Did Native Americans influence the northward migration of plants during the Holocene?

Abstract

Long-distance plant dispersal explains the rapid northward migration of plant species during the Holocene but the mechanisms by which it occurred are poorly understood. Given that Native Americans spread numerous cultigens over thousands of kilometres during the late Holocene, I examined historical literature for evidence of non-cultigen dispersal or cultivation in North America's eastern woodlands. Cultivation references are included because a strong relationship between dispersal and indigenous flora husbandry is assumed. Sixty-seven texts describing Native American lifestyle, cultural activities, and land management reported some form of plant use. Most accounts, however, focus on cultigen production or the use of indigenous flora for medicine or food without mention of dispersal. Twenty-four of the texts described the trade, transport, or

Phylogeography of Camassia quamash in western North America: postglacial colonization and transport by indigenous peoples

“…The patterns we observed can be understood largely without invoking any effect of dispersal by indigenous peoples, although we cannot rule out some such influence. In North America, ecologists have only recently begun to appreciate the impacts of indigenous peoples on ecosystem processes, and their effects on plant dispersal have not been fully examined (MacDougall 2003; Delcourt & Delcourt 2004). Our study provides a strong indication that in addition to ethnobotanical and archaeological evidence, genetic approaches can yield important insights into the degree to which regional dynamics of species were historically modified by indigenous activities.…”

“…However, whereas human-mediated dispersal is clearly implicated in the many episodes of exotic plant invasions during the last few centuries (Mack et al 2000), and the early spread of domesticated crops (Zohary & Hopf 1993), the degree to which historical human activities influenced plant dispersal more broadly is unclear. Human transport in preindustrial times was not as extensive as that in recent times, but the potential for long-distance dispersal was considerable for some species (MacDougall 2003). However, the quantity of propagules dispersed by historical human activities, and the distances over which they were dispersed, may have been insufficient to create patterns in geographical ranges or genetic structure than can be readily discriminated from those created by natural dispersal.…”

“…In North America, many plant species were utilized by indigenous peoples for various purposes (Moerman 1998;MacDougall 2003), and the effect of historical human populations on plant dispersal has been widely studied. One line of evidence involves disjunct occurrences of plant populations and their proximity to Indian villages or travel routes (Moseley 1931;Rousseau 1966;Keener & Kuhns 1997), although non-human causes are also possible in many of these cases (Murphy 2001;MacDougall 2003).…”

Some aspects of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) diversity and domestication in Mesoamerica

“…It seems that early Lauraceae dispersal has been accidental, such as transport of seeds within the soils or water and latter facilitated by animals moving propagules and seeds (Hodkinson and Thompson 1997;MacDougall 2003;Renner 2004). Among these animals are the big mammals, such as the giant ground sloths, which were common in America during the ice ages and had been reported as avocado dispersers (Diamond 1999;Barlow 2002).…”

Exploring the Early Anthropocene Burning Hypothesis and Climate-Fire Anomalies for the Eastern U.S.

“…However, others have argued that extensive areas can be burned by a relatively small number of people (Guyette, Spetich, & Stambaugh, 2006a;Guyette et al, 2006b;Kay, 2007;Pinter et al, 2011). Native Americans impacted forests of the eastern U.S. in many wayssuch as hunting, land clearing for settlements and agriculture, promoting mast and fruit trees and shrubs, but most profoundly in the form of landscape burning (Day, 1953;Doolittle, 2000;MacDougall, 2003;Nowacki, MacCleery, & Lake, 2012). For example, the long-term sustainability of tallgrass prairie and oak-hickory or pine savannas and forests has been directly attributed to Native American burning (Sauer, 1950;Curtis, 1959;Pyne, 1983).…”