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Land use and social-ecological legacies of Rio de Janeiro's Atlantic urban forests: from charcoal production to novel ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Historical ecology is an important tool in deciphering human-environment interactions imprinted on landscapes throughout time. However, gaps of knowledge still remain regarding the land use legacies hidden in the current Atlantic Forest landscape; and also regarding how this information can help management of the remaining forest cover. The social-ecological systems framework was applied to understand charcoal production in the urban forests of Rio de Janeiro, from the nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, and their current social-ecological legacies. Charcoal production carried out by former enslaved populations, allowed for rapid forest regeneration. Forest thinning instead of forest felling was carried out by small groups in these urban remnant forests, sparing large native trees and facilitating natural regeneration. Currently, more than one thousand former charcoal production sites are accounted for hidden underneath the forest cover. The forest landscape of today is a result of novel forest successional trajectories that recovered structural and functional attributes of the forest ecosystem. However, this came at the cost of social invisibility and marginalization of these populations. The management practices of charcoal production dispersed in the landscape is one of Rio de Janeiro's most important, albeit hidden, land use legacies. Currently, the forested landscape is comprised of regenerated forests, both structurally and functionally sound, though with significant changes in species composition including the introduction of exotic species throughout recent centuries. These urban forests are today a complex mosaic of novel ecosystems, with rich biocultural diversity, and together with managed lands and well conserved forest tracts, provide not only livelihood and sustenance for forest dwelling families, but also important ecosystem services for the entire population of Rio de Janeiro. We believe that these concepts and frameworks can offer practical solutions for urban forest management, taking into account the biocultural diversity of Rio de Janeiro, increasing awareness of sustainability and promoting food security.

SUBMITTER: Solorzano A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8242837 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Recent research has demonstrated how scavenging, the act of consuming dead animals, plays a key role in ecosystem structure, functioning, and stability. A growing number of studies suggest that vertebrate scavengers also provide key ecosystem services, the benefits humans gain from the natural world, particularly in the removal of carcasses from the environment. An increasing proportion of the human population is now residing in cities and towns, many of which, despite being highly altered environments, contain significant wildlife populations, and so animal carcasses. Indeed, non-predation fatalities may be higher within urban than natural environments. Despite this, the fate of carcasses in urban environments and the role vertebrate scavengers play in their removal have not been determined. In this study, we quantify the role of vertebrate scavengers in urban environments in three towns in the UK. Using experimentally deployed rat carcasses and rapid fire motion-triggered cameras, we determined which species were scavenging and how removal of carcass biomass was partitioned between them. Of the 63 experimental carcasses deployed, vertebrate scavenger activity was detected at 67%. There was a significantly greater depletion in carcass biomass in the presence (mean loss of 194 g) than absence (mean loss of 14 g) of scavengers. Scavenger activity was restricted to three species, Carrion crows Corvus corone, Eurasian magpies Pica pica, and European red foxes Vulpes vulpes. From behavioral analysis, we estimated that a maximum of 73% of the carcass biomass was removed by vertebrate scavengers. Despite having low species richness, the urban scavenger community in our urban study system removed a similar proportion of carcasses to those reported in more pristine environments. Vertebrate scavengers are providing a key urban ecosystem service in terms of carcass removal. This service is, however, often overlooked, and the species that provide it are among some of the most disliked and persecuted.

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Land use and social-ecological legacies of Rio de Janeiro's Atlantic urban forests: from charcoal production to novel ecosystems.

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