Land-use legacies in ecosystems: impacts of historical land use on carbon storage and species composition in Quebec

人为的土地使用是生态系统变化最普遍和持久的驱动力。在全球范围内，土地使用是向大气层净排放二氧化碳的第二大来源，也是生物多样性丧失的最重要驱动因素。此外，土地使用的遗产可以通过改变养分循环和物种组成而在直接使用停止后持续数千年。尽管土地使用遗留问题在生态系统中很重要，但许多基本机制仍然没有得到很好的理解。例如，土地利用历史在推动关键的陆地碳汇方面的作用仍然不确定，土地利用历史影响生物多样性的机制也是如此。

Anthropogenic land-use is the most pervasive and persistent driver of change in ecosystems. At the global scale, land-use is the second greatest source of net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and the most important driver of biodiversity loss. Moreover, land-use legacies can persist for thousands of years after direct use has ceased through altered nutrient cycling and species composition. Despite the importance of land-use legacies in ecosystems, many of the underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. The role of land-use history in driving the critical terrestrial carbon sink, for example, remains uncertain, as do the mechanisms by which land use history affects biodiversity.