Cited by 10Amazonian Archaeology and EthnohistoryFire effects on ecosystemsSoil and Environmental Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 133 of the 133 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 11 of the 84 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Pre‐contact and post‐colonial ecological legacies shape Surinamese rainforests

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Abstract

Disturbances in tropical forests can have long-lasting ecological impacts, but their manifestations (ecological legacies) in modern forests are uncertain. Many Amazonian forests bear the mark of past soil modifications, species enrichments, and fire events, but the trajectories of ecological legacies from the pre-contact or post-colonial period remain relatively unexplored. We assessed the fire and vegetation history from 15 soil cores ranging from 0 to 10 km from a post-colonial Surinamese archaeological site. We show that (1) fires occurred from 96 bc to recent times and induced significant vegetation change, (2) persistent ecological legacies from pre-contact and post-colonial fire and deforestation practices were mainly within 1 km of the archaeological site, and (3) palm enrichment of Attalea, Oenocarpus and Astrocaryum occurred within 0, 1, and 8 km of the archaeological site, respectively. Our results challenge the notion of spatially extensive and persistent ecological legacies. Instead, our data indicate that the persistence and extent of ecological legacies are dependent on their timing, frequency, type, and intensity. Examining the mechanisms and manifestations of ecological legacies is crucial in assessing forest resilience and Indigenous and local land rights in the highly threatened Amazonian forests.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study uses charcoal and phytolith records from 15 soil cores around the post-colonial Surinamese archaeological site Beng Tapu to test how far pre-contact and post-colonial ecological legacies extend. It finds that persistent legacies were mostly localized within 1 km, while some fire and vegetation changes occurred 6–8 km away, challenging assumptions of spatially extensive Amazonian legacies.

Key findings

  • Charcoal occurred in 84 of 117 samples and all 15 soil cores; 12 radiocarbon-dated fragments showed fires from 96 BC to modern times, with 7 pre-contact dates (96 BC–AD 1381) and 5 post-colonial dates (AD 1661–modern). Large charcoal volumes >10 mm³/cm³ were recovered within 1 km of Beng Tapu.
  • Maize phytoliths occurred only within 1 km of Beng Tapu (soil cores BT2 and Pf1), while banana phytoliths occurred up to 5 km away (F5, C, A1, BT1, A2). Modern aboveground biomass was lowest (<200 Mg/ha) within 1 km, ranged 284–404 Mg/ha within 5 km, and 274–433 Mg/ha >5 km away.
  • Palm enrichment was spatially structured: Attalea, Oenocarpus, and Astrocaryum increased within 0, 1, and 8 km of the archaeological site, respectively. SPH_ECH palm phytoliths increased within 1 km, and Astrocaryum/Bactris increased within 8 km in soil cores with charcoal.
  • Fire and forest opening were not restricted to the site vicinity: elevated grass abundances and charcoal occurred at F7 and F8 (6 and 8 km away), and high charcoal >10 mm³/cm³ occurred at F3 (6 km) without forest-opening evidence. The largest vegetation changes occurred at BT1, A1, F7, and F8, not simply by distance from Beng Tapu.

Methods

  • Two 10-km transects radiated from the Beng Tapu archaeological site in Sipaliwini, Suriname; soil cores were collected at 250 m, 500 m, and 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10 km, with samples at 10-cm intervals to 80 cm depth. In total, 15 surface samples and 102 soil-core samples (N = 117) were analyzed for phytoliths and charcoal.
  • Phytoliths were extracted using standard procedures, counted to a minimum of 200 arboreal and 400 total phytoliths, and assigned to 20 morphotype/taxonomic groups. Charcoal volume was calculated from photographed fragments using ImageJ.
  • Twelve charcoal fragments were AMS radiocarbon dated and calibrated with IntCal20. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) assessed phytolith assemblage dissimilarity, and trend/magnitude of change was calculated for five common phytolith groups; openness index and modern aboveground biomass estimates were compared across sites.

