Ecological responses to land use change in the face of European colonization of Hayti island

QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS

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Article

Castilla-Beltran, Alvaro^1,2,3  Hooghiemstra, Henry¹  Hoogland, Menno L. P.²  Donders, Timme H.⁴  Pagan-Jimenez, Jaime R.²  McMichael, Crystal N. H.¹  Rolefes, Steven Marinus Francisco⁴  Olijhoek, Thomas⁴  Herrera-Malatesta, Eduardo²  Hung, Jorge Ulloa^2,5,6  Hofman, Corinne L.² 

[1] Univ Amsterdam, Dept Ecosyst & Landscape Dynam, Sci Pk 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands

[2] Leiden Univ, Fac Archaeol, Leiden, Netherlands

[3] Univ Southampton, Sch Geog & Environm Sci, Southampton, Hants, England

[4] Univ Utrecht, Dept Phys Geog, Palaeoecol, Princetonlaan 8a, NL-3584 CB Utrecht, Netherlands

[5] Inst Tecnol Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep

[6] Museo Hombre Dominican, Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep

关键词: Caribbean;    Ecosystems;    Island palaeoecology;    Indigenous;    Archaeology;    Land use;    Columbus;    Ecological degradation;    Forest regrowth;    Colonial rule;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106407

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Caribbean island ecosystems underwent significant landscape transformations in the centuries after Columbus landed in the archipelago in AD1492, but there is no agreement as to the degree and extent of pre-Columbian human impacts and the long-term trends of ecosystem disturbance and recovery. Here, we present an integrative analysis of three palaeoenvironmental records in the northern Caribbean island of Hayti (currently Dominican Republic and Haiti), to assess regional landscape transformation and human impacts in pre-and post-Columbian times. We examine biotic and abiotic indicators of landscape and ecosystem change along the Columbus' Route, the first European extractive transport route built in the Americas. Our data show that indigenous populations transformed the landscape between 1000 and 450 cal yr BP through slash-and-burn agricultural practices. Depopulation and forced population displacement through relocation of indigenous people into Spanish mining areas triggered the recovery and expansion of forests in the valley, coastal plain and mountains. In contrast, mangroves near the first permanent European colonial outpost in the Americas (La Isabela) underwent no significant impacts related to climatic, indigenous, and early colonial pressures. All ecosystems studied have suffered degradation through deforestation during the last 200 years leading to the present fragmented landscapes. In islands with long histories of human settlement such as Hayti, reconstructing temporal and spatial aspects of human transformations and impacts on the environment is crucial to improving our understanding of the drivers and mechanisms of ecosystem degradation and recovery. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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