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Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems: Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals

DOI:10.1007/s10814-017-9105-3
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Courtney A Hofman at University of Oklahoma
Courtney A Hofman
Torben Rick at Smithsonian Institution
Torben Rick
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Biological invasions are one of the great threats to Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. However, species introductions and invasions extend deep into the human past, with the translocation of both wild and domestic species around the world. Here, we review the human translocation of wild plants and animals to the world’s islands. We focus on establishing criteria used to differentiate natural from human-assisted dispersals and the differences between non-native and invasive species. Our study demonstrates that, along with a suite of domesticates, ancient people transported numerous wild plants and animals to islands and helped shape ecosystems in ways that have important ramifications for modern conservation, restoration, and management.
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Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems:
Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals
Courtney A. Hofman
1
•Torben C. Rick
2
Published online: 30 June 2017
ÓSpringer Science+Business Media New York (outside the USA) 2017
Abstract Biological invasions are one of the great threats to Earth’s ecosystems
and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. However, species introductions and invasions
extend deep into the human past, with the translocation of both wild and domestic
species around the world. Here, we review the human translocation of wild plants
and animals to the world’s islands. We focus on establishing criteria used to dif-
ferentiate natural from human-assisted dispersals and the differences between non-
native and invasive species. Our study demonstrates that, along with a suite of
domesticates, ancient people transported numerous wild plants and animals to
islands and helped shape ecosystems in ways that have important ramifications for
modern conservation, restoration, and management.
Keywords Invasive species Historical ecology Interdisciplinary
methods Anthropocene Environmental archaeology
Introduction
From high alpine peaks to the deep oceans, human activities have transformed our
planet, with the effects projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades
and centuries. Climate change, pollution, habitat degradation, and decimation of
&Courtney A. Hofman
courtney.hofman@ou.edu
Torben C. Rick
rickt@si.edu
1
Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, 455 W. Lindsey St., Norman,
OK 73019, USA
2
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, MRC 112, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
123
J Archaeol Res (2018) 26:65–115
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-017-9105-3
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... -Nlaka'pamux narrative, "Old-One and the Creation of the Nicola Country" (Teit 1912, 324) "Someone should go and adopt a root from that plant" (A yellowfruited red elderberry growing at Prince Rupert, to the north of Hartley Bay). -Mildred Wilson, Ts'msyen Gitga'at Nation (personal communication to Nancy Turner, May 2002) F or millennia, Indigenous and local peoples around the world have intentionally transplanted seedlings, plant propagules (e.g., tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, seeds), cuttings, and young growing or mature plants from one place to another to facilitate access to valued species (e.g., Hofman and Rick 2018;Keener and Kuhns 1997;Silcock 2018). Such translocations have often involved food plants; however, plants used for technology and medicine have also been moved great distances, thereby increasing their range and accessibility (e.g., Nabhan 2002;Singh 2016;Turner and Loewen 1998). ...
... Biological invasions are one of the biggest threats to Earth's ecosystems (Hofman and Rick 2018). Understanding how and to what extent humans have altered and extended the range of plants, both intentionally and unintentionally, has important consequences for historical ecology, restoration ecology, conservation biology, and land-use planning. ...
Adopting a Root: Documenting Ecological and Cultural Signatures of Plant Translocations in Northwestern North America
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In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the role humans play in the structure, composition, and function of ecosystems. Ethnoecological documentation of traditional management systems of Indigenous Peoples in northwestern North America has contributed significantly to this rethinking. A less well-recognized but foundational part of traditional management of this region is the practice of transplanting plants and plant propagules to expand the range and accessibility of culturally valued plants. In part, the lack of recognition of such translocations has to do with difficulties in identifying evidence of such actions from the past. Here, we summarize various lines of evidence, including that from ethnographic and ethnohistoric records, languages, oral traditions, phytogeography, and archaeology, to document the widespread and long-standing extent of plant translocation practices among Indigenous Peoples of northwestern North America. Furthermore, we demonstrate how such practices have helped shape contemporary native plant communities throughout the region. Recognizing these past contributions to current ecological contexts honors Indigenous heritage and Indigenous Peoples' long-term relationships with their biological worlds.
... The introduction of non-native species can have a severe impact on local biodiversity as well as ecosystem structure and function and can ultimately lead to extirpation, trophic cascades, and even extinction of native species (Gurevitch and Padilla, 2004;Hofman et al., 2015;Boivin et al., 2016;Barnosky et al., 2017). Improvements in the identification and tracking of introduced species are thus of critical concern for generating appropriate conservation strategies (Dietl and Flessa, 2011;Prendergast et al., 2017;Hofman and Rick, 2018). However, some issues are not always clear, such as knowing whether a species is introduced or endemic and the effect it had on the local ecosystems (Barak et al., 2016;Barnosky et al., 2017). ...
