Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:27:43.038Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Fires in the Northern Amazon Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Juan G. Saldarriaga  and
Darrell C. West
Juan G. Saldarriaga
Affiliation:
Ecology Program, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916 Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
Darrell C. West
Affiliation:
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The ubiquitous occurrence of charcoal in the forest soils of the Upper Rio Negro region of Colombia and Venezuela indicates the presence of frequent and widespread fires in the Amazon Basin, possibly associated with extremely dry periods or human disturbances. Charcoal ranged from 3.12 to 24.76 mg/cm3 in the upper 50 cm of soil and was more abundant in Oxisols and Ultisols than in other soil types. Charcoal dates range from 6260 yr B.P. to the present. Several dates coincide with dry phases recorded during the Holocene. Ceramic shards were found at several sites, and thermoluminescence analysis indicates that their ages range from 3750 to 460 yr B.P. The age of charcoal and shards confirms that this region has been subjected to fire and human disturbances during the past 6000 yr.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , November 1986 , pp. 358 - 366
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Absy, M.L. (1982). Quaternary palynological studies in the Amazon Basin Prance, G.T. Biological Diversification in the Tropics Columbia Univ. Press New York 67 73 Google Scholar
Beckerman, S. (1979). The abundance of protein in Amazonia: A reply to Gross American Anthropologist 81 533 560 Google Scholar
Bennacchio, S. (1981). Land use and policy for the Venezuelan Amazon Hecht, S.B. Nores, G.A. Land Use and Agricultural Research in the Amazon Basin Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical Cali, Colombia 180 211 Google Scholar
Bigarella, J.J. (1971). Variacoes climaticas no Quaternario Superior do Brasil e sua datacao radiometrica pelo metodo do carbono 14 Paleoclimas 1 Instituto de Geografia, Universidade de Sao Paulo Sao Paulo, Brasil 1 22 Google Scholar
Campbell, K.E. Jr. Frailey, D. (1984). Holocene flooding and species diversity in southwestern Amazonia Quaternary Research 21 369 375 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colinvaux, P.A. Miller, M.C. Liu, K.B. Steinitz-Kannan, M. Frost, I. (1985). Discovery of permanent Amazon lakes and hydraulic disturbance in the upper Amazon Basin Nature (London) 313 42 45 Google Scholar
Damuth, J.E. Fairbridge, R.W. (1970). Equatorial Atlantic deep-sea arkosic sands and ice-age aridity in tropical South America Geological Society of America Bulletin 81 189 206 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darlington, P.J. Jr. (1957). Zoogeography: The Geographical Distribution of Animals New YorkGoogle Scholar
Denevan, W.M. (1976). The aboriginal population of Amazonia Denevan, W.M. The Native Population of the Americas in 1492 Univ. of Wisconsin Press Madison 205 234 Google Scholar
Dubroeucq, D. Sanchez, V. (1981). Caracteristicas ambientales y edaficas del area muestra San Carlos de Rio Negro-Solano Serie Informe Cientifico Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Renovables Caracas, Venezuela DGSIIA/IC/12Google Scholar
Eden, M.J. Bray, W. Herrera, L. McEwan, C. (1984). Terra preta soils and their archaeological context in the Caqueta Basin of southeast Columbia American Antiquity 49 125 140 Google Scholar
Fairbridge, R.W. (1976). Shellfish-eating preceramic Indians in coastal Brazil Science 191 353 359 Google Scholar
Herrera, R. (1977). Soil and terrain conditions in the International Amazon Project at San Carlos de Rio Negro, Venezuela: Correlation with vegetation types Brunig, E. Transactions of the International MAB-IUFRO Workshop on Tropical Rain Forest Research Reinbek Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany 182 187 Google Scholar
Herrera, R. (1979). Nutrient Distribution and Cycling in an Amazon Caatinga Forest on Spodosols in Southern Venezuela Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation University of Reading Google Scholar
Klinge, H. Medina, E. Herrera, R. (1977). Studies on the ecology of Amazon caatinga forest in southern Venezuela Acta Cientifica Venezolana 28 270 276 Google Scholar
