Francis E. Mayle’s research while affiliated with University of Reading and other places

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Publications (141)


Two examples of engineered landscape in the MMR
Triangles represent monumental mounds; black dots, ponds; thin black lines, canals; light grey areas, forest; white areas, savannah; and dark grey areas, lakes. Inset top left, the northern side of a savannah is crisscrossed by canals but the southern side is dotted with ponds. Inset bottom right, one savannah (to the east) has been modified by the excavation of a densely packed network of drainage canals, and two other savannahs, to the west, are dotted with ponds; in the former, the network of canals drains into Lake Francia located about 4 km to the north. 690 and 695 indicate the locations of the two farm ponds sampled for this study. Inset top right, boundaries of Amazonia as defined in ref. ⁴³ and the image of World Countries Generalized provided by ESRI under the ArcGIS Pro licence. Scale bar, 5 km. Credit: European Commission JRC.
Drainage canals and digital elevation model
a, The complete drainage network. Numbered dots indicate the location of phytolith profiles. b, Detail of the digital elevation model of the northern part of the drainage network. Dashed lines represent the forest–savannah boundary, showing that a great deal of the drainage network is presently covered by forest. See Fig. 1b for location. Scale bars, 1 km (a), 500m (b).
Relative frequencies of phytoliths recovered from farm pond, profile 690
Horizontal bars represent percentages, circles correspond to the presence of plant taxa lower than 1% in abundance. Vertical axis is the depth of the sample in cm. Source data are provided in Supplementary Data 1. non-diagn., non-diagnostic.
Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2025

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205 Reads

Nature

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McKenzie Bentley

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[...]

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Francis Mayle

The Casarabe culture (500–1400 ce), spreading over roughly 4,500 km² of the monumental mounds region of the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia, is one of the clearest examples of urbanism in pre-Columbian (pre-1492 ce) Amazonia. It exhibits a four-tier hierarchical settlement pattern, with hundreds of monumental mounds interconnected by canals and causeways1,2. Despite archaeological evidence indicating that maize was cultivated by this society³, it is unknown whether it was the staple crop and which type of agricultural farming system was used to support this urban-scale society. Here, we address this issue by integration of remote sensing, field survey and microbotanical analyses, which shows that the Casarabe culture invested heavily in landscape engineering, constructing a complex system of drainage canals (to drain excess water during the rainy season) and newly documented savannah farm ponds (to retain water in the dry season). Phytolith analyses of 178 samples from 18 soil profiles in drained fields, farm ponds and forested settings record the singular and ubiquitous presence of maize (Zea mays) in pre-Columbian fields and farm ponds, and an absence of evidence for agricultural practices in the forest. Collectively, our findings show how the Casarabe culture managed the savannah landscape for intensive year-round maize monoculture that probably sustained its relatively large population. Our results have implications for how we conceive agricultural systems in Amazonia, and show an example of a Neolithic-like, grain-based agrarian economy in the Amazon.

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Fig. 1. Maps showing the potential and actual remnant natural vegetation on southern Brazil's highlands, according to the sources used in this study (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 2020; Grantham et al., 2020; IBGE -Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2018; Souza et al., 2020). The MRNB map uses tier 1 remnants (see Methods Section 2.2).
Fig. 2. The proportions of the highlands' different phytoecological regions assessed as retaining natural vegetation. Sources for the internal bars are (left to right) MapBiomas 1985 and 2018 (Souza et al., 2020), SOS Mata Atlântica (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 2020), MRNB tiers 1, 2 and 3 (IBGE -Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2018), and FLII (Grantham et al., 2020). MRNB's Campos category includes gallery forests. For the data which underpin this figure, see Supplementary Data.
Fig. 3. Alluvial plot showing how the highlands' natural vegetation in 1985 changed by 2018, according to MapBiomas data. Some changes may result from classification changes rather than genuine land cover transitions. Data underpinning this figure can be found in Supplementary Data.
Fig. 4. Maps illustrating the contributions of Protected Areas and Indigenous Territories to the conservation of natural vegetation cover in the Araucaria ForestCampos mosaic. Selected areas are labelled.
Fig. 5. The proportion of the highlands' phytoecological regions (text and horizontal lines) and remnant natural vegetation (points) covered by Protected Areas and Indigenous Territories.
A conservation assessment of Brazil's iconic and threatened Araucaria Forest-Campos mosaic

