The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology
Abstract Coats-of-arms representing municipal counties express local patterns of rural economics, natural resource and land use, features of the natural capital, and the cultural heritage of either aborigines or colonists. We reconstruct the subnational economic and political timeline of the world’s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Academia Brasileira de Ciências
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652023000501007&tlng=en |
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| author | JULIANO A. BOGONI HENRIQUE VILLAS BOAS CONCONE VÍTOR CARVALHO-ROCHA KATIA M.P.M.B. FERRAZ CARLOS A. PERES |
| author_facet | JULIANO A. BOGONI HENRIQUE VILLAS BOAS CONCONE VÍTOR CARVALHO-ROCHA KATIA M.P.M.B. FERRAZ CARLOS A. PERES |
| author_sort | JULIANO A. BOGONI |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Coats-of-arms representing municipal counties express local patterns of rural economics, natural resource and land use, features of the natural capital, and the cultural heritage of either aborigines or colonists. We reconstruct the subnational economic and political timeline of the world’s largest tropical country using municipal coats-of-arms to reinterpret Brazil’s historical ecology. We assessed all natural resource, biophysical, agricultural, and ethnocultural elements of 5,197 coats-of-arms (93.3%) distributed throughout Brazil. We extracted socioenvironmental co-variables for any municipality to understand and predict the relationships between social inequality, environmental degradation, and the historical ecology symbology. We analyzed data via ecological networks and structural equation models. Our results show that the portfolio of political-administrative symbology in coats-of-arms is an underutilized tool to understand the history of colonization frontiers. Although Brazil is arguably Earth’s most species-rich country, generations of political leaders have historically failed to celebrate this biodiversity, instead prioritizing a symbology depicted by icons of frontier conquest and key natural resources. Brazilian historical ecology reflects the relentless depletion of the natural resource capital while ignoring profound social inequalities. Degradation of natural ecosystems is widespread in Brazilian economy, reflecting a legacy of boom-and-bust rural development that so far has failed to deliver sustainable socioeconomic prosperity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:09:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1a7735fdf195496b996c8f5471c3f12c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-2690 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:09:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
| spelling | doaj.art-1a7735fdf195496b996c8f5471c3f12c2023-12-19T07:44:10ZengAcademia Brasileira de CiênciasAnais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências1678-26902023-12-0195suppl 210.1590/0001-3765202320220746The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbologyJULIANO A. BOGONIhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8541-0556HENRIQUE VILLAS BOAS CONCONEhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3832-1347VÍTOR CARVALHO-ROCHAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4747-1219KATIA M.P.M.B. FERRAZhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7870-8696CARLOS A. PEREShttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765Abstract Coats-of-arms representing municipal counties express local patterns of rural economics, natural resource and land use, features of the natural capital, and the cultural heritage of either aborigines or colonists. We reconstruct the subnational economic and political timeline of the world’s largest tropical country using municipal coats-of-arms to reinterpret Brazil’s historical ecology. We assessed all natural resource, biophysical, agricultural, and ethnocultural elements of 5,197 coats-of-arms (93.3%) distributed throughout Brazil. We extracted socioenvironmental co-variables for any municipality to understand and predict the relationships between social inequality, environmental degradation, and the historical ecology symbology. We analyzed data via ecological networks and structural equation models. Our results show that the portfolio of political-administrative symbology in coats-of-arms is an underutilized tool to understand the history of colonization frontiers. Although Brazil is arguably Earth’s most species-rich country, generations of political leaders have historically failed to celebrate this biodiversity, instead prioritizing a symbology depicted by icons of frontier conquest and key natural resources. Brazilian historical ecology reflects the relentless depletion of the natural resource capital while ignoring profound social inequalities. Degradation of natural ecosystems is widespread in Brazilian economy, reflecting a legacy of boom-and-bust rural development that so far has failed to deliver sustainable socioeconomic prosperity.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652023000501007&tlng=enland usetropical forestecological elementsfaunaflorapublic policy |
| spellingShingle | JULIANO A. BOGONI HENRIQUE VILLAS BOAS CONCONE VÍTOR CARVALHO-ROCHA KATIA M.P.M.B. FERRAZ CARLOS A. PERES The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências land use tropical forest ecological elements fauna flora public policy |
| title | The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology |
| title_full | The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology |
| title_fullStr | The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology |
| title_full_unstemmed | The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology |
| title_short | The historical ecology of the world’s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat-of-arms symbology |
| title_sort | historical ecology of the world s largest tropical country uniquely chronicled by its municipal coat of arms symbology |
| topic | land use tropical forest ecological elements fauna flora public policy |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652023000501007&tlng=en |
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