Humans have been altering tropical forests for at least 45,000 years

[rangerrebew]

Humans have been altering tropical forests for at least 45,000 years
August 3, 2017


The first review of the global impact of humans on tropical forests in the ancient past shows that humans have been altering these environments for at least 45,000 years. This counters the view that tropical forests were pristine natural environments prior to modern agriculture and industrialization. The study, published today in Nature Plants, found that humans have in fact been having a dramatic impact on such forest ecologies for tens of thousands of years, through techniques ranging from controlled burning of sections of forest to plant and animal management to clear-cutting. Although previous studies had looked at human impacts on specific tropical forest locations and ecosystems, this is the first to synthesize data from all over the world.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-08-humans-tropical-forests-years.html#jCp

[thackney]

Beavers have been altering forests for 10~12 million years.

[Wingnut]

Beavers have been altering forests for 10~12 million years.

They change the course of rivers and streams too.  Beavers do more damage every year than man does.  They are tasty too.

[Cripplecreek]

They change the course of rivers and streams too.  Beavers do more damage every year than man does.  They are tasty too.

Elephants are another major environment changer.

[Cripplecreek]

Beavers have been altering forests for 10~12 million years.

Pictures of my little town from a century ago show a largely treeless landscape. Wood was still a major source of heat at that point. Today its a temperate jungle.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] In the deep past, groups of hunter-gatherers appear to have burned areas of tropical forests, in particular in Southeast Asia as early as 45,000 years ago, when modern humans first arrived there. There is evidence of similar forest burning activities in Australia and New Guinea. [/snip]

OTOH...

Artifacts suggest humans arrived in Australia earlier than thought (65K ago)
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,272562.0.html

[Joe Wooten]

Pictures of my little town from a century ago show a largely treeless landscape. Wood was still a major source of heat at that point. Today its a temperate jungle.

Same for West Texas. 100 years ago it was a treeless plains environment, but cattle brought up from Mexico and south Texas crapped mesquite beans on the plains and started the dense mesquite brambles that cover much of the ranchland there now. I've seen photos of the Glascock county area from the 1870's to the early 1900's and there were few native trees, mostly cottonwoods, oaks, and pecan trees with some juniper around springs and rivers. By the 1930's there was dense mesquite thickets all over the county.

[Free Vulcan]

Only the white man of course. All others live in perfect harmony with nature and would never do anything so dastardly as to alter it.

[RoosGirl]

And the American Indians torched huge areas, like the midwestern prairies, to keep areas clear for easier hunting.