A 50,000-year record of late Pleistocene tropical vegetation and human impact in lowland Borneo

Hunt, Chris; Gilbertson, D. D.; Rushworth, Garry

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.01.014

Cited by 75 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…There is now clear evidence for the use of tropical forests by our species in Borneo [12][13]34 and Melanesia 35 by c. 45 ka; in South Asia by c. 36 ka 36 ; and in South America by c. 13 ka 37 . There are suggestions of earlier rainforest occupation c. 125 ka in Java [38][39] , c. 60 ka in the Philippines 40 , c. 100 ka in China 41 , and in Africa perhaps from the first appearance of Homo sapiens c. 200 ka 42 , though further research is required to verify these cases 43 .…”

Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…In Southeast Asia, mounting evidence points to deliberate anthropogenic biomass burning in order to create forest-edge habitats from first human arrival c. 45 ka 13,35 (Figure 1). This may reflect reliance on starchy forest edge plants and bearded pig attracted to canopy openings 12 .…”

Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Top: Late Pleistocene, Bottom: Early Holocene 11,000-5,000 BP. The figure is compiled based on data from Barker et al 118 , Denham 58 , Hunt et al 13 , Hunt and Premathilake 59 , Hunt and Rabett 119 , Marwick et al 120 Mijares et al 40 ,Moss and Kershaw 47 , Paz 56 , Kershaw et al 121 , van der Kaars et al 122 , Storm et al 38 , Summerhayes et al 35 , and Westaway et al 39 . Figure 2.…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[8][9][10][11] ), and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction (e.g. [12][13] ), have increasingly demonstrated tropical forests to be dynamic 'artefacts' of millennia of human-forest interaction [14][15] . Attempts to investigate the relationship between, on the one hand, prehistoric fire regime alteration, cultivation 16 , extensive sedentary settlement, and enduring landscape modification [17][18] , and, on the other, sustainable past subsistence, water-use, and intensive human occupation, have so far been limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

et al. 2017

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Abstract/first paragraphSignificant 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 emphasise 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.

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Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Early Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

et al. 2017

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“…Vegetation burning also enhanced hunting opportunities by drawing game and other faunal resources to new plant growth. A human contribution to the shaping of early fire regimes has been demonstrated for Africa and, after human arrival, in Borneo, Australia, and the Americas (22)(23)(24)(25).…”

Section: Four Key Phases Of Anthropogenic Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions

Boivin

Zeder

Fuller

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

674

490

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The exhibition of increasingly intensive and complex niche construction behaviors through time is a key feature of human evolution, culminating in the advanced capacity for ecosystem engineering exhibited by Homo sapiens. A crucial outcome of such behaviors has been the dramatic reshaping of the global biosphere, a transformation whose early origins are increasingly apparent from cumulative archaeological and paleoecological datasets. Such data suggest that, by the Late Pleistocene, humans had begun to engage in activities that have led to alterations in the distributions of a vast array of species across most, if not all, taxonomic groups. Changes to biodiversity have included extinctions, extirpations, and shifts in species composition, diversity, and community structure. We outline key examples of these changes, highlighting findings from the study of new datasets, like ancient DNA (aDNA), stable isotopes, and microfossils, as well as the application of new statistical and computational methods to datasets that have accumulated significantly in recent decades. We focus on four major phases that witnessed broad anthropogenic alterations to biodiversity-the Late Pleistocene global human expansion, the Neolithic spread of agriculture, the era of island colonization, and the emergence of early urbanized societies and commercial networks. Archaeological evidence documents millennia of anthropogenic transformations that have created novel ecosystems around the world. This record has implications for ecological and evolutionary research, conservation strategies, and the maintenance of ecosystem services, pointing to a significant need for broader cross-disciplinary engagement between archaeology and the biological and environmental sciences.biodiversity | extinctions | invasive species | novel ecosystems | Anthropocene The reshaping of global biodiversity is one of the most significant impacts humans have had on Earth's ecosystems. As our planet experiences its sixth "mass extinction event" (1), the effect of anthropogenic landscape modification, habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, and species invasions could not be more apparent (2, 3). These transformations are linked largely to the industrial economies, burgeoning populations, and dense transport networks of contemporary human societies. Accordingly, the humanmediated alteration of species distributions has been characterized as a modern phenomenon with limited, and largely insignificant, historical antecedents. This conventional understanding fails to account for several decades of archaeological, paleoecological, and genetic research that reveal a long and widespread history of human transformation of global biodiversity (4-6). The evolutionary trajectory of Homo sapiens has seen growing capacities for advanced cognition and demographic and geographic expansion, along with an exponential increase in the scope and impact of human niche constructing activities (7) that have culminated in fundamental changes to planetary ecosystems.Drawing upon findings from ...

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Island Southeast Asia as a Canvas for Human Migration

2017

First Islanders

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A 50,000-year record of late Pleistocene tropical vegetation and human impact in lowland Borneo

Cited by 75 publications

References 71 publications

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions

Island Southeast Asia as a Canvas for Human Migration

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