A 16th-century biodiversity and crop inventory

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental History
• Biodiversity Research

Background:

• Long-term biodiversity change is difficult to study due to limited historical data before the Industrial Revolution.
• Understanding past ecological conditions is vital for assessing current environmental shifts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize Spanish settlements and their natural resources using historical survey data.
• To establish a baseline for historical land use, habitat cover, and species distribution.
• To provide a dataset for reconstructing pre-industrial biodiversity and ecological dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Mined data from a standardized historical survey (Relaciones Topográficas de Felipe II) conducted in 628 Spanish localities (1574-1582).
• Extracted 7309 records for 75 wild plant taxa, 89 wild animal taxa, and 60 crop/domestic animal taxa.
• Compiled data to characterize settlements, natural resources, and infer historical ecological conditions.

Main Results:

• Successfully gathered extensive records of wild and domestic species from the 16th century.
• The dataset includes detailed information on plant and animal taxa, providing a rich resource for historical ecological analysis.
• Identified data suitable for reconstructing historical land use, habitat, and species distributions.

Conclusions:

• The mined historical survey data provide a unique window into pre-industrial biodiversity in Spain.
• This dataset enables the modeling of historical species distributions, including iconic species like wolves and bears.
• The findings establish reference distributions crucial for assessing contemporary range and niche shifts.