false field data that Humboldt constantly tried to revise in subsequent publications. This finding has implications for the documentation of climate change effects in the tropical Andes. We found that Humboldt’s primary plant data above tree line were mostly collected on Mt. Antisana, not Chimborazo, which allows a comparison with current records. Our resurvey at Mt. Antisana revealed a 215- to 266-m altitudinal shift over 215 y. This estimate is about twice lower than previous estimates for the region but is consistent with the 10- to 12-m/decade upslope range shift observed worldwide. Our results show the cautious approach needed to interpret historical data and to use them as a resource for documenting environmental changes. They also profoundly renew our understanding of Humboldt’s scientific thinking, methods, and modern relevance.