Rainforests in Far East Shaped by Humans for the Last 11,000 Years

New research from Queen's University Belfast shows that the tropical forests of South East Asia have been shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years.

The rain forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Thailand and Vietnam were previously thought to have been largely unaffected by humans, but the latest research from Queen's Palaeoecologist Dr Chris Hunt suggests otherwise.

A major analysis of vegetation histories across the three islands and the SE Asian mainland has revealed a pattern of repeated disturbance of vegetation since the end of the last ice age approximately 11,000 years ago.

The research, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy, is being published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. It is the culmination of almost 15 years of field work by Dr Hunt, involving the collection of pollen samples across the region, and a major review of existing palaeoecology research, which was completed in partnership with Dr Ryan Rabett from Cambridge University. [...] sciencedaily.com


Actualización 13-03-14. Polen prehistórico revela que los humanos han dado forma a los bosques desde hace 11.000 años
Muestras de polen extraídas de bosques tropicales en el sudeste de Asia sugieren que los humanos han dado forma a estos paisajes durante miles de años
A pesar de que los científicos creían con anterioridad que los bosques permanecían virtualmente inalterados por los humanos, algunos investigadores señalan ahora la presencia de semillas importadas, plantas cultivadas para obtener alimento y la apertura de claros hace ya 11.000 años, hacia el final de la última glaciación...