Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition
Open accessAbstract
Past human influences on Amazonian forest: The marks of prehistoric human societies on tropical forests can still be detected today. Levis et al. performed a basin-wide comparison of plant distributions, archaeological sites, and environmental data. Plants domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples are much more likely to be dominant in Amazonian forests than other species. Furthermore, forests close to archaeological sites often have a higher abundance and richness of domesticated species. Thus, modern-day Amazonian tree communities across the basin remain largely structured by historical human use. Science , this issue p. 925
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
By creating new cultural niches, humans partly modified the Amazonian flora, increasing their food security even during times of past climate change without the need for large-scale deforestation.
“By creating new cultural niches, humans partly modified the Amazonian flora117,118, increasing their food security even during times of past climate change119,120 without the need for large-scale deforestation117.”
From Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system (2024) · cites this paper as [117]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system
Flores, B. M., Montoya, E., Sakschewski, B., Nascimento, N., Staal, A., Betts, R. A., Levis, C., Lapola, D. M., Esquível-Muelbert, A., Jakovac, C., et al. (2024) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06970-0 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
Self-citationTemperton, V. M., Buchmann, N., Buisson, E., Durigan, G., Kazmierczak, Ł., Perring, M. P., de Sá Dechoum, M., Veldman, J. W., & Overbeck, G. E. (2019) · Restoration Ecology · doi:10.1111/rec.12989 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
- Authors
- Levis, C., Costa, F. R. C., Bongers, F., Peña-Claros, M., Clement, C. R., Junqueira, A. B., Neves, E. G., Tamanaha, E. K., Figueiredo, F. O. G., Salomão, R. P., Castilho, C. V., Magnusson, W. E., Phillips, O. L., Guevara, J. E., Sabatier, D., Molino, J.-F., López, D. C., Mendoza, A. M., Pitman, N. C. A., Duque, A., Vargas, P. N., Zartman, C. E., Vasquez, R., Andrade, A., Camargo, J. L., Feldpausch, T. R., Laurance, S. G. W., Laurance, W. F., Killeen, T. J., Nascimento, H. E. M., Montero, J. C., Mostacedo, B., Amaral, I. L., Guimarães Vieira, I. C., Brienen, R., Castellanos, H., Terborgh, J., Carim, M. D. J. V., Guimarães, J. R. D. S., Coelho, L. D. S., Matos, F. D. D. A., Wittmann, F., Mogollón, H. F., Damasco, G., Dávila, N., García-Villacorta, R., Coronado, E. N. H., Emilio, T., Filho, D. D. A. L., Schietti, J., Souza, P., Targhetta, N., Comiskey, J. A., Marimon, B. S., Marimon, B.-H., Neill, D., Alonso, A., Arroyo, L., Carvalho, F. A., de Souza, F. C., Dallmeier, F., Pansonato, M. P., Duivenvoorden, J. F., Fine, P. V. A., Stevenson, P. R., Araujo-Murakami, A., Aymard C., G. A., Baraloto, C., do Amaral, D. D., Engel, J., Henkel, T. W., Maas, P., Petronelli, P., Revilla, J. D. C., Stropp, J., Daly, D., Gribel, R., Paredes, M. R., Silveira, M., Thomas-Caesar, R., Baker, T. R., da Silva, N. F., Ferreira, L. V., Peres, C. A., Silman, M. R., Cerón, C., Valverde, F. C., Di Fiore, A., Jimenez, E. M., Mora, M. C. P., Toledo, M., Barbosa, E. M., Bonates, L. C. D. M., Arboleda, N. C., Farias, E. D. S., Fuentes, A., Guillaumet, J.-L., Jørgensen, P. M., Malhi, Y., de Andrade Miranda, I. P., Phillips, J. F., Prieto, A., Rudas, A., Ruschel, A. R., Silva, N., von Hildebrand, P., Vos, V. A., Zent, E. L., Zent, S., Cintra, B. B. L., Nascimento, M. T., Oliveira, A. A., Ramirez-Angulo, H., Ramos, J. F., Rivas, G., Schöngart, J., Sierra, R., Tirado, M., van der Heijden, G., Torre, E. V., Wang, O., Young, K. R., Baider, C., Cano, A., Farfan-Rios, W., Ferreira, C., Hoffman, B., Mendoza, C., Mesones, I., Torres-Lezama, A., Medina, M. N. U., van Andel, T. R., Villarroel, D., Zagt, R., Alexiades, M. N., Balslev, H., Garcia-Cabrera, K., Gonzales, T., Hernandez, L., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I., Manzatto, A. G., Milliken, W., Cuenca, W. P., Pansini, S., Pauletto, D., Arevalo, F. R., Reis, N. F. C., Sampaio, A. F., Giraldo, L. E. U., Sandoval, E. H. V., Gamarra, L. V., Vela, C. I. A., & ter Steege, H.
