Collaborative Research: Pre-Columbian Human Impacts on Amazonian ecosystems

亚马逊的森林有多自然？越来越多的人类学家和考古学家认为，在1492年欧洲人接触亚马逊河流域之前，土著居民控制了亚马逊河流域的大部分地区。如果整个亚马逊流域都用火来清理农业用地，那么生态学家认为已经成熟的森林生态系统实际上可能只需要一代到几代人就能摆脱集约化管理。考虑到亚马逊是最大的雨林和无与伦比的生物多样性的家园，了解野生动物和人类在过去的互动程度对于有效的规划和管理至关重要。这场争论的另一个方面是，如果亚马逊的大部分地区确实是干扰的产物，那么森林必须被认为是相对年轻的，并且在碳循环方面可能没有达到平衡。为了验证广泛干扰的假设，该项目将对亚马逊土壤中的木炭进行首次系统调查。亚马逊地区的火灾几乎都是人为引起的，每次燃烧都会留下灰烬和木炭，这些灰烬和木炭会融入土壤。将对亚马逊地区的300多个土壤坑进行取样，以确定埋藏木炭的分布和年龄。先前的土壤描述也将用于确定其他科学家在哪里发现了木炭，并将该项目收集的数据与前哥伦布时期亚马逊地区定居的新模型进行比较。通过这些分析，来自佛罗里达理工大学、维克森林大学、佛罗里达大学、国家历史博物馆和巴西瓜鲁洛斯大学的合作团队将希望为亚马逊发展和保护的政策领域注入真实的数据。

How natural are the forests of Amazonia? A growing case is being made among anthropologists and archaeologists that prior to European contact in 1492, native people manipulated much, perhaps most, of Amazonia. If fire was used across the Amazon basin to clear land for agriculture then forest ecosystems that ecologists have assumed were mature may in fact be only one to several generations removed from intensive management. Given that Amazonia is the largest rainforest and home to unparalleled biodiversity, understanding the extent to which wildlife and people have interacted in the past is vital for effective planning and management. A further aspect of this debate is that if much of Amazonia is truly the product of disturbance, the forest must be considered to be relatively young and is probably not at equilibrium with respect to carbon cycling. To test the hypothesis of widespread disturbance, this project will conduct the first systematic survey of Amazonian soils for charcoal. Fires in Amazonia are almost always human-induced, and each burn leaves ash and charcoal that become incorporated into soil. Over 300 soil pits will be sampled on transects across Amazonia, to determine the distribution and age of buried charcoal. Prior soil descriptions also will be used to determine where other scientists have located charcoal and compare data gathered in this project with a new model for pre-Columbian settlement of Amazonia. Through these analyses, the collaborating team from Florida Tech, Wake Forest, University of Florida, The National History Museum, and Guarulhos University, Brazil, will hope to inject real data into the policy arena of Amazonian development and conservation.