Lathrap, D.W. (1970). The Upper Amazon Praeger New York Google Scholar
Lowie, R.H. (1963). The tropical forest: An introduction Steward, J.H. The Tropical Forest Tribes Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Cooper Square, New York 1 56 Vol. 3 of “Handbook of South American Indians”Google Scholar
Medina, J.T. (1970). The Discovery of the Amazon According to the Account of Friar Gaspar de Carbajal and Other Documents AMS Press New York Google Scholar
Moran, E.F. (1974). The adaptive system of the Amazonian caboclo Wagley, C. Man in the Amazon The University Press of Florida Gainesville 136 159 Google Scholar
Murphy, Y. Murphy, R.F. (1974). Women of the Forest Columbia Univ. Press New York Google Scholar
Pires, M.J. (1978). The forest ecosystems of the Brazilian Amazon: Description, functionings and research needs Tropical Forest Ecosystems. Natural Resource Research. 14 UNESCO 607 627 ParisGoogle Scholar
Pires, J.M. (1984). The Amazonian forest Sioli, H. The Amazon Junk Dordrecht 581 614 Google Scholar
Prance, G.T. Schubart, H.O.R. (1977). Nota preliminar sobre a origem das campinas abertas de areia branca do baixo Rio Negro Acta Amazonica 7 567 570 Google Scholar
Prance, G.T. Schubart, H.O.R. (1978). Notes of the vegetation of Amazonia. I. A preliminary note on the origin of the open white sand campinas of the lower Rio Negro Brittonia 29 60 63 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, P.W. (1952). The Tropical Rain Forest. An Ecological Study Cambridge Univ. Press Cambridge Google Scholar
Richards, P.W. (1973). The tropical rain forest Scientific American 229 58 68 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, N. (1980). A persisting misconception about the drought of 1958 in Northeast Brazil Climatic Change 2 299 301 Google Scholar
Saldarriaga, J.G. (1985). Forest Succession in the Upper Rio Negro of Columbia and Venezuela Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation University of Tennessee Google Scholar
Sanford, R.L. Jr. Saldarriaga, J. Clark, K.E. Uhl, C. Herrera, R. (1985). Amazon rain-forest fires Science 227 53 55 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwabe, G.H. (1969). Towards an ecological characterization of the South American continent Fittkau, E.J. Illies, J. Klinge, H. Schwabe, G.H. Sioli, H. Biogeography and Ecology in South America Vol. 1 Junk The Hague 113 136 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, N.J.H. (1980). Anthrosols and human carrying capacity in Amazonia Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70 553 566 Google Scholar
Soil Survey, Staff (1975). Soil Taxonomy USDA Soil Conservation Service Washington Handbook No. 436Google Scholar
Stark, N. Spratt, M. (1977). Root biomass and nutrient storage in rain forest Oxisols near San Carlos de Rio Negro Tropical Ecology 18 1 9 Google Scholar
Steward, J.H. Faron, L.C. (1959). Native Peoples of South America McGraw-Hill New York Google Scholar
Sweet, D.G. (1974). A Rich Realm of Nature Destroyed: The Amazon Valley, 1640–1750 Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation University of Wisconsin (in 2 parts)Google Scholar
Tabera-Acosta, B. (1954). Rio Negro: Resena etnografica, historica y geografica del Territorio Amazonas Caracas, VenezuelaGoogle Scholar
Van der Hammen, T. (1972). Changes in vegetation and climate in the Amazon Basin and surrounding areas during the Pleistocene Geologie en Mijnbouw 51 641 643 Google Scholar
Van der Hammen, T. (1974). The Pleistocene changes of vegetation and climate in tropical South America Journal of Biogeography 1 3 26 Google Scholar
Van der Hammen, T. (1982). Paleoecology of tropical South America Prance, G.T. Biological Diversification in the Tropics Columbia Univ. Press New York 60 66 Google Scholar
Von Hildebrand, E.de. (1976). Resultados preliminares del Reconocimiento del sitio arqueologico de la Pedrera, Comisaria del Amazonas Revista Colombiana de Antropologia 20 145 176 Google Scholar
Walter, H. (1971). Ecology of Tropical and Subtropical Vegetation Van Nostrand-Reinhold New York Google Scholar
Webster, B. (1984). Destroyed Borneo forest offers a rare view of a rebirth The New York Times 24 12 13 AprilGoogle Scholar
Wright, R.M. (1981). History and Religion of the Baniwa Peoples of the Upper Rio Negro Valley Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation Stanford University Google Scholar