Under the ERC Starting Grant project DOPAMICS, we offer a research opportunity to study the diversity of biomechanical properties of Amazonian palm fibers within and between species in forest landscapes of French Guiana. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and one of the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems. However, despite uncertainties about the future of its biodiversity, the state of Amazonian biodiversity and the underlying ecological processes remain largely under-documented to date. Palms (Arecaceae) are one of the most abundant families in Amazonian forest inventories and are also an essential resource for human societies since pre-Columbian times. Palms provide major food resources due to the nutritional properties of their fruits, as well as construction and basketry materials due to the excellent properties of their fibers. Some palm species are also considered biological indicators of ancient occupation by archaeologists and ecologists. The challenges regarding the preservation and sustainable use of natural resources is also gaining interest as modern societies seek nature-based solutions, such as the conception of innovative eco-materials. Therefore, studying palm diversity can offer new insights onto the history of Amazonian biodiversity as well as proposing new strategies to meet contemporary socio-economic needs. The DOPAMICS project aims to understand how pre-Columbian societies have shaped the diversity of Amazonian palms through subsistence agriculture and domestication. DOPAMICS focuses on emblematic but little-known archaeological sites in French Guiana: the "ring ditches". It builds upon an interdisciplinary methodology at the interface between life sciences, humanities and data sciences to assess the impact of pre-Columbian societies on the diversity and evolution of five palm species of major importance. Work Package 2 (WP2) specifically focuses on the "useful" functional diversity related to the metabolic properties of fruits and the biomechanical properties of leaf fibers.
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[Website DOPAMICS project]