Limitations

  • The paper states that no pre-contact settlements have been investigated in the vicinity of the study region, limiting interpretation of the pre-contact period, and that archaeological studies in Suriname’s forested interior are scarce. It also notes that not all samples were dated, that modern deforestation and agricultural activities make past human impacts difficult to determine at soil cores C, A1, and A2, and that phytoliths can move downward in soils; soil core C may have been exposed to erosion or overturning from recent slash-and-burn.
  • The paper states that the F7 and F8 sites may be close to a yet-undiscovered pre-contact occupation site, so those distant fire signals are interpreted indirectly rather than from known archaeological context.
  • Evident from the text: the pre-contact and post-colonial interpretations rely on a relatively small number of dated charcoal fragments (N = 12) and on soil-core records without comprehensive independent archaeological dating at every sampled location.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/ecy.4272

Cites

133 of 133 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

FI G U R E 1 Map of Suriname, a timeline of pre-contact and post-colonial human history prior to AD 1700, and our study area near archaeological site ' Beng Tapu. ' Gray polygons indicate areas that contain pre-contact archaeological sites (specific sites are in Versteeg, 2003). Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.
FI G U R E 1 Map of Suriname, a timeline of pre-contact and post-colonial human history prior to AD 1700, and our study area near archaeological site ' Beng Tapu. ' Gray polygons indicate areas that contain pre-contact archaeological sites (specific sites are in Versteeg, 2003). Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
FI G U R E 2 The relative abundances of phytolith types for each location and depth interval. The y -axis shows depth of the soil cores in 10 -cm intervals, the x -axis shows the phytolith relative abundance (in percentage), phytolith presence (dots) and charcoal volume (in cubic millimeters per cubic centimeter). Ecological legacies (in red), 14 C calibrated ages (in AD/BC), elevation (in meters above sea level), soil color, location, and distance to the archaeological site Beng Tapu are also shown. Orange dots (Pooideae, Oryzoideae) are grasses, red dots (Marantaceae, Musaceae, Knobby, Heliconia and druses) are Zingiberales. SPH_ECH palms are produced by Attalea , Euterpe , Oenocarpus , Hyospathe elegans , and Cocos nucifera .
FI G U R E 2 The relative abundances of phytolith types for each location and depth interval. The y -axis shows depth of the soil cores in 10 -cm intervals, the x -axis shows the phytolith relative abundance (in percentage), phytolith presence (dots) and charcoal volume (in cubic millimeters per cubic centimeter). Ecological legacies (in red), 14 C calibrated ages (in AD/BC), elevation (in meters above sea level), soil color, location, and distance to the archaeological site Beng Tapu are also shown. Orange dots (Pooideae, Oryzoideae) are grasses, red dots (Marantaceae, Musaceae, Knobby, Heliconia and druses) are Zingiberales. SPH_ECH palms are produced by Attalea , Euterpe , Oenocarpus , Hyospathe elegans , and Cocos nucifera .CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
FI G U R E 3 Diagram showing 14 C calibrated ages (in AD/BC), burned phytoliths (black), total arboreal (green) and total palm (blue) phytoliths in abundance (in percentage), log-transformed openness index values (green) and aboveground biomass (black) estimates in megagrams per hectare (Avitabile et al., 2016). Stars indicate samples with high charcoal volumes >10 mm 3 /cm 3 . Dark green bars indicate samples with no grass silica short cell phytoliths, and values below dashed lines suggest forest opening (Witteveen et al., 2023). The y -axis shows depth in 10-cm intervals for each location, the distance to the archaeological site Beng Tapu and Suriname River are indicated. Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.
FI G U R E 3 Diagram showing 14 C calibrated ages (in AD/BC), burned phytoliths (black), total arboreal (green) and total palm (blue) phytoliths in abundance (in percentage), log-transformed openness index values (green) and aboveground biomass (black) estimates in megagrams per hectare (Avitabile et al., 2016). Stars indicate samples with high charcoal volumes >10 mm 3 /cm 3 . Dark green bars indicate samples with no grass silica short cell phytoliths, and values below dashed lines suggest forest opening (Witteveen et al., 2023). The y -axis shows depth in 10-cm intervals for each location, the distance to the archaeological site Beng Tapu and Suriname River are indicated. Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF
FI G U R E 4 (a) Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of phytolith percentage data from all the sampled sites, colored by depth. Red arrows show the trend or magnitude of change across depth/time. (b) Trend of change ( y -axis) using surface to basal samples and magnitude of change ( x -axis) using maximum to minimum values of the abundances (in percentage) of palms (blue), woody (green) and grass (orange) phytoliths. Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.
FI G U R E 4 (a) Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of phytolith percentage data from all the sampled sites, colored by depth. Red arrows show the trend or magnitude of change across depth/time. (b) Trend of change ( y -axis) using surface to basal samples and magnitude of change ( x -axis) using maximum to minimum values of the abundances (in percentage) of palms (blue), woody (green) and grass (orange) phytoliths. Illustrations were made by N. H. Witteveen.CC-BY-NC-ND · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