July 2024

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237 Reads

Biological Conservation

Southern Brazil's highland Araucaria Forest-Campos grassland mosaic is an ancient and iconic landscape in the globally important Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. Human land use has inflicted significant losses on the region's natural vegetation since the late 19th Century, but these have not been effectively quantified. This study uses land cover maps and forest survey data to assess how much of the mosaic's natural vegetation remains, the quality of this remnant vegetation, how it has changed since 1985, and the extent to which it is protected. Natural vegetation covers 13.9-37.3 % of the Araucaria Forest-Campos mosaic's core regions and 13.0-38.0 % of the whole area, depending on the dataset. Most remnant areas are degraded and remaining forests have low average integrity. In only minorities of forest plots are the landscape's characteristic Araucaria angustifolia trees still present (23.5 % in the Araucaria Forest region), moderately abundant (11.4 %), or >50 % of the canopy (0.5 %). Major expansions in cropland and forest plantations between 1985 and 2018 drove net/absolute losses of 12.7 %/24.1 % in the mosaic's natural forest and 38.1 %/43.2 % in its natural grasslands. Protected Areas and Indigenous Territories cover 4.6 % of the core mosaic and 6.5 % of the whole region. These conserve important remnant vegetation, though grasslands are under-protected. By analysing and integrating diverse and complementary data sources, we significantly improve on and add nuance to previous estimates of the quantity and quality of Araucaria Forest remnants. This study also provides the first robust, quantitative estimate of remaining highland grassland across southern Brazil.


Paisagens Jê: Uma arqueologia sobre povos indígenas do sul do Brasil

April 2024

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334 Reads

O sul do Brasil tem uma presença de longa duração das sociedades Jê, os atuais Kaingang e Xokleng. Estes povos criaram paisagens compostas por uma diversidade de lugares e espaços de coexistência e circulação com diferentes funcionalidades, que interagem entre si por meio de uma estrutura sociocosmológica própria. Ao longo de mais de 2000 anos de história, as sociedades Jê prosperaram e se expandiram, criando engenhosas construções em terra e uma paisagem cultural própria, cheia de referências simbólicas, que podem ser percebidas até hoje. Este livro reúne textos de arqueologia que se entrelaçam e versam sobre temas como paisagens construídas, manejo agroflorestal, paisagens funerárias e paisagens persistentes, gerando assim novas interpretações sobre a história dos povos indígenas no sul do Brasil. Os dois primeiros capítulos debatem assuntos como a interação entre pessoas e o lugar em que elas habitam e a construção das paisagens sociais. Na sequência, dois outros capítulos abordam a questão contemporânea sobre a antropização dos ambientes, em especial, sobre as evidências de manejo da floresta de araucária e da produção de alimentos a partir de cultivos. Depois, a construção e uso de monumentos como as grandes praças de cerimonias funerárias é abordada em outros dois capítulos, interpretando-as como centros de coesão social com grande importância tanto nos aspectos políticos como cosmológicos. Por fim, os capítulos finais retratam um dos mais significativos sítios de arte rupestre do sul do Brasil, estudado com técnicas inovadoras de arqueologia digital e arqueometria e interpretado com documentação etnográfica e histórica. No sul do Brasil as sequências arqueológicas se sobrepõem a relatos históricos e etnográficos, mostrando que os povos Jê tem uma história de expansão, mas também de resistência e luta. Com livros como este, esperamos que a arqueologia possa ajudar os povos originários a recuperar sua dignidade e seus direitos.


