Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes, human biomes or intensive land-use biome, describe the terrestrial biosphere (biomes) in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems. Anthromes are generally composed of heterogeneous mosaics of different land uses and land covers, including significant areas of fallow or regenerating habitats.
Origin and evolution of the concept
Anthromes were first named and mapped by Erle Ellis and Navin Ramankutty in their 2008 paper, "Putting People in the Map: Anthropogenic Biomes of the World". Anthrome maps now appear in numerous textbooks. and in the National Geographic World Atlas. The most recent version of anthrome maps were published in 2021.
In a recent global ecosystem classification, anthropogenic biomes have been incorporated into several distinct functional biomes in the terrestrial and freshwater realms, and additional units have been described for the freshwater, marine, subterranean and transitional realms to create a more comprehensive description of all ecosystems created and maintained by human activities. The intensive land-use biome comprises five distinct terrestrial ecosystem functional groups: pastures, crops, plantations, urban and semi-natural ecosystem functional group. The artificial wetlands biome in the freshwater realm includes large reservoirs and other constructed wetlands, rice paddies, aquafarms and networks of canals and ditches. The anthropogenic marine biome in the marine realm includes submerged artificial structures and marine aquafarms. The anthropogenic subterranean voids biome includes industrial excavations or artificial cave-like systems. There are two additional biomes in transitions between realms: the anthropogenic shoreline biome includes artificial shorelines; the anthropogenic subterranean freshwaters biome includes water pipes, subterranean canals and flooded mines.
Anthropogenic transformation of the Biosphere
For more than a century, the biosphere has been described in terms of global ecosystem units called biomes, which are vegetation types like tropical rainforests and grasslands that are identified in relation to global climate patterns. Considering that human populations and their use of land have fundamentally altered global patterns of ecosystem form, process, and biodiversity, anthropogenic biomes provide a framework for integrating human systems with the biosphere in the Anthropocene.
Before 1700
Humans have been altering ecosystems since we have evolved. Evidence suggests that our ancestors were burning land to clear it at one million years ago. 600,000 years ago, humans were using spears to kill horses and other large animals in Great Britain and China. For the past tens of thousands of years, humans have greatly changed the plant and animal life around the globe, from what type of wildlife and plant life dominated to what type of ecosystems dominate. Examples include Native Americans; they altered the forest, burnt land to clear it, settled in cities, disrupting forests and other ecosystems, and built monuments that required moving large amounts of earth, such as the Cahokia Monuments. More examples are the civilizations of the ancient world; they mined large amounts of material, made roads, and especially for the Romans, when mining lead, released large amounts of mercury and lead into the air. A recent study showed that nearly three quarters of Earth's land was already inhabited and reshaped by human societies as long as 12,000 years ago.