Ibarra José Tomás, Riquelme-Maulén Wladimir, Bañales-Seguel Camila, Orrego Gabriel, Salazar Gonzalo
Center for Local Development (CEDEL) and Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (CIIR), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Villarrica Campus, O'Higgins 501, Villarrica, La Araucanía Region, Chile.
Department of Ecosystems, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Systems & Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Santiago, Chile.
Ambio. 2024 Dec;53(12):1783-1796. doi: 10.1007/s13280-024-02008-5. Epub 2024 Apr 5.
The Anthropocene concept raises awareness of human-induced planetary changes but is criticized for being 'too global'. We examined the social-ecological memory that emerges from people-tree relationships in South American temperate territories, Chile. We integrated dendrochronology (analysis of tree rings of 35 memorial trees; 17 species) with dendrography (participant observation complemented with semi-structured and go-along interviews with 14 interviewees; six women, eight men). We found that assemblages of people-tree relationships reflect marked historical changes in the territory, associated with the historical clearing of forests, which may be imprinted in both tree growth rings and in the social meanings and practices associated with memorial trees. In devastated territories, practices of tree care emphasize interconnectedness, multispecies collaborations, and the blurring of boundaries between humans and other-than-humans. We discuss some of the interdisciplinary and relational insights of our study, which may prove valuable for future research, political agendas, and educational programs in South America and beyond.
人类世概念提高了人们对人类引发的地球变化的认识，但因“过于全球化”而受到批评。我们研究了智利南美温带地区人树关系中产生的社会生态记忆。我们将树木年代学（对35棵纪念树的年轮进行分析，涉及17个树种）与树木描绘法（通过参与观察，并对14名受访者进行半结构化和随行访谈补充，其中6名女性，8名男性）相结合。我们发现，人树关系的组合反映了该地区显著的历史变化，这些变化与森林的历史砍伐有关，这可能会同时烙印在树木年轮以及与纪念树相关的社会意义和实践中。在遭受破坏的地区，树木养护实践强调相互联系、多物种合作以及人类与非人类之间界限的模糊。我们讨论了本研究的一些跨学科和关联性见解，这些见解可能对南美洲及其他地区未来的研究、政治议程和教育项目具有重要价值。
