Miscanti-1: Human occupation during the arid Mid-Holocene event in the high-altitude lakes of the Atacama Desert, South America

Pregnancy is a special condition in a women’s life with unique physiological changes. There has been some research on physiological changes in human body in high altitude; however, there are many things still unknown about pregnancy at high altitude. It is an estimation that about 140 million people worldwide live in high altitude of above 2500 m, and it is believed that the hypobaric hypoxia of pregnancy at high altitude is the most common cause for maternofetal hypoxia. It has been seen that the babies born at high altitude are smaller, and the degree of smallness is inversely correlated with the number of generations of ancestors of high-altitude residence. Some studies show that women in populations with high-altitude ancestry, such as the Aymaras or Quechuas in South America and Tibetans in Asia, deliver heavier babies than women from European ancestry in South America or Han women in China living at high altitude. A study by Jensen and Moore shows that in Colorado, altitude acts as an independent factor in determining birth weight, with a reduction in birth weight of 100 g per 1000 m elevation gain. Studies have shown that low birth weight at high altitude has no association with socioeconomic status. Hence, it may reflect either hypoxia-induced intrauterine growth restriction or genetic adaptation. The latter implies a strong fetomaternal interaction involving adaptation to hypoxia on several levels. It also reflects the importance of interaction between the mother and the fetus which is stressed by the fact that better maternal ventilator response to hypoxic stress at high altitude correlates positively with birth weight. Another study shows that people living at altitudes of 4000 m and above have an arterial partial pressure of oxygen of 50 mmHg and an arterial oxygen saturation of just above 80%. There has been many studies on populations living in high-altitude regions for many generations, like Quechuas and Tibetans, which show many functional and structural adaptations in high altitude. This adaptation helps to allow for a way out for the main metabolic problem they face: maintaining an acceptably high scope for sustained aerobic metabolism despite reduced availability of oxygen in the inspired air. The functional adaptation to high altitude is measured indirectly by determining aerobic capacity, which reflects not only the maximum work performance but also the success of the individual’s biological oxygen transport system.

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Environmental factors as drivers for macroinvertebrate and diatom diversity in Alpine lakes: New insights from the Stelvio National Park (Italy)

Journal of Limnology ◽

10.4081/jlimnol.2019.1863 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 78 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Angela Boggero ◽

Silvia Zaupa ◽

Simona Musazzi ◽

Michela Rogora ◽

Elzbieta Dumnicka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

National Park ◽

Geographical Area ◽

National Research Council ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Eastern Alps ◽

High Elevation ◽

Alpine Lakes ◽

High Altitude Lakes ◽

The Alps

Information on the biodiversity of high altitude lakes in the Stelvio National Park was scarce and fragmentary, in most cases limited to a few studies on