Our team is collaborating with the Critical Ecology Lab to assess the impact of Danish colonial plantations on physical, chemical, and biotic aspects of St. Croix’s current ecology. St. Croix is a former Danish colony that hosted more than 200 sugar plantations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The island is representative of other Caribbean island colonies in terms of its crop history, enslaved population size, and topographic features. Secondary tropical forests now occupy former plantation land, presenting an opportunity to study the long-term consequences of colonialism on tropical islands.
Islands are home to a significant portion of global biodiversity due to their high levels of species endemism, unique functional traits, and evolutionary patterns. The biogeochemical impacts of colonial plantation systems are poorly understood but likely continue to affect the long-term ability of post-plantation ecosystems to recover to pre-disturbance conditions. More specifically, potential colonial impacts on soils and soil health could influence carbon sequestration (a means of removing carbon from the atmosphere), sustainable plant growth, ecosystem support, and overall local human health.
Our research focused first on finding and deciphering historical documents that would provide us with quantifiable factors such as sugar production output and enslaved population. We also aimed to conduct spatial analyses on abiotic factors of St. Croix, such as temperature and vegetation health, using pre-existing data and satellite imagery. These factors, both historic and abiotic, will be used to develop an intensity index that quantifies how intensely the land and soil were used during the colonial era. The second part of our project consisted of performing soil analysis to understand how characteristics of soil samples collected from regions impacted by plantation activity vary from samples collected within undisturbed old-growth forests on St. Croix. The results from this soil sampling will be overlaid on the intensity index to determine if there is a correlation between soil characteristics and the intensity of land use.
Student team: Chloe Clegg, Miranda Hess, Jasmine Hurtado, Marie Olmedo, Anahita Jensen, Jillian Labador, Rhona McChesney, Megan McKenna, and Elon Morris
Client: Critical Ecology Lab
Advisor: Professor Rob Eagle