Açaí, Brazil Nuts and Other Amazon Trees Are Only Abundant Thanks to Ancient Indians

Ancient indigenous peoples had a far more profound impact on the composition of the vast Amazon rainforest than previously known, according to a study showing how tree species domesticated by humans long ago still dominate big swathes of the wilderness.

Researchers said many tree species populating the Amazon region appear to be abundant because they were cultivated by people who populated the area before Europeans arrived more than five centuries ago. These include the Brazil nut, cacao, açaí palm, rubber, caimito, cashew and tucumã palm.

“So the Amazon is not nearly as untouched as it may seem,” said study researcher Hans ter Steege, a forest community ecologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands and Free University of Amsterdam.

The researchers used data on the tree composition of forests at 1,170 sites throughout the Amazon and compared it to a map of more than 3,000 known archaeological sites representing past human settlements.

The study found that 85 tree species known to have been used by Amazonian peoples for fruit, nuts, building materials and other purposes over the past roughly 8,000 years were five times more likely to be dominant in mature Amazon forests than species that had not been domesticated.

It also found that forests closer to the pre-Columbian settlements were much more likely to boast tree species domesticated by ancient peoples.

The Amazon rainforest is a commanding natural feature in South America and one of the world’s richest biological reservoirs, teeming with plant and animal life. Much of it is situated in Brazil but parts are also in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador and French Guiana.

Many of the trees found in large numbers represent species critical for the livelihood and economy of Amazonian peoples. At the time of European conquest, there were an estimated 8 to 10 million people in the Amazon, speaking at least 400 different languages.

“Past civilizations have had a great role in changing, both consciously and unconsciously, the vegetation in the surroundings of their settlements and along paths that they used to travel,” added study researcher Carolina Levis, a doctoral candidate in ecology at Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research and the Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands.

The research was published in the journal Science.

This article was produced by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Visit them at http://www.thisisplace.org

Tags:

You May Also Like

An old quilombola lady from Bahia, in the Brazilian northeast

Descendants of Runaway Slaves the Latest Victims of Brazil’s Rush to End Social Protections

With the recent onslaught of initiatives launched by Brazil’s wealthy ruralist elite to undo ...

A Kayapo boy with traditional body paint and piercing is seen at his home in Kikretum

Global Forest Watch Detecting Record Forest Loss in the Amazon

Brazil topped the list of the world’s most important Places to Watch for deforestation, ...

Indian protests in Brasília against government - Mídia Ninja

A Few Reasons Why Michel Temer Should Step Down as President of Brazil

If you ask Google to translate the Portuguese word “temer”, the result is “to ...

O Kunumi Chegou - From Youtube

Brazilian Young Indians Become Rappers to Fight for Land Rights

The opening ceremony of Brazil’s World Cup in 2014 also marked the kickoff of ...

Thank a Brazilian for Inventing the Airplane And Many Other Things You May Not Know

Brazilians are known worldwide for their creative minds, but that is typically associated with ...

Portela became Rio Carnaval's champion telling the tragedy of a collapsed dam - Fernando Frazão/ABr

Rio Carnaval Gets Serious with Tragic Story of a Broken Dam

  In 2015, the collapse of mining company Samarco’s dams at a mine in ...

Amazon being burned - GaiaNet

Norway Threatens to Cut Aid If Brazil Can’t Stop Amazon’s Deforestation

Oil-rich Norway, which in many parts of the world emerged as the champion of ...

Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff

Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff: Martyr, President, Martyr

An exclusive interview by Democracy Now: Dilma Rousseff on Her Ouster, Brazil’s Political Crisis & ...

Down with the dictatorship, writes a tagger in 1968 Brazil

The Military and the Rural Elite Unholy Alliance Maintains Brazil Poor and Unequal

A very strong traditional establishment governed Brazil since its colonization. Arguably, the most powerful ...

Brazil Scolds American Scientists for Calling for Forced Contact with Amazon Indians

The Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Department (FUNAI) has severely criticized the authors of a ...