... Speciesspecific palaeoproteomic identification of milk proteins in human dental calculus (Wilkin et al., 2020Bleasdale et al., 2021) has further contributed to this effort and is particularly useful in regions where zooarchaeological evidence is lacking for taphonomic or cultural reasons. Studying the introduction of domesticated species is critical to conservation efforts as many have played a significant role in transforming local ecosystems Hofman and Rick, 2018). The introduction of herd animals, for example, has shaped the formation of open landscapes (Ventresca Miller et al., 2020) as well as soil enriched hotspots (Marshall et al., 2018), and in many of the world's islands, domesticated and commensal species introduced by early colonizing populations have had a significant impact on endemic plant and animal populations . ...
Leveraging palaeoproteomics to address conservation and restoration agendas
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Archaeological and palaeontological records offer tremendous yet often untapped potential for examining long-term biodiversity trends and the impact of climate change and human activity on ecosystems. Yet zooarchaeological and fossil remains suffer various limitations, including that they are often highly fragmented and morphologically unidentifiable, preventing them from being optimally leveraged for addressing fundamental research questions in archaeology, palaeontology, and conservation palaeobiology. Here, we explore the potential of palaeoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, to serve as a critical tool for creating richer, more informative datasets about biodiversity change that can be leveraged to generate more realistic, constructive, and effective conservation and restoration strategies into the future.
... Intentional and accidental human-mediated plant translocations drastically increased with the emergence and spread of agriculture and pastoralism in the Early to Middle Holocene (Boivin et al., 2016;Hofman & Rick, 2018). Large-scale movements of non-domesticated plants began much later as trade routes from Europe to the New World expanded and European colonies were settled around the globe (Mack & Lonsdale, 2001;Le Maitre et al., 2004). ...
Population genomics reveal multiple introductions and admixture of Sonchus oleraceus in Australia
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Aim The goal of this study was to investigate the invasion history of the weed Sonchus oleraceus in Australia by comparing the population genetic structure of individuals at different locations in Australia, and in the most likely areas of origin in the native range. Location Samples were collected in Europe and Morocco, North Africa (27 locations), and Australia (17 locations). Methods We performed population genetic analyses using a large dataset comprising 2883 single nucleotide polymorphism markers from 547 plant samples and investigated the invasion history of S. oleraceus with Approximate Bayesian Computation and Random Forest classification algorithms. We compared single and multiple invasion scenarios considering admixture having occurred before and after introduction. Results Our results revealed high levels of inbreeding within sampling locations in the two ranges. Analyses also showed that S. oleraceus was possibly introduced to Australia at least twice: a first introduction around 1000 years ago before British settlement and a more recent introduction (~65 years ago) from Europe and North Africa. We also found evidence of post‐introduction admixture and a potential reintroduction of S. oleraceus from Australia back to its native range. Main conclusions We conclude that the invasion history of S. oleraceus into Australia is probably historic (i.e. prior to British settlements) and complex showing recent evidence of post‐introduction admixture. The complex invasion history of S. oleraceus in Australia poses challenges for the search of potential biological control agents.
... Humans have always transported useful plant and animal species from place to place, either domestic (Merrill et al., 2009;Zeder, 2008) or wild (Corona-Santiago et al., 2015;Detry et al., 2018;Matisoo-Smith & Robins, 2004). Historical ecology approaches allow introducing a long-term view in the study of biological invasions that may aid in the understanding of human-driven disruptions of biodiversity patterns (Haubrock et al., 2021;Hofman & Rick, 2018) and to solve the status (i.e. native vs. non-native) of taxa when uncertainties exist Masseti et al., 2010). ...
The King's aquatic desires: 16th‐century fish and crayfish introductions into Spain
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Humans have introduced species out of their native areas for millennia, and characterising these historical introductions can provide insights into the long‐term progress of invasion processes. Here, archival sources and other historical documents are used to describe the motivations, negotiations and actions leading to fish and crayfish introductions into Spain in the second half of the 16th century. King Philip II of Spain brought to the Iberian Peninsula several gardening customs from central Europe, including the construction of fish ponds and their stocking with different aquatic species, many of which were naturally absent from Iberia. These interests led to the introduction of pike (Esox Lucius, Esocidae), common carp (Cyprinus carpio, Cyprinidae), tench (Tinca tinca, Cyprinidae) and Italian crayfish (Austropotamobius italicus, Astacidae). Historical documents allowed describing introduction events, their early management and their outcomes with high temporal, spatial and taxonomic precision. These results introduce a centuries‐long view on the history of the presence of these introduced species in the Iberian Peninsula, where they have all been successful invaders in different historical periods. This work exemplifies the large potential of archival documents to inform about long‐term human–nature relationships, with implications for present‐day environmental management (e.g. setting conservation targets). However, this potential has been only sparsely explored, arguably due to the lack of interactions between humanities and natural sciences. Interdisciplinary historical ecology research should be promoted in order to build robust and applicable knowledge on the long‐term variability of ecosystems and their biota.
... Examples include the local extinction of native fauna that may be caused by hunting or the introduction of novel predators (Anderson, 2009;Steadman et al., 2002). More serious problems arise if the colonizers are farmers who bring exotic plants with them and introduce new practices such as slash-and-burn forestry (Fitzpatrick, 2015;Fitzpatrick and Keegan, 2007;Giovas et al., 2012;Hofman and Rick, 2018;Laffoon et al., 2015;Louys et al., 2021;Takamiya, 2006). ...
