Frequent disturbances enhanced the resilience of past human populations.
Nature
; 629(8013): 837-842, 2024 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38693262
ABSTRACT
The record of past human adaptations provides crucial lessons for guiding responses to crises in the future1-3. To date, there have been no systematic global comparisons of humans' ability to absorb and recover from disturbances through time4,5. Here we synthesized resilience across a broad sample of prehistoric population time-frequency data, spanning 30,000 years of human history. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of population decline show that frequent disturbances enhance a population's capacity to resist and recover from later downturns. Land-use patterns are important mediators of the strength of this positive association farming and herding societies are more vulnerable but also more resilient overall. The results show that important trade-offs exist when adopting new or alternative land-use strategies.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Social Change
/
Population Dynamics
/
Agriculture
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Nature
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: