Abstract Caribbean island ecosystems underwent significant landscape transformations in the centuries after Columbus landed in the archipelago in AD1492, but there is no agreement as to the degree and extent of pre-Columbian human impacts and the long-term trends of ecosystem disturbance and recovery. Here, we present an integrative analysis of three palaeoenvironmental records in the northern Caribbean island of Hayti (currently Dominican Republic and Haiti), to assess regional landscape transformation and human impacts in pre- and post-Columbian times. We examine biotic and abiotic indicators of landscape and ecosystem change along the Columbus’ Route, the first European extractive transport route built in the Americas. Our data show that indigenous populations transformed the landscape between 1000 and 450 cal yr BP through slash-and-burn agricultural practices. Depopulation and forced population displacement through relocation of indigenous people into Spanish mining areas triggered the recovery and expansion of forests in the valley, coastal plain and mountains. In contrast, mangroves near the first permanent European colonial outpost in the Americas (La Isabela) underwent no significant impacts related to climatic, indigenous, and early colonial pressures. All ecosystems studied have suffered degradation through deforestation during the last 200 years leading to the present fragmented landscapes. In islands with long histories of human settlement such as Hayti, reconstructing temporal and spatial aspects of human transformations and impacts on the environment is crucial to improving our understanding of the drivers and mechanisms of ecosystem degradation and recovery.

中文翻译：

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面对欧洲对海蒂岛的殖民化，土地利用变化的生态响应

摘要 在哥伦布于公元 1492 年登陆该群岛后的几个世纪里，加勒比岛屿生态系统经历了重大的景观转变，但对于前哥伦布时期人类影响的程度和程度以及生态系统干扰和恢复的长期趋势，人们并没有达成一致意见。在这里，我们对加勒比海北部岛屿海蒂（目前是多米尼加共和国和海地）的三个古环境记录进行综合分析，以评估哥伦布时期前后的区域景观转变和人类影响。我们研究了哥伦布路线沿线景观和生态系统变化的生物和非生物指标，这是在美洲建造的第一条欧洲采掘运输路线。我们的数据显示，土著居民通过刀耕火种的农业实践在 1000 到 450 cal yr BP 之间改变了景观。通过将土著人迁移到西班牙矿区而导致的人口减少和被迫流离失所引发了山谷、沿海平原和山区森林的恢复和扩张。相比之下，美洲第一个永久性欧洲殖民前哨基地 (La Isabela) 附近的红树林并未受到与气候、土著和早期殖民压力相关的重大影响。在过去的 200 年里，所有研究的生态系统都因森林砍伐而退化，导致目前的景观支离破碎。在海蒂等人类居住历史悠久的岛屿上，