A "Dirty" Footprint: Macroinvertebrate diversity in Amazonian Anthropic Soils.

ABSTRACT: Amazonian rainforests, once thought to be pristine wilderness, are increasingly known to have been widely inhabited, modified, and managed prior to European arrival, by human populations with diverse cultural backgrounds. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are fertile soils found throughout the Amazon Basin, created by pre-Columbian societies with sedentary habits. Much is known about the chemistry of these soils, yet their zoology has been neglected. Hence, we characterized soil fertility, macroinvertebrate communities, and their activity at nine archeological sites in three Amazonian regions in ADEs and adjacent reference soils under native forest (young and old) and agricultural systems. We found 673 morphospecies and, despite similar richness in ADEs (385 spp.) and reference soils (399 spp.)

SUBMITTER: Demetrio WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9292437 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature