Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia
Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia
The extinction of iconic species such as the dodo and the deforestation of Easter Island are emblematic of the transformative impact of human colonization of many oceanic islands, especially those in the tropics and subtropics. Yet, the interaction of prehistoric and colonial-era colonists with the forests and forest resources they encountered can be complex, varies between islands, and remains poorly understood. Long-term ecological records (e.g., fossil pollen) provide the means to understand these human impacts in relation to natural change and variability pre- and postcolonization. Here we analyze paleoecological archives in forested landscapes of the Canary Islands and Cabo Verde, first colonized approximately 2,400 to 2,000 and 490 y ago, respectively. We demonstrate sensitivity to regional climate change prior to human colonization, followed by divergent but gradual impacts of early human settlement. These contrast with more rapid transformation in the colonial era, associated with significant increases in anthropogenic pressures. In the Canary Islands, at least two native tree taxa became extinct and lowland thermophilous woodlands were largely converted to agricultural land, yet relictual subtropical laurel forests persisted with limited incursion of nonnative species. In Cabo Verde, in contrast, thermophilous woodlands were depleted and substituted by open landscapes and introduced woodlands. Differences between these two archipelagos reflect the changing cultural practices and societal interactions with forests and illustrate the importance of long-term data series in understanding the human footprint on island ecosystems, information that will be critically important for current and future forest restoration and conservation management practices in these two biodiversity hotspots.
Anthropogenic impacts, Islands, Macaronesia, Subtropical forests
e2022215118
Castilla-beltrán, Alvaro
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De Nascimento, Lea
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Fernández-Palacios, José-maría
19ceeeb9-77d3-44b4-ac17-2e17eac71c3a
Whittaker, Robert J.
5578f7a4-02f9-4968-9acf-3c9445841af5
Willis, Kathy J.
e3a40387-5912-43e5-9744-692a1e560989
Edwards, Mary
4b6a3389-f3a4-4933-b8fd-acdfef72200e
Nogué, Sandra
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5 October 2021
Castilla-beltrán, Alvaro
f5e694c1-0f7e-4263-8e94-a0fe932dafce
De Nascimento, Lea
1274af4c-1f12-45cf-82d1-b504d14ef163
Fernández-Palacios, José-maría
19ceeeb9-77d3-44b4-ac17-2e17eac71c3a
Whittaker, Robert J.
5578f7a4-02f9-4968-9acf-3c9445841af5
Willis, Kathy J.
e3a40387-5912-43e5-9744-692a1e560989
Edwards, Mary
4b6a3389-f3a4-4933-b8fd-acdfef72200e
Nogué, Sandra
5b464cff-a158-481f-8b7f-647c93d7a034
Castilla-beltrán, Alvaro, De Nascimento, Lea, Fernández-Palacios, José-maría, Whittaker, Robert J., Willis, Kathy J., Edwards, Mary and Nogué, Sandra
(2021)
Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (40), , [e2022215118].
(doi:10.1073/pnas.2022215118).
Abstract
The extinction of iconic species such as the dodo and the deforestation of Easter Island are emblematic of the transformative impact of human colonization of many oceanic islands, especially those in the tropics and subtropics. Yet, the interaction of prehistoric and colonial-era colonists with the forests and forest resources they encountered can be complex, varies between islands, and remains poorly understood. Long-term ecological records (e.g., fossil pollen) provide the means to understand these human impacts in relation to natural change and variability pre- and postcolonization. Here we analyze paleoecological archives in forested landscapes of the Canary Islands and Cabo Verde, first colonized approximately 2,400 to 2,000 and 490 y ago, respectively. We demonstrate sensitivity to regional climate change prior to human colonization, followed by divergent but gradual impacts of early human settlement. These contrast with more rapid transformation in the colonial era, associated with significant increases in anthropogenic pressures. In the Canary Islands, at least two native tree taxa became extinct and lowland thermophilous woodlands were largely converted to agricultural land, yet relictual subtropical laurel forests persisted with limited incursion of nonnative species. In Cabo Verde, in contrast, thermophilous woodlands were depleted and substituted by open landscapes and introduced woodlands. Differences between these two archipelagos reflect the changing cultural practices and societal interactions with forests and illustrate the importance of long-term data series in understanding the human footprint on island ecosystems, information that will be critically important for current and future forest restoration and conservation management practices in these two biodiversity hotspots.
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Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes ...
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Accepted/In Press date: 20 July 2021
Published date: 5 October 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We thank the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Environs, Autonomous Organisation of National Parks (Project 003/2008); the Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation, and Information for Society and the European Regional Development Fund (Project SolSubC200801000053); the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL 2009-10939); and the Spanish Ministry of Education (EX2009-0669) for funding the paleoecological projects in the Canary Islands. We thank the University of Southampton for the Geography and the Environment +3 Postgraduate Research Scholarship awarded to A.C.-B. (2017 to 2020, WRJB1B), as well as the Royal Geographic Society with the Institute of British Geographers (2015, 2019 Research Grants grants), the Explorers Club (exploration grant 2018), the Quaternary Research Association (Chrono-14 award 2018), the Association for Environmental Archaeology (small research grant 2019), Natural Environment Research Council radiocarbon support grants (2018, 2019) for funding our team?s paleoecological research in Cabo Verde. We thank Juli Caujap? Castells and the Jard?n Bot?nico Canario Viera y Clavijo?Unidad asociada al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient?ficas, for insights into the Cabo Verdean and Canarian seed banks, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions to improve the manuscript.
Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Environs, Autonomous Organisation of National Parks (Project 003/2008); the Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation, and Information for Society and the European Regional Development Fund (Project SolSubC200801000053); the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL 2009-10939); and the Spanish Ministry of Education (EX2009-0669) for funding the paleoecological projects in the Canary Islands. We thank the University of Southampton for the Geography and the Environment +3 Postgraduate Research Scholarship awarded to A.C.-B. (2017 to 2020, WRJB1B), as well as the Royal Geographic Society with the Institute of British Geographers (2015, 2019 Research Grants grants), the Explorers Club (exploration grant 2018), the Quaternary Research Association (Chrono-14 award 2018), the Association for Environmental Archaeology (small research grant 2019), Natural Environment Research Council radiocarbon support grants (2018, 2019) for funding our team’s paleoecological research in Cabo Verde. We thank Juli Caujapé Castells and the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo–Unidad asociada al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, for insights into the Cabo Verdean and Canarian seed banks, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions to improve the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Anthropogenic impacts, Islands, Macaronesia, Subtropical forests
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 451671
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451671
ISSN: 0027-8424
PURE UUID: 0c090e93-807a-4f60-a098-39f294fb330a
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Date deposited: 19 Oct 2021 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:39
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Contributors
Author:
Alvaro Castilla-beltrán
Author:
Lea De Nascimento
Author:
José-maría Fernández-Palacios
Author:
Robert J. Whittaker
Author:
Kathy J. Willis
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