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7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kemp, ME; Mychajliw, AM; Wadman, J; Goldberg, A
Published in: Proceedings. Biological sciences
May 2020

The human-mediated movement of species across biogeographic boundaries-whether intentional or accidental-is dramatically reshaping the modern world. Yet humans have been reshaping ecosystems and translocating species for millennia, and acknowledging the deeper roots of these phenomena is important for contextualizing present-day biodiversity loss, ecosystem functioning and management needs. Here, we present the first database of terrestrial vertebrate species introductions spanning the entire anthropogenic history of a system: the Caribbean. We employ this approximately 7000-year dataset to assess the roles of historical contingency and priority effects in shaping present-day community structure and conservation outcomes, finding that serial human colonization events contributed to habitat modifications and species extinctions that shaped the trajectories of subsequent species introductions by other human groups. We contextualized spatial and temporal patterns of species introductions within cultural practices and population histories of Indigenous, colonial and modern human societies, and show that the taxonomic and biogeographic diversity of introduced species reflects diversifying reasons for species introductions through time. Recognition of the complex social and economic structures across the 7000-year human history of the Caribbean provides the necessary context for interpreting the formation of an Anthropocene biota.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

May 2020

Volume

287

Issue

1927

Start / End Page

20200447

Related Subject Headings

  • Introduced Species
  • Humans
  • Extinction, Biological
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Caribbean Region
  • Biota
  • Biodiversity
  • Animals
  • 41 Environmental sciences
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Kemp, M. E., Mychajliw, A. M., Wadman, J., & Goldberg, A. (2020). 7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 287(1927), 20200447. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0447
Kemp, Melissa E., Alexis M. Mychajliw, Jenna Wadman, and Amy Goldberg. “7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota.Proceedings. Biological Sciences 287, no. 1927 (May 2020): 20200447. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0447.
Kemp ME, Mychajliw AM, Wadman J, Goldberg A. 7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2020 May;287(1927):20200447.
Kemp, Melissa E., et al. “7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota.Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 287, no. 1927, May 2020, p. 20200447. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.0447.
Kemp ME, Mychajliw AM, Wadman J, Goldberg A. 7000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2020 May;287(1927):20200447.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

May 2020

Volume

287

Issue

1927

Start / End Page

20200447

Related Subject Headings

  • Introduced Species
  • Humans
  • Extinction, Biological
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Caribbean Region
  • Biota
  • Biodiversity
  • Animals
  • 41 Environmental sciences