Metades e Montículos Funerários: Dualismo em uma praça de cerimônias funerárias nas Terras Altas do Sul do Brasil

April 2024

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14 Reads

As escavações no sítio Abreu Garcia oferecem um estudo de caso detalhado de um conjunto de recintos e montículos funerários utilizados pelos grupos Jê meridionais nas terras altas do sul do Brasil. A descoberta de dezesseis depósitos secundários de pessoas cremadas dentro de um único montículo permite uma discussão profunda dos aspectos espaciais das práticas mortuárias. Uma divisão espacial na disposição dos enterramentos acrescenta outro nível de dualidade à paisagem mortuária, que compreende: (1) recintos e montículos acomodados em pares, (2) montículos duplos no interior de um recinto único, e (3) a divisão dual no interior do montículo. Os múltiplos níveis de dualismo assimétrico evocam semelhanças com o sistema de metades que caracterizam os grupos Jê meridionais modernos, ressaltando tanto a oposição quanto a complementaridade no sistema social. As descobertas propiciam uma compreensão histórica mais profunda dos aspectos fundamentais da organização social Jê meridional, incluindo a natureza dual da comunidade, as manifestações da estrutura social na paisagem e sua incorporação no rito mortuário. Os resultados têm influência para o planejamento das pesquisas e desenvolvimento de metodologias temáticas para responder a questões culturais específicas. Além disso, os paralelos entre arqueologia, etnohistória e etnografia permitem uma compreensão dos grupos descendentes modernos e uma avaliação da continuidade das culturas indígenas para além do momento de contato com os europeus.



Separando Fatores Humanos e Climáticos na Mudança de Vegetação do Holoceno Tardio no Sul do Brasil

April 2024

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31 Reads

Nas terras altas do sul do Brasil, uma expansão antropogênica da floresta ocorreu em detrimento dos campos entre 1410 e 900 cal anos AP, coincidindo com um período de mudança demográfica e cultural na região. Estudos anteriores debateram as contribuições relativas ao aumento das condições climáticas mais úmidas e quentes e as modificações humanas da paisagem para a expansão da floresta, mas geralmente careciam de proxies de alta resolução para medir esses efeitos ou dependiam de proxies únicos para reconstruir o clima e a vegetação. Aqui, desenvolvemos e testamos um modelo de distribuição de ecossistema natural contra histórias da vegetação, proxies paleoclimáticos e registros arqueológicos para distinguir os impactos dos humanos daqueles da temperatura e da precipitação na distribuição e expansão das florestas de araucária durante o Holoceno tardio. Os isótopos de carbono dos perfis do solo confirmam que, apesar das flutuações climáticas, a vegetação era estável e as florestas eram espacialmente limitadas às encostas voltadas para o sul na ausência de insumos humanos. Em contraste, as estratégias de manejo florestal dos últimos 1.400 anos expandiram essa floresta economicamente importante para além de seus limites geográficos naturais em áreas de densa ocupação indígena, sugerindo que as modificações da paisagem estavam ligadas a mudanças demográficas, cujos efeitos ainda são visíveis hoje.


Fire-human-climate interactions in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone from the Last Glacial Maximum to late Holocene

