RESUMO
The legacy of pre-Columbian land use in the Amazonian rainforest is one of the most controversial topics in the social1-10â¯and natural sciences11,12.â¯Until now, the debate has been limited to discipline-specific studies, based purely on archaeological data8, modern vegetation13, modern ethnographic data3 or a limited integration of archaeological and palaeoecological data12.â¯The lack ofâ¯integratedâ¯studies to connect past land use with modern vegetation has left questions about the legacy of pre-Columbian land useâ¯on the modern vegetation composition in the Amazon, unanswered11. Here, we show that persistent anthropogenic landscapes for the past 4,500 years have had an enduring legacy on the hyperdominance of edible plants in modern forests in the eastern Amazon. We found an abrupt enrichment of edible plant species in fossil lake and terrestrial records associated with pre-Columbian occupation. Our results demonstrate that, through closed-canopy forest enrichment, limited clearing for crop cultivation and low-severity fire management, long-term food security was attained despite climate and social changes. Our results suggest that, in the eastern Amazon, the subsistence basis for the development of complex societies began ~4,500 years ago with the adoption of polyculture agroforestry, combining the cultivation of multiple annual crops with the progressive enrichment of edible forest species and the exploitation of aquatic resources. This subsistence strategy intensified with the later development of Amazonian dark earths, enabling the expansion of maize cultivation to the Belterra Plateau, providing a food production system that sustained growing human populations in the eastern Amazon. Furthermore, these millennial-scale polyculture agroforestry systems have an enduring legacy on the hyperdominance of edible plants in modern forests in the eastern Amazon. Together, our data provide a long-term example of past anthropogenic land use that can inform management and conservation efforts in modern Amazonian ecosystems.
Assuntos
Agricultura/história , Agricultura Florestal/história , Florestas , Brasil , Fósseis , História Antiga , Plantas/classificaçãoRESUMO
Despite the long history of forestry activity in Brazil and its importance to the national economy, there is still much disorder in the information regarding pests of forestry species. Considering the importance of the entomological knowledge for the viability of silvicultural management, this work aimed to gather information on the species of Lepidoptera associated with forestry crops within Brazil using a historical approach. Through a literature review, all registered species of Lepidoptera related to forestry crops in Brazil from 1896 to 2010 were identified. The historical evaluation was based on the comparison of the number of published articles, species richness, and community similarities of the Lepidoptera and their associated forest crops, grouped in 10-year samples. A total of 417 occurrences of Lepidoptera associated with forestry species were recorded, from which 84 species are related with 40 different forestry crops. The nocturnal Lepidoptera were dominant on the records, with Eacles imperialis magnifica Walker as the most frequent pest species cited. Myrtaceae was the most frequent plant family, with Cedrela fissilis as the most cited forestry crop species. A successional change in both Lepidoptera species and their host plants was observed over the decades. The richness of lepidopteran pest species increased over the years, unlike the richness of forestry crop species. This increase could be related to the inefficient enforcement of sanitary barriers, to the increase of monoculture areas, and to the adaptability of native pests to exotic forestry species used in monoculture stands.
Assuntos
Produtos Agrícolas/história , Agricultura Florestal/história , Lepidópteros/classificação , Animais , Brasil , História do Século XIX , História do Século XXRESUMO
Declining profitability of agriculture and/or higher prices of forest products and services typically drive an increase in forest cover. This article examines changes in forest cover in Candelaria Loxicha, Mexico. Forest cover increased in the area as a result of coffee cultivation in coffee forest-garden systems. Dependence on forest products and services, and not prices of forest products, drive the process in our study site. Low international coffee prices and high labor demand outside the community might pull farmers out of agriculture, but they do not completely abandon the lands. A diversification in income sources prevents land abandonment and contributes to maintaining rural populations and coffee forest gardens.
Assuntos
Agricultura , Café , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais , Economia , Agricultura Florestal , Agricultura/economia , Agricultura/educação , Agricultura/história , Coffea , Café/economia , Café/história , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais/economia , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais/história , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais/legislação & jurisprudência , Produtos Agrícolas/economia , Produtos Agrícolas/história , Economia/história , Economia/legislação & jurisprudência , Meio Ambiente , Agricultura Florestal/economia , Agricultura Florestal/educação , Agricultura Florestal/história , Agricultura Florestal/legislação & jurisprudência , Jardinagem/economia , Jardinagem/educação , Jardinagem/história , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , México/etnologia , Saúde da População Rural/história , População Rural/história , ÁrvoresAssuntos
Civilização/história , Agricultura Florestal/história , Agricultura/história , Animais , Arqueologia , Camboja , América Central , Clima , Secas , História do Século XV , História do Século XVI , História do Século XVII , História Medieval , Densidade Demográfica , América do Sul , Árvores/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Madeira/históriaAssuntos
População Rural/história , Árvores , Clima Tropical , Agricultura/história , Arqueologia , Brasil , Agricultura Florestal/história , História Antiga , Humanos , RiosRESUMO
Indigenous community leaders and conservationists in Oaxaca, Mexico, believe that deforestation causes streams to dry up and threatens rainfall, authorizing popular mobilizations against industrial logging. This belief was produced by a combination of indigenous beliefs in nature spirits and early-twentieth-century state-sponsored desiccation theory, which was brought to the Valley of Mexico in the 1920s. Desiccation theory acquires political significance because it allows rural people to build political and epistemic alliances that bypass industrial forestry institutions and find sympathetic urban audiences and environmentalist allies, undermining state claims to reason and scientific authority. These alliances require the skillful translation and mistranslation of local environmental concerns by activists and conservationists, who link the concerns of urban audiences with those of rural people. Popular beliefs about climate and forests in Mexico structure the authority and credibility of the state and will powerfully affect efforts to protect forests to mitigate climate change.