Disentangling the last 1,000 years of human–environment interactions along the eastern side of the southern Andes (34–52°S lat.)

William Nanavati, Cathy Whitlock, Maria Eugenia de Porras, Adolfo Gil, Diego Navarro and Gustavo Neme
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William Nanavati: a Department of Geography, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201;; b Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403;
Cathy Whitlock: c Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717;; d Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717;
Maria Eugenia de Porras: e Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Mendoza 5500, Argentina;
Adolfo Gil: f Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Mendoza 5600, Argentina;; g Departamento de Historia, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Mendoza, 5500 Argentina;
Diego Navarro: h Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata–Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Mar del Plata 7600, Argentina
Gustavo Neme: f Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Mendoza 5600, Argentina;

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 9, e2119813119

Abstract: Understanding how people have shaped landscapes requires detailed information on past changes in climate, vegetation, fire, and land use. The environmental and human history of four sites along the eastern Andes of southern South America (34–52°S) shows the changing influence of people and climate on landscape development over the last millennia. Initially, burning by hunter-gatherers and climate variability shaped forest, shrubland, and grassland mosaics. Widespread alteration of fire regimes and vegetation ∼400 y ago is attributed to increased Native American pastoralism prior to extensive Euro-American settlement. Late-19th century ranching and logging led to broadscale changes in fire activity and vegetation across the region. These high-resolution, landscape-scale reconstructions reveal complex human–environment interactions that are often overlooked in regional-to-global syntheses.

Keywords: paleoecology; southern South America; fire history; human–environment; vegetation history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:119:y:2022:p:e2119813119

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