December 2023

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43 Reads

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2 Citations

Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology

The Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (the ARF-Ecotone) of the southwestern Amazon Basin is a transitional landscape from tropical evergreen rainforests and seasonally flooded savannahs to savannah woodlands and semi-deciduous dry forests. While fire activity plays an integral role in ARF-Ecotones, recent interactions between human activity and increased temperatures and prolonged droughts driven by anthropogenic climate change threaten to accelerate habitat transformation through positive feedbacks, increasing future fire susceptibility, fuel loads, and fire intensity. The long-term factors driving fire in the ARF-Ecotone remain poorly understood because of the challenge of disentangling the effects of prolonged climatic variability since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~24,000 to 11,000 cal BP) and over 10,500 years of human occupation in the region. To investigate this issue, we implement an interdisciplinary framework incorporating multiple lake sediment cores, with varying basin characteristics with existing regional palaeoclimatological and archaeological data. These data indicate expansive C4 grasslands coupled with low fire activity during the LGM, higher sensitivity of small basins to detecting local-scale fire activity, and increased spatial diversity of fire during the Holocene (~10,500 cal year BP to the limit of our records ~4,000 cal year BP), despite a similar regional climate. This may be attributed to increased human-driven fire. These data raise the intriguing possibility that the composition of modern flora at NKMNP developed as part of a co-evolutionary process between people and plants that started at the beginning of the ARE occupation.



Figure 1. Location maps. (A) Location of Riberalta region in northern Bolivia and the geoglyph region of eastern Acre, Brazil (Inset). (B) Location of study sites in relation to modern vegetation and earthwork distribution (geoglyphs and ring-ditches). (1) Location of the Acre soil profiles. (1A) Location of the FC1 soil profile in relation to the Fazenda Colorada geoglyph. (1B) Location of the JS1 Figure 1. Location maps. (A) Location of Riberalta region in northern Bolivia and the geoglyph region of eastern Acre, Brazil (Inset). (B) Location of study sites in relation to modern vegetation and earthwork distribution (geoglyphs and ring-ditches). (1) Location of the Acre soil profiles. (1A) Location of the FC1 soil profile in relation to the Fazenda Colorada geoglyph. (1B) Location of the JS1 soil profile in relation to the Jaco Sa geoglyph. (2) Location of the Tumichucua and El Tigre soil profiles. (2A) Locations of the Tumichucua and Tajibos soil profiles in relation to the Tumichucua ring-ditch. Earthwork locations from De Souza et al. [54] and location of Acre soil profiles from Watling et al. [20].
Figure 2. Summary diagrams of the three Riberalta soil profiles, showing percentage phytolith frequencies (A-fraction), charcoal abundance (particles per cc), soil particle size (% mass), midrange 14 C dates (calibrated years before present), C and N (% dry weight of soil), and exchangeable cations (cmolc/kg soil).
Figure 3. Full phytolith percentage diagrams (A-fraction) of the three Riberalta soil profiles, with midrange 14 C dates (calibrated years before present) plotted. X indicates <2%. Figure 3. Full phytolith percentage diagrams (A-fraction) of the three Riberalta soil profiles, with midrange 14 C dates (calibrated years before present) plotted. X indicates <2%.
Figure 5. Summary diagrams for the Acre soil pit transect, showing phytolith percentages (A-fraction), charcoal concentration (particles per cc), stable carbon isotope values (per mile), and midrange 14 C dates (calibrated years before present). Yellow shading indicates the approximate time period of geoglyph construction and use (from Watling et al. [20], with permission).
Radiocarbon dates from the Riberalta region soil pits.
An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests

May 2023

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431 Reads

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7 Citations

Quaternary

Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., 'off-site') has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new and previously published soil phytolith data from SW Amazonia to assess the robustness of this proxy for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use. We conducted the study via off-site soil pits radiating 7.5 km beyond a geoglyph in Acre state, Brazil, and 50 km beyond a ring-ditch in northern Bolivia, spanning the expected gradients in historical land-use intensity. We found that the spatio-temporal patterns in palm phytolith data across our soil-pit transects support the hypothesis that pre-Columbian peoples enriched their forests with palms over several millennia, although phytoliths are limited in their ability to capture small-scale crop cultivation and deforestation. Despite these drawbacks, we conclude that off-site soil phytolith analysis can provide novel insights into pre-Columbian land use, provided it is effectively integrated with other land-use (e.g., charcoal) and archaeological data.


