Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics

doi:10.3390/d1020151

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Diversity 2009, 1(2), 151-165; doi:10.3390/d1020151

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Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics

Peter W. Stahl

Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA

Received: 14 October 2009 / Accepted: 4 December 2009 / Published: 8 December 2009

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Anthropic Influences on the Diversity of Amazonian Landscapes and Biota)

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Abstract: The arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere (ca. AD 1500) is generally used as a convenient reference point for signaling the early appearance of invasive faunas. Although use of this date embraces an implicit belief in benign landscape management by pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, substantial evidence for the anthropogenic movement of domesticated, wild, and synanthropic vertebrates throughout the Neotropics suggests that it may be an exaggerated and erroneous reference point for the aims of ecological restoration and biological conservation.

Keywords: invasive fauna; Neotropics; historical ecology; archaeology; zooarchaeology; ecological restoration; conservation biology; prehistoric Indians

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MDPI and ACS Style

Stahl, P.W. Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics. Diversity 2009, 1, 151-165.

AMA Style

Stahl P.W. Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics. Diversity. 2009; 1(2):151-165.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stahl, Peter W. 2009. "Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics." Diversity 1, no. 2: 151-165.

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