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

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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.