1600 years of tree cover expansion in the southern Amazon forest

Postdoc Barbara Bomfim contributed to new research establishing a record of soil changes associated with both climate and human activity over the last 1,600 years based on radiocarbon dating in 83 sites across the transition zone between the Amazon and the Brazilian savanna. The study suggests a regional increase in moisture and expansion of woody vegetation prior to modern deforestation, which could help inform conservation and management efforts for climate change mitigation.