- Affiliations
- Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (BR)
- University of Iceland (IS)
- UMR Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des végétations (FR)
- National Observatory (BR)
- Universitat de València (ES)
- Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado (BO)
- Physiopathologie et pharmacologie de la douleur et de la migraine (FR)
- European Organization for Nuclear Research (CH)
- Unité Matériaux et Transformations (FR)
- Erasmus Hospital (BE)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (DE)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
- Universidad de Los Andes (VE)
- Universidad de Salamanca (ES)
- Fondazione Edmund Mach (IT)
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (BR)
- Corresponding author
- Levis, C.
- ORCID
- Levis, C.
- Costa, F. R. C.
- Bongers, F.
- Clement, C. R.
- Junqueira, A. B.
- Neves, E. G.
- Tamanaha, E. K.
- Figueiredo, F. O. G.
- Salomão, R. P.
- Castilho, C. V.
- Magnusson, W. E.
- Phillips, O. L.
- Sabatier, D.
- Molino, J.-F.
- López, D. Cárdenas
- Pitman, N. C. A.
- Duque, A.
- Zartman, C. E.
- Vasquez, R.
- Andrade, A.
- Camargo, J. L.
- Feldpausch, T. R.
- Laurance, S. G. W.
- Killeen, T. J.
- Mostacedo, B.
- Amaral, I. L.
- Guimarães Vieira, I. C.
- Brienen, R.
- Castellanos, H.
- Carim, M. de Jesus Veiga
- Guimarães, J. R. da Silva
- Coelho, L. de Souza
- Wittmann, F.
- Mogollón, H. F.
- Damasco, G.
- Dávila, N.
- Coronado, E. N. H.
- Emilio, T.
- Schietti, J.
- Souza, P.
- Targhetta, N.
- Marimon, B. S.
- Neill, D.
- Alonso, A.
- Arroyo, L.
- Carvalho, F. A.
- de Souza, F. C.
- Dallmeier, F.
- Pansonato, M. P.
- Duivenvoorden, J. F.
- Baraloto, C.
- do Amaral, D. D.
- Engel, J.
- Maas, P.
- Revilla, J. D. Cardenas
- Stropp, J.
- Daly, D.
- Gribel, R.
- Silveira, M.
- da Silva, N. F.
- Ferreira, L. V.
- Peres, C. A.
- Silman, M. R.
- Cerón, C.
- Jimenez, E. M.
- Toledo, M.
- Barbosa, E. M.
- Bonates, L. C. de Matos
- Arboleda, N. C.
- Farias, E. de Sousa
- Fuentes, A.
- Jørgensen, P. Møller
- Malhi, Y.
- Rudas, A.
- Ruschel, A. R.
- Silva, N.
- von Hildebrand, P.
- Vos, V. A.
- Zent, E. L.
- Zent, S.
- Cintra, B. B. L.
- Nascimento, M. T.
- Oliveira, A. A.
- Schöngart, J.
- Sierra, R.
- Tirado, M.
- Wang, O.
- Young, K. R.
- Baider, C.
- Cano, A.
- Farfan-Rios, W.
- Hoffman, B.
- Mendoza, C.
- Mesones, I.
- van Andel, T. R.
- Villarroel, D.
- Zagt, R.
- Alexiades, M. N.
- Balslev, H.
- Gonzales, T.
- Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I.
- Manzatto, A. G.
- Milliken, W.
- Pansini, S.
- Pauletto, D.
- Reis, N. F. Costa
- ter Steege, H.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2017-03-03
- Volume
- 355
- Issue
- 6328
- Pages
- 925-931
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2594233224
- Cited by
- 694
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 48 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 68 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 88 · 2020: 97 · 2019: 76 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 29
- FWCI
- 1389.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) (acceptedVersion)
- ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Agritrop (Cirad) (submittedVersion)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Nottingham ePrints (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research WOTRO (WB85-335, W84-581)
- National Science Foundation (DEB-0918591, DEB-1258112, DEB-1556338)
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean
- Keywords
- archaeological site, woody plants, species relative abundance, species richness, human impact on forests, tree community structure, Amazon basin
- MeSH terms
- Domestication, Brazil, Humans, Trees, History, Ancient, Forests
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
