Two histories of environmental change and human disturbance in eastern lowland Amazonia

Abstract

Two long palaeoecological records (pollen, diatoms, 14C, chemistry and charcoal) provide a detailed record of Holocene environmental conditions in the lowlands of the lower Amazon. Changes in the composition of the terra firme forest are evident but a forest cover is maintained throughout. Fluctuations in lake level and changes in seasonality are tracked in both sedimentary sequences. Rising early-Holocene sea levels and the consequent rise of local water tables probably caused the flooding of one of the sites. A stepped increase in precipitation is suggested with increases evident at 8800 yr BP, 7400 BP and between 6100 and 5800 yr BP. Increased storminess is suggested between|7400 yr BP and|6100 yr BP. Human disturbance is manifested in the palaeoecological records at one study site as early as 5500 yr BP ( c. 6500 years ago), and an intensification, or onset, of agriculture is evident at c. 3350 yr BP. The terminating phase of the long record of disturbance is a period of forest regrowth that may correlate to the depopulation of Amazonia following Euro pean contact.

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