High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains

Morin‐Rivat, Julie; Biwolé, Achille Bernard; Gorel, Anaïs; Vleminckx, Jason; Gillet, Jean‐François; Bourland, Nils; Hardy, Olivier J.; Smith, Alexandre Livingstone; Daïnou, Kasso; Dedry, Laurent; Beeckman, Hans; Doucet, Jean‐Louis

doi:10.1177/0959683616646184

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Charcoal (related to natural fires and anthropogenic burning) in lake sediments and soils were recorded only at the end of this period, which corresponds to the end of the hiatus phase in human activities (massive depopulation) previously documented for central Africa (Oslisly et al, 2013a, 2013b; Wotzka, 2006) and specifically for the SRI (Morin-Rivat et al., 2014). Surveys have been carried out, but the poor surface visibility can underestimate true human presence (see Morin-Rivat et al, 2016, for an example of methodology). Sometimes no archaeological research have been carried out in certain regions covered by dense forest (B. Clist, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used 63 uncalibrated traditional and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates and two optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates from 52 archaeological sites and punctual discoveries that covered the last 1000 years (Supplementary file 6) (Fay, 1997; Lanfranchi et al, 1998; Brnčić, 2003; Moga, 2008; Meyer et al, 2009; Oslisly et al, 2013b; Morin-Rivat et al, 2014, 2016 ;Lupo et al, 2015). A total of 22 published dates from 21 sites in Cameroon, 15 dates from 13 sites in the Republic of the Congo, and 28 dates from 18 sites in the Central African Republic were acquired.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Present-day central African forest is a legacy of the 19th century human history

Morin‐Rivat

Fayolle

Favier

et al. 2017

eLife

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The populations of light-demanding trees that dominate the canopy of central African forests are now aging. Here, we show that the lack of regeneration of these populations began ca. 165 ya (around 1850) after major anthropogenic disturbances ceased. Since 1885, less itinerancy and disturbance in the forest has occurred because the colonial administrations concentrated people and villages along the primary communication axes. Local populations formerly gardened the forest by creating scattered openings, which were sufficiently large for the establishment of light-demanding trees. Currently, common logging operations do not create suitable openings for the regeneration of these species, whereas deforestation degrades landscapes. Using an interdisciplinary approach, which included paleoecological, archaeological, historical, and dendrological data, we highlight the long-term history of human activities across central African forests and assess the contribution of these activities to present-day forest structure and composition. The conclusions of this sobering analysis present challenges to current silvicultural practices and to those of the future.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20343.001

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Present-day central African forest is a legacy of the 19th century human history

Morin‐Rivat

Fayolle

Favier

et al. 2017

eLife

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“…10), pearl-millet farming in the Central African forests had expanded to several more sites in southern Cameroon, including Abang Minko'o and Mintyaminyoumin-even as far as Boso-Njafo in the Inner Congo Basin, which is beyond our study area (Eggert et al 2006;Kahlheber, Eggert, Seidensticker and Wotzka 2014;Neumann, Boeston et al 2012a). Several studies have documented an increase in population in tropical Africa at this time (Garcin, Deschamps et al 2018a;Morin-Rivat, Biwole et al 2016;Morin-Rivat, Fayolle et al 2014;Wotzka 2006). Also by this time, proto-Bantu language speaking farmers had expanded out of West Africa, bringing both their language and crop set towards the east and south 1 3 of the continent (Bostoen, Grollemund and Muluwa 2013;Grollemund et al 2015;Russell, Silva and Steel 2014).…”

Section: Bcmentioning

confidence: 98%

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2019

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Many societal and environmental changes occurred between the 2nd millennium BC and the middle of the 2nd millennium AD in western Africa. Key amongst these were changes in land use due to the spread and development of agricultural strategies, which may have had widespread consequences for the climate, hydrology, biodiversity, and ecosystem services of the region. Quantification of these land-use influences and potential feedbacks between human and natural systems is controversial, however, in part because the archaeological and historical record is highly fragmented in time and space. To improve our understanding of how humans contributed to the development of African landscapes, we developed an atlas of landuse practices in western Africa for nine time-windows over the period 1800 BC-AD 1500. The maps are based on a broad synthesis of archaeological, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, historical, linguistic, genetic, and ethnographic data, and present land use in 12 basic categories. The main differences between categories is the relative reliance on, and variety of, domesticated plant and animal species utilized, and the energy invested in cultivating or keeping them. The maps highlight the irregular and frequently non-linear trajectory of land-use change in the prehistory of western Africa. Representing an original attempt to produce rigorous spatial synthesis from diverse sources, the atlas will be useful for a range of studies of human-environment interactions in the past, and highlight major spatial and temporal gaps in data that may guide future field studies.

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“…La forêt à Manilkara serait plus âgée que la forêt à Celtis Douh et al, 2018). En effet, Morin-Rivat et al (2016) ont observé dans les sols de la forêt à Manilkara une moindre abondance de charbon de bois et de tessons de poterie, lesquels sont des indicateurs d'activités anthropiques anciennes.…”

Section: Variation De La Banque De Graines Du Sol D'e Suaveolens En unclassified

Banque de graines du sol et déterminants de la germination du tali, Erythrophleum suaveolens (Guill. & Perr.) Brenan

Douh¹,

Gorel²,

Daïnou³

et al. 2019

Bois for. trop.

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Cette étude évalue l’abondance des graines d’Erythrophleum suaveolens dans la banque de semences du sol des forêts denses humides d’Afrique centrale. Les travaux ont été menés au Nord-Congo dans deux types forestiers : la forêt à Celtis sur des sols argilo-sableux à sablo-argileux et la forêt à Manilkara sur des sols sableux. Les tiges d’E. suaveolens (dhp ≥ 10 cm) ont été inventoriées dans deux blocs de 400 ha, et les structures diamétriques de leurs populations ont été comparées. En outre, 80 fosses (2 x 40 fosses par type de forêt) ont été creusées au pied de 20 arbres (10 par forêt), sur trois couches contiguës de 10 cm chacune, soit à une profondeur totale de 30 cm, et l’abondance des graines dans la banque de semences du sol a été évaluée. La dormance des graines récoltées a été testée par des essais de germination après traitement au H2SO4 et cinq graines prélevées jusqu'à une profondeur de 20 cm dans la forêt à Celtis ont été utilisées pour estimer leur âge par spectroscopie de masse par accélérateur (AMS). Dans les deux types forestiers, les structures diamétriques présentent une distribution gaussienne, illustrant un déficit de régénération. Alors que les densités de tiges (dhp ≥ 10 cm) sont proches, avec 0,85 et 1,05 tige/ha respectivement, dans la forêt à Celtis et la forêt à Manilkara. Les densités de graines sont significativement plus élevées dans la forêt à Celtis (8,55 graines/m2) que dans la forêt à Manilkara (0,15 graine/m2). Le pourcentage maximum de germination obtenu était de 19,1 % pour des graines n’ayant subi aucun traitement. Les lots traités à l’acide ont présenté de moindres taux de germination. Ces graines semblent pouvoir se conserver une dizaine d’années au moins dans la banque du sol. Les facteurs pouvant influencer les variations de densité des graines sont discutés et des recommandations sylvicoles sont formulées.

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High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains

Cited by 34 publications

References 102 publications

Present-day central African forest is a legacy of the 19th century human history

Present-day central African forest is a legacy of the 19th century human history

Untitled

Banque de graines du sol et déterminants de la germination du tali, Erythrophleum suaveolens (Guill. & Perr.) Brenan

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