32 Own result · 17 Sources not found · 16 Own interpretation · 14 Not checked yet · 6 No basis given · 5 No full text of the sources · 4 Partly supported · 3 Supported so far · 1 Couldn’t confirm · 1 Own method · accuracy not yet measured

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  • It may state two separate claims as one. 39
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 14
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Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 131 references

Research works printed but not linked: 12

  1. Boer J. G. W., 1965, The Indigenous Palms of Suriname
  2. Brown S., 1992, Aboveground Biomass Estimates for Tropical Moist Forests of the Brazilian Amazon, Interciencia. Caracas, 17, 8
  3. Clement C. R., 1988, Domestication of the Pejibaye Palm (Bactris Gasipaes): Past and Present, Advances in Economic Botany, 6, 155
  4. Funk V. A., 2007, Checklist of the Plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana), 1
  5. Hijmans R. J., 2013, Raster Package in R
  6. Jagdew E. R., 2014, Vrede te midden van oorlog in Suriname: inheemsen, Europeanen, Marrons en vredesverdragen 1667–1863
  7. Lehmann J., 2007, Amazonian Dark Earths: Origin Properties Management
  8. Roosevelt A. C., 1999, Twelve Thousand Years of Human‐Environment Interaction in the Amazon Floodplain, Advances in Economic Botany, 13, 371
  9. SBB, 2017, Forest Cover Monitoring in Suriname Using Remote Sensing Techniques for the Period 2000–2015
  10. Andel T. R., 2014, Medicinale en rituele planten van Suriname
  11. Versteeg A., 2003, Suriname before Columbus
  12. Weinstein B., 1983, The Amazon Rubber Boom, 1850–1920

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Metadata

Authors
Witteveen, N. H., White, C., Sánchez‐Martínez, B. A., Philip, A., Boyd, F., Booij, R., Christ, R., Singh, S., Gosling, W. D., Piperno, D. R., & McMichael, C. N. H.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Anton de Kom University of Suriname (SR)
  • Smithsonian Institution (US)
Corresponding author
Witteveen, Nina H.
Venue
Ecology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2024-04-08
Volume
105
Issue
5
Pages
e4272-e4272
ISSN
  • 0012-9658 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-9170
OpenAlex
W4394629555
Cited by
10
References
131
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1
FWCI
49.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • WGF
  • European Research Council (ERC 2019 StG 853394)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil and Environmental Studies
Keywords
ecological legacies, fire history, archaeological site, soil core, Attalea, Oenocarpus, Astrocaryum, vegetation change, Amazon rainforest, forest resilience, indigenous land rights, Suriname
MeSH terms
Archaeology, Conservation of Natural Resources, Fires, Suriname, Time Factors, Rainforest

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