Since the onset of agriculture and animal husbandry around 10,000 years ago, biodiversity has undergone profound transformations. Palaeoenvironmental records reveal that land clearance, grazing and cultivation replaced diverse natural habitats with anthropogenic landscapes, leading to declines in wild flora and fauna while fostering domesticated taxa. Early agro-pastoral mosaics sometimes enhanced local diversity, however long-term trajectories show progressive homogenization and loss of genetic and ecological variability. The envisaged study shall investigate the reciprocal human-environment relationship by empirically assessing and quantifying early human impacts on biodiversity in a diachronic perspective, using data from both, natural and anthropic archives, and evaluate existing model simulations and scientific narratives on biodiversity loss.
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