Collaborative Research: Determining the Ecological Legacy of Pre-Columbian Human Impacts on Amazonian Ecosystems

亚马逊的森林有多自然？人类学家和考古学家提出了一个越来越多的观点，即在欧洲人接触之前，当地人控制了亚马逊的大片地区，也许是大部分。鉴于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相互作用的程度对于有效的规划和政策制定至关重要。这场辩论的另一个方面是，如果亚马逊的大部分地区真的是400-500年前干扰的产物，那么必须认为这片森林相对年轻，可能还没有接近碳平衡。为了测试大范围干扰的想法，该项目将对亚马逊土壤进行第一次系统的木炭调查。亚马逊地区的大火几乎都是人为引发的，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。将在亚马逊全境的横断面上对300多个土坑进行采样，以确定埋藏的木炭的分布和年龄。先前的土壤描述也将被用来确定其他科学家在哪里找到了木炭，并将该项目中收集的数据与哥伦布之前亚马逊地区定居的新模型进行了比较。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霍斯大学的合作团队将希望为亚马逊开发和保护的政策舞台注入真实的数据。

How natural are the forests of Amazonia? A growing case is being made among anthropologists and archaeologists that prior to European contact native people manipulated large areas, perhaps the majority, of Amazonia. Given that Amazonia is the largest rainforest and home to unparalleled biodiversity, understanding to what extent wildlife and people have interacted in the past is vital for effective planning and policy formulation. A further aspect of this debate is that if much of Amazonia is truly the product of disturbance just 400-500 years ago, the forest must be considered to be relatively young and probably not close to carbon-equilibrium. To test the idea 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.