ArticleScience advances2023
Intentional creation of carbon-rich dark earth soils in the Amazon.
Article in Science advances, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Quantitative Archaeological Feature Identification Using Handheld Spectrometers.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Boosting tree growth in the Amazon rainforest using Amazonian Dark Earths.BMC ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Characterizing the vertical structure of forests in the Brazilian Amazon.Communications earth & environment · 2026Article
- [Dataplamt: a bibliographic database on traditional uses of Brazilian plants].Historia, ciencias, saude--Manguinhos · 2026Article
- Deciphering the Chemistry of Condensed Aromatic "Black" Carbon and Nitrogen in Amazonian Anthrosols.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Integrating remote datasets to identify precontact architecture and settlement patterns along the Wampu River system, Eastern Honduras.PloS one · 2025Article
- Road fragment edges enhance wildfire incidence and intensity, while suppressing global burned area.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Stable isotope analysis in soil prospection reveals the type of historic land-use under contemporary temperate forests in Europe.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Contributions of human cultures to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Review
- Biogeographic Perspectives on Human Genetic Diversification.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
30 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fertile soil known as Amazonian dark earth is central to the debate over the size and ecological impact of ancient human populations in the Amazon. Dark earth is typically associated with human occupation, but it is uncertain whether it was created intentionally. Dark earth may also be a substantial carbon sink, but its spatial extent and carbon inventory are unknown. We demonstrate spatial and compositional similarities between ancient and modern dark earth and document modern Indigenous practices that enrich soil, which we use to propose a model for the formation of ancient dark earth. This comparison suggests that ancient Amazonians managed soil to improve fertility and increase crop productivity. These practices also sequestered and stored carbon in the soil for centuries, and we show that some ancient sites contain as much carbon as the above-ground rainforest biomass. Our results demonstrate the intentional creation of dark earth and highlight the value of Indigenous knowledge for sustainable rainforest management.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.