Differing local-scale responses of Bolivian Amazon forest ecotones to middle Holocene drought based upon multiproxy soil data

April 2023

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130 Reads

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5 Citations

Journal of Quaternary Science

Uncertainty remains over local-scale responses of ecotonal Amazonian forests to middle Holocene drying due to the scarcity, and coarse spatial resolution, of lacustrine pollen records. This paper examines the palaeoecological potential of soil phytoliths, stable carbon isotopes and charcoal for capturing local-scale ecotonal responses of different types of Bolivian Amazonian forest to middle Holocene climate change. Soil pits 1 m deep were dug at ecotones between rainforest, dry forest, Chaco woodland and savannah, and sampled at 5-10 cm resolution. Both phytolith and stable carbon isotope records indicate stability of dry forest-savannah ecotones over the last ca. 6000 years, despite middle Holocene drought, revealing the dominance of edaphic factors over climate in controlling this type of ecotone. In contrast, δ 13 C data reveal that rainforest-savannah ecotones were more responsive to climate change, with rainforest likely replaced by drought-tolerant dry forest or savannah vegetation during the mid-Holocene, consistent with regional-scale lacustrine pollen records. However, such shifts are not apparent in most of our phytolith records due to insufficient taxonomic resolution in differentiating rainforest from dry forest. Charcoal data show that ecotonal dry forests experienced greater fire activity than rainforests and that recent high fire activity at all forest sites is unprecedented since at least the middle Holocene.


Citations (72)


... The abundance of maize remains recovered in the region 11,13,21,22,29 indicates that this crop played a key role in the emergence of the Casarabe culture and that these populations probably had well-developed maize agricultural systems 27 . Remains from a variety of other plants including manioc, sweet potatoes, squash, chili peppers, peanuts and unidentified palms have also been discovered 11,13,21,22,29,30 . Meanwhile, the discovery of muscovy duck remains in these same contexts suggests a potentially close relationship with one of the few animals to go on to be domesticated in the Neotropics 32 . ...

Reference:

Stable isotope evidence for pre-colonial maize agriculture and animal management in the Bolivian Amazon
RECONSTRUCTING PRE-COLOMBIAN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE BOLIVIAN SAVANNAH: STRATIGRAPHIC AND PHYTOLITH EVIDENCE FROM RAISED FIELDS AT CAMPO ESPAÑA, WESTERN LLANOS DE MOXOS

Cadernos do LEPAARQ (UFPEL)

... . South America: Amazon rainforest at a crossroads South America, home to the Amazon rainforest, the Andes Mountains, and diverse ecosystems, faces unique challenges and opportunities in addressing global warming and pollution. The region is characterized by its biodiversity, significant natural resources, and varied climates, all of which are impacted by environmental changes (Maezumi et al., 2023). . Europe: the frontlines of climate action Europe is a continent that has been at the forefront of addressing global warming and pollution through ambitious policies, innovative technologies, and collaborative initiatives (Ottaviani Aalmo et al., 2022). ...

Fire-human-climate interactions in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone from the Last Glacial Maximum to late Holocene

Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology

... This finding seems to follow a regional trend in which the frequency of the Holocene fires across Amazonia peaked over the last 4200 cal yr BP under wetter climate conditions than Early to Middle Holocene (Nascimento et al., 2022), which has been linked to human ignition (McMichael et al., 2023). Indeed, increased charcoal during this period at the LSL site may be attributable to human activity (Bush et al., 2007). ...

Spatial and temporal abilities of proxies used to detect pre-Columbian Indigenous human activity in Amazonian ecosystems
  • Citing Article
  • December 2023

Quaternary Science Reviews

... & Bonpl.) is an often-noted example of a plant still indicating an ancient anthropogenic footprint, with agreeing data from ecology, phytogeography, genetics, linguistics and archaeology (Shepard and Ramirez 2011;Pärssinen et al. 2021). Many researchers believe that that ancient indigenous Amazonians may have possessed the ability to manipulate large forest areas (e.g., Erickson 2010;Carson et al. 2014;Watling et al. 2017;Hill et al. 2023;Peripato et al. 2023). ...

An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests

Quaternary

... Além disso, fitólitos começaram a ser utilizados para reconstruir comunidades de vegetação a partir de perfis de solo off-site -ou seja, fora dos sítios arqueológicos (Watling et al., 2017). Embora não sejam tão sensíveis às distinções entre certos tipos de floresta (Hill et al., 2023), os fitólitos iluminam diferenças na intensidade de desmatamento e/ou no enriquecimento da floresta em espécies típicas da presença humana, como as palmeiras. Sendo sua deposição altamente local (< 5 m), tais estudos complementam dados palinológicos -cujas escalas de interpretação são na maior parte regionais (> 10 km) -e servem como alternativos ao pólen em lugares sem a presença de corpos d'água. ...

Differing local-scale responses of Bolivian Amazon forest ecotones to middle Holocene drought based upon multiproxy soil data

Journal of Quaternary Science

... Brown et al., 2021). Amazonian examples of anthropogenic soils and forests, including from nearby regions, are well known (Neves et al., 2003;Levis et al., 2017;Clement et al., 2020;Lombardo et al., 2022;Shock, 2024) and many interpretations of Amazonian agricultural history focus on Arawak speakers (Hornborg, 2005;Heckenberger, 2008;Graeber and Wengrow, 2021). The use and management of Amazonian wetlands by people, however, is generally understudied in archeological and paleoenvironmental contexts which conventionally have focused on terrestrial land use systems, specifically crop production. ...

Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

... Lithofacies Sm forms from the rapid vertical accumulation of suspended particles, indicating a high-energy sedimentary environment with strong hydrodynamic conditions. It is commonly found in the middle and upper sections of distributary channels [74,75]. ...

Late Holocene mangrove dynamics of the Doce River delta, southeastern Brazil: Implications for the understanding of mangrove resilience to sea-level changes and channel dynamics
  • Citing Article
  • May 2022

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology

... Forests later re-expanded into headwater regions, allowing differentiated populations to cross the narrow headwaters and come back into secondary contact. While the majority of the Amazon rainforest likely remained forested throughout the Pleistocene, paleo-pollen and soil evidence from the last glacial cycle (e.g., Fontes et al. 2017;Mayle, Burbridge, and Killeen 2000;Wright et al. 2021) and ecological modelling (Arruda et al. 2018;Bueno et al. 2017;Gomes et al. 2020;Smith, Singarayer, and Mayle 2022) have suggested that forests at the ecotone boundary in the southern Amazon have been less stable. ...

Response of Amazonian forests to mid‐Holocene drought: A model‐data comparison
  • Citing Article
  • October 2021

Global Change Biology

... Its wide range of longitudinal, latitudinal, and altitudinal variations gives this biome diverse characteristics throughout its extent, resulting in high biodiversity and the presence of endemic species (Ribeiro et al. 2009, Pires & Galetti 2023, Oliveira et al. 2024. It accounts for about 1% to 8% of the world's total fauna and flora and is considered a conservation priority area (hotspot) due to its high biodiversity and significant levels of degradation and fragmentation (Myers et al. 2000, Marques & Grelle 2021, Wilson et al. 2021. ...

Floristic change in Brazil's southern Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot: From the Last Glacial Maximum to the late 21st Century
  • Citing Article
  • July 2021

Quaternary Science Reviews

... Koch et al. (2019) and others argue that the resulting reduction in land use would have resulted in forest regrowth significant enough to induce a notable reduction of CO 2 in the atmosphere and help to catalyse the coldest period of the Little Ice Age. This hypothesis remains controversial (Bush et al., 2021;Hamilton et al., 2021). A key point is that large-scale estimates like Koch et al. (2019) generally estimate a land-use area under cultivation and then use typical carbon uptake rates for tropical afforestation to compute biomass carbon recovered after the large population loss. ...

Widespread reforestation before European influence on Amazonia

Science