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The present study's primary goal is to apply analyses of stable isotopes and tooth micro-and mesowear to the question of dietary change among a mid-Holocene population of small brocket deer (Cervidae: Mazama) in response to anthropogenic alteration of the natural insular vegetation for approximately 450 calendar years (6060-5620 cal yr BP). The brocket deer remains were found in shell-bearing middens on Pedro González in the Pearl Island archipelago. This island is the third largest of many platform or continental islands in Pacific Panama that were periodically affected by rising post-glacial seas during Pleistocene warm periods and became hills in drowned plains during glacial periods, which were extensive on the Pacific side of the isthmus. Our study is based on pre-Columbian Mazama deer remains recovered from excavations in the ancient middens of Pedro González and on modern skeletons of Mazama deer belonging to three United States museum collections. For comparative purposes we added museum specimens of extant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of reduced size from the Florida Keys and Coiba Island (Pacific Panama). Our results show that the diets of 1) present-day white-tailed deer from Coiba and the Florida Keys and 2) the brocket deer (Mazama) still present on San José Island were browsers. On the other hand, as soon as Preceramic people arrived on Pedro Gonzalez ca 6000 cal yr BP, the local brocket deer's diet gradually included more and more abrasive plants in response to changes in vegetation cover related to increasing anthropogenic clearance for cultivation.
... Archaeological records on islands show that foragers rarely cause extinctions whereas farmers with a very different relation to the natural world often have a severe ecological impact. Island agriculturalists habitually brought 'transported landscapes' along with them, including a suite of domesticated plants and animals (Takamiya, 2006;Fitzpatrick and Keegan, 2007;Giovas et al., 2012;Fitzpatrick, 2015;Laffoon et al., 2015;Hofman and Rick, 2018). In the case of Playa don Bernardo ancient colonizers brought with them maize (Zea mays) and unidentified root crops. ...
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This research seeks to understand the hunting of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and dwarf deer (Mazama sp.) as a subsistence strategy in Pre Columbian Panama. From pre-ceramic groups to complex politicized societies located in the area of Parita Bay (Cerro Mangote [7800-4600 cal yr BP], Sitio Sierra [2200 -500 cal yr. BP] and Cerro Juan Díaz [300 BCE - 1600 CE]) and Pearl Island archipelago (Playa don Bernardo [6200-5600 cal yr BP]). In order to better understand human and deer relation across time and space, it was proposed a multiproxy study of deer samples, that includes zooarchaeology, taphonomy, mesowear, microwear, isotopes analysis and geometric morphometrics. The white-tailed deer was dietarily and culturally by far the most important mammal at Late Preceramic Cerro Mangote. By studying, the deer sample from Sitio Sierra it can be concluded that ritual activities mediated the feasts where deer meat was the principal course. The refuse feature in Operation 1/1B at Cerro Juan Díaz clearly represents the waste of a deer bone and antler workshop. In the case of Playa don Bernardo, human intervention produced heavy impacts on terrestrial mammals including insular extirpation of the dwarf deer between 5700 and 2300 cal yr BP. The white-tailed deer was an animal with restricted access because of its polysemic ritual significance at Parita Bay in particular within Greater Coclé semiotic system. The zooarchaeological record of Parita Bay evidences that human groups did not rely upon white-tailed deer, they had a broad-spectrum diet. The study of white-tailed deer in the archaeological record of this area did not evidence an intensification in deer hunting, the presence of deer is constant along the human occupation sequence and even modern times.
... In the past, translocations were necessary operations to maintain the comfort necessary to flourishing societies, such as the transport of domesticated dogs from the Old to the New World (Hofman & Rick, 2018). Currently, those activities are performed with different objectives that may range from restoring biodiversity of depleted habitats, as pest controls, or simply to enhance the aesthetics of urbanized areas. ...
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Humans and the diverse ecosystems we inhabit face numerous sustainability challenges due to climate change, rising seas, population growth, overfishing, natural habitat destruction, accelerating extinctions, and more. As an interdisciplinary paradigm that leverages both natural and social sciences to better understand linkages between humans and the environment, sustainability science focuses on how these connections shape understandings of and approaches to sustainability challenges. Here, we argue that archaeology and historical ecology are essential components of sustainability science. We view sustainability as a long-term process where historical sciences are critical to effectively measuring where we stand today and modeling future trajectories based on the baselines from the past that archaeology and historical ecology provide. We demonstrate that islands around the world are central to this endeavor because they serve as model systems that can capture the timing of human arrival, subsequent effects of cultural behaviors on pristine environments , and how humans adapted, survived, and often thrived for centuries or millennia. These cases provide important lessons about human responses in the past to similar challenges that we now currently face. In the uncertain futures of the Anthropocene, such historical baselines will contribute significantly to scientific approaches for building more resilient and sustainable societies.
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