Historical Ecology and the

Explanation of Diversity
William Balée
Tulane University
wbalee@tulane.edu

Presented to International Workshop on Applied

Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological
Conservation
Biota Program/FAPESP
9-10 November 2009
 Historical ecology as a
research program
It has four working principles
• 1) almost all environments on Earth have been
affected by humans
• 2) human nature is not destructive or
encouraging of diversity of other life forms
• 3) different kinds of societies affect landscapes in
different ways
• 4) human interactions with multiple landscapes
can be understood in terms of a totality
 Time
• Time is extremely important to understanding
diversity of organisms
• Time is essential to human activity and its
effects on landscapes
• Time unfolds in different ways, one of which is
longue durée
The Ka’apor Forest or Terra Indígena Alto Turiaçu
(courtesy Eduardo Brondízio)
Northern part of Ka’apor Reserve (from Landsat), July 1990
 The Rule of Indigenous Environments

“Where there are indigenous peoples with a

homeland there are still biologically rich
environments.”

from Nietschmann, Bernard. 1992. The Interdependence of Biological and

Cultural Diversity. Kenmore, Wash.: Center for World Indigenous Studies.
The Ka’apor Forest 2008
courtesy Eduardo Brondízio
Ka’apor Reserve,
Ka’apor Agricultural Activities
Ka’apor landscape transformations
Tabebuia sp. (Ka’apor habitat)
 The most important trees to the Ka’apor
(n=24)
Rank Folk taxon Species Freq. Avg. Smith’s s
rank

1 tajy Tabebuia spp. 22 7.8 0.775

2 parawa’y Eschweilera spp. 22 9.2 0.718

3 tajypo Tabebuia spp. 20 10.3 0.635

4 yrykywa’y Manilkara 16 14.6 0.474

huberi

5 tareka’y Bagassa 18 19.3 0.467

guianensis
Rank Folk taxon Species Freq. Avg. Smith’s s
rank
6 akaju’y Anacardium 10 20.4 0.437
spp.
7 jetai’y Hymenaea 17 19.1 0.408
parvifolia

8 jaxiamyr Lecythis 16 17.9 0.398

idatimon
9 tarapai’y Hymenaea 14 24.7 0.389
spp.
10 yrapitã Brosimum 16 24.4 0.356
rubescens

Total Folk Taxa: 290

Total freq.: 1031
Avg. list length: 42.9
 Species with the highest
frequencies on 8 hectares
Species Frequency Folk taxon (n=290) Rank by s
(n=3999)
Eschweilera coriacea 276 parawa’y 2
Sagotia racemosa 134 myrawawak 213
Gustavia augusta 103 mytumpusu’y 79
Tetragastris altissima 77 waruwa’y 47
Protium trifoliolatum 59 sekatai’y 49
Protium pallidum 55 kanei’ytuwyr 62 or 258
Protium decandrum 53 arakanei’y 62 or 156
Astrocaryum 52 ju’y 222
gynacanthum
Orbignya phalerata 49 jetahu’y Not listed
Spondias mombin 46 taperiwa’y 100
To many informants, palms are not “trees”:
tree classification is not utilitarian
Astrocaryum vulgare, no. 225
Parkia sp. (jupu’y,n.70)
Tabebuia serratifolia (n. 3)
Symphonia
globulifera
(yraty’y), n.44
Primary Landscape Transformation, former Ka’apor habitat, Paruá River basin, late
1980s
• Balée, W. and M. Cebolla Badie. 2009. The
meaning of ‘tree’ in two different Tupi-Guarani
languages from two different Neotropoical
forests. Amazônica, Revista de Antropologia
vol. 1(1):96-135.
• This is primary landscape transformation.
• Other kinds that do not involve complete
turnover of species and major substrate
modifications can be called “secondary
landscape transformation.”
yellow and purple-flowered tajy (Tabebuia) trees, Ka’apor reserve:
secondary landscape transformation
Secondary Landscape Transformation, Ka’apor habitat,
and the gradient of time
Xiepihun, Ka’apor village
El Beni, Bolivian Amazon
Causeway from Ibibate Mound Complex
Base of Ibibate Mound, Siriono habitat, Bolivia
Profile based on contour map of principal Ibibate Mound,
courtesy Clark L. Erickson, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Tree Canopy at Ibibate Mound, Bolivia
To many informants, palms are not “trees”
Living and Non-living Artifacts at Ibibate Mound Complex
 Raised Fields, Mounds, Causeways: Historical Factors of
Primary Landscape Transformation in the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia
Source: Calandra, Horacio Adolfo and Salceda, Susana Alicia..Acta Amazonica. 31(2). [online].
2004. Available: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo
Description of Soil from the Ibibate Mound Complex (0-20cm below surface)

Source: Erickson & Balée 2006

Inventory pH Ca Mg Na K Sum Bases Base Sat (%) Acidity Al P O.M. Total N(%) Texture

6.3 6.7 2.4 0.13 1 10.2 98 0.2 -- 59 2.9 .22 silt

Pampa 4.5 1.4 2.0 0.33 0.4 4.1 65 2.2 0.9 7 2.2 .17 silt
Species/area curve 1 ha forest on top
of Ibibate mound
• Ibibate Mound Complex did not result in
diminished species diversity through the
“paradox of enrichment” (Rosenzweig) or
because of other human-mediated
disturbance
Ka’apor free list respondent with investigator, 2008
Primary Landscape Transformation, Ibibate Mound Complex,
Sirionó Territory, E. Bolivian Amazon
Forest Islands near Ibibate Mound Complex: ancient primary landscape
transformation
Rice, Delta Region, Arkansas, August 2005:primary landscape transformation
Cotton, Delta Region, Arkansas, August 2005: primary landscape transformation
President of the Associação Ka’apor
at abandoned sawmill, July 2003
Ka’apor village near sawmill, 2003
Ka’apor back home
Source: http://www.fao.org
Tabebuia impetiginosa Standley, Ka’apor Reserve, n. 1 (tajy) or
n. 114 (tajy-te)
Tabebuia sp., E. Bolivian Amazon
Guajá woman with infant in infant carrying strap from Astrocaryum sp.
Fiber; Attalea sp. palms in background
• Attalea sp. cryptogeal germination, which
allows it to predominate in places that have
been burned in secondary landscape
transformation.
• Historical ecology brings together various
methods from several disciplines in
understanding human interactions with
landscapes over various phases of time.