The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation.
Nat Plants
; 3(8): 17093, 2017 Aug 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28770823
ABSTRACT
Significant human impacts on tropical forests have been considered the preserve of recent societies, linked to large-scale deforestation, extensive and intensive agriculture, resource mining, livestock grazing and urban settlement. Cumulative archaeological evidence now demonstrates, however, that Homo sapiens has actively manipulated tropical forest ecologies for at least 45,000 years. It is clear that these millennia of impacts need to be taken into account when studying and conserving tropical forest ecosystems today. Nevertheless, archaeology has so far provided only limited practical insight into contemporary human-tropical forest interactions. Here, we review significant archaeological evidence for the impacts of past hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists and urban settlements on global tropical forests. We compare the challenges faced, as well as the solutions adopted, by these groups with those confronting present-day societies, which also rely on tropical forests for a variety of ecosystem services. We emphasize archaeology's importance not only in promoting natural and cultural heritage in tropical forests, but also in taking an active role to inform modern conservation and policy-making.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Florestas
/
Conservação dos Recursos Naturais
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article