Title
Widespread reforestation before European influence on Amazonia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-30-2021
Publication Title
Science
Volume
372
Issue
6541
First Page
484
Last Page
487
DOI
10.1126/science.abf3870
Abstract
An estimated 90 to 95% of Indigenous people in Amazonia died after European contact. This population collapse is postulated to have caused decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at around 1610 CE, as a result of a wave of land abandonment in the wake of disease, slavery, and warfare, whereby the attendant reversion to forest substantially increased terrestrial carbon sequestration. On the basis of 39 Amazonian fossil pollen records, we show that there was no synchronous reforestation event associated with such an atmospheric carbon dioxide response after European arrival in Amazonia. Instead, we find that, at most sites, land abandonment and forest regrowth began about 300 to 600 years before European arrival. Pre-European pandemics, social strife, or environmental change may have contributed to these early site abandonments and ecological shifts.
Recommended Citation
Bush, M. B.; Nascimento, M. N.; Åkesson, C. M.; Cárdenes-Sandí, G. M.; Maezumi, S. Y.; Behling, H.; Correa-Metrio, A.; Church, W.; Huisman, S. N.; Kelly, T.; Mayle, F. E.; and McMichael, C. N.H., "Widespread reforestation before European influence on Amazonia" (2021). Faculty Bibliography. 3270.
https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/bibliography_faculty/3270