adventive vertebrates and historical ecology in the pre-columbian neotropics外来的脊椎动物和历史生态学在哥伦布发现美洲大陆前neotropics.pdfVIP

Diversity 2009, 1, 151-165; doi:10.3390/d1020151 OPEN ACCESS diversity ISSN 1424-2818 /journal/diversity Article 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; E-Mail: pstahl@; Tel.: +1-607-777-2557; Fax: +1-607-777-2477 Received: 14 October 2009 / Accepted: 4 December 2009 / Published: 8 December 2009 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 1. Introduction Invasive species are one of the major anthropogenic factors contributing to decline in contemporary biological diversity [1]. Globally, over a half million invasive