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Holocene increases in palm abundances in north-western Amazonia

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dc.contributor.author Heijink, Britte M. en
dc.contributor.author McMichael, Crystal N. H. en
dc.contributor.author Piperno, Dolores R. en
dc.contributor.author Duivenvoorden, Joost F. en
dc.contributor.author Cárdenas, Dairon en
dc.contributor.author Duque, Álvaro en
dc.date.accessioned 2019-10-18T02:02:22Z
dc.date.available 2019-10-18T02:02:22Z
dc.date.issued 2020
dc.identifier.citation Heijink, Britte M., McMichael, Crystal N. H., Piperno, Dolores R., Duivenvoorden, Joost F., Cárdenas, Dairon, and Duque, Álvaro. 2020. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/99103">Holocene increases in palm abundances in north-western Amazonia</a>." <em>Journal of Biogeography</em>. 47 (3):698&ndash;711. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13721">https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13721</a> en
dc.identifier.issn 1365-2699
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10088/99103
dc.description.abstract Aim In Amazonia, 227 of c. 16,000 tree species account for half the individual trees (termed 'hyperdominant' species), and a disproportionate number of these species are palms. Our objectives are to show how and whether palm abundance has changed through the Holocene. Here, we reconstruct a detailed fire and vegetation history from north-western Amazonia, with a focus on changes in palm abundances, and compare our results with regional data. Location Amacayacu, Colombia. Taxon Amazonian palms. Methods We performed charcoal and phytolith analysis on soil cores, and obtained ages of past fires using 14C dating. We measured charcoal abundances and the relative abundances of phytoliths (silica-based microfossils) for all samples. We used these data to reconstruct changes in fire and vegetation, and compared these data with the species composition of palms in the modern forest. Results Seven 14C dates from charcoal in three cores provided fire ages ranging from 1630 to 2450 calibrated years before present. Charcoal was absent from one-third of the cores. Palm phytoliths from genera such as Iriartea, Socratea, and Astrocaryum have increased through time, while genera such as Euterpe, Hyospathe, and Oenocarpus have remained relatively stable and similar to modern levels. Overall, palm abundances were negatively correlated with charcoal measurements. Decorated sphere phytoliths, produced from unknown arboreal taxa were positively correlated with charcoal presence and abundance. Main conclusions Palms have increased at Amacayacu and other forest plots through time, but the increases are largest in north-western Amazonia. The presence of fire, however, dampens the increase in palms through time. When compared with reconstructions from other Amazon regions, our results suggest that increases in palm abundances in the late Holocene occurred both in the presence and absence of direct pre-Columbian human influence, and that response was strongest in north-western Amazonia when human influence was minimal. en
dc.relation.ispartof Journal of Biogeography en
dc.title Holocene increases in palm abundances in north-western Amazonia en
dc.type Journal Article en
dc.identifier.srbnumber 152687
dc.identifier.doi 10.1111/jbi.13721
rft.jtitle Journal of Biogeography
rft.volume 47
rft.issue 3
rft.spage 698
rft.epage 711
dc.description.SIUnit STRI en
dc.citation.spage 698
dc.citation.epage 711


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