Ancient experiments: forest biodiversity and soil nutrients enhanced by Native American middens
Ancient experiments: forest biodiversity and soil nutrients enhanced by Native American middens
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DOI：
10.1007/s10980-014-0033-z
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发表时间：
2014-07-01
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Parker, John D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cook-Patton, Susan C.;Weller, Daniel;Parker, John D.
古代人类实践的遗产可以影响现代生态系统的多样性和结构。在这里，我们通过收集植被和土壤养分数据，研究了史前垃圾场（“垃圾堆”）如何影响切萨皮克湾沿岸森林的土壤化学和植物群落组成。与邻近地点相比，具有数百年至数千年历史的贝丘的土壤养分较高，植被覆盖范围更大，尤其是草本植物和草类物种，物种丰富度更高。垃圾堆不仅是重要的考古资源，而且还提供了一个绝佳的机会来测试有关长期养分添加的生态假设。例如，我们没有发现任何证据表明营养物质的增加会增强非本地物种的入侵，正如资源波动假说所预测的那样。然而，我们确实发现，正如结构碳营养假说所预测的那样，营养物质的增加将群落结构从木本物种转变为草本物种。这些结果强调了人类对自然环境的非生物和生物特性的长期影响，并表明现代物种分布和丰度模式有可能反映古代人类活动。
The legacy of ancient human practices can affect the diversity and structure of modern ecosystems. Here, we examined how prehistoric refuse dumps ("middens") impacted soil chemistry and plant community composition in forests along the Chesapeake Bay by collecting vegetational and soil nutrient data. The centuries- to millennia-old shell middens had elevated soil nutrients compared to adjacent sites, greater vegetative cover, especially of herb and grass species, and higher species richness. Not only are middens important archaeological resources, they also offer a remarkable opportunity to test ecological hypotheses about nutrient addition over very long time scales. We found no evidence, for example, that elevated nutrients enhanced invasion by non-native species as predicted by the fluctuating resource hypothesis. However, we did find that elevated nutrients shifted community structure from woody species to herbaceous species, as predicted by the structural carbon-nutrient hypothesis. These results highlight the long-lasting effects that humans can have on abiotic and biotic properties of the natural environment, and suggest the potential for modern patterns of species' distributions and abundances to reflect ancient human activities.