What is this about?
Environmental effects of trade networks
- The two big environmental effects were the spread of new crops and disease
- Disease was easily a bigger effect compared to new crops
Agricultural Effects of Exchange Networks
- New crops were introduced to regions which previously didn’t have those crops
- These new crops would impact land use and population growth
Migration of Crops
Champa Rice
- Introduced by the Champa kingdom of Vietnam to China as tribute
- Drought-resistant and flood-resistant
- Was greatly successful in meeting the needs of China’s growing population and also later became a factor in the acceleration of China’s population
- Was also able to grow in lands that were once not able to be farmed on
Bananas
- Originated from Southeast Asia
- Indonesian merchants traveling across the Indian Ocean introduced bananas to Sub-Saharan Africa
- Lead to a spike in the population in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Bananas are a very nutrition-rich food, enriching diets
- Also allowed Bantu to expand their land
- This is because bananas allowed them to migrate to places where their traditional crops (such as yams) couldn’t grow
Crops Spread by Arabs
- Crops include sugar and citrus crops
- Spread through Arab merchants and caliphs which conquered new territories
- Samarkand introduced new fruits, vegetables, rice, and citrus products from the Middle East to Europe
- Eventually European demand for sugar would be so high that they would start to use enslaved labor to grow it
Environmental Degradation
- Increase in populations put pressure on resources
- Example: In Great Zimbabwe, overgrazing was so bad that people had to abandon the city
- Example 2: In fedual Europe, overuse of farm land and deforestation led to soil erosion, reducing agricultural productivity
- Little Ice Age also caused decline in production of agriculture, although this was caused by nature and not by humans
Spread of Epidemics through Exchange Networks
- Mongol conquests and rising trade helped spread Bubonic Plague throughout Afro-Eurasia
- Caravanserai, the inns along the Silk Road that houses both animals and people, may have also played a part in the spread of the Bubonic Plague
- Killed 1/3 of the people in Europe
- ⬇️ in workers; changed relationship between workers and those they worked for
- With less workers, a worker became much more valuable, so many could demand higher wages and other benefits
- Laid the groundwork for the economic and social changes that were to come later on after the Bubonic Plague
- ⬇️ in agricultural production as well
- Also killed many in North Africa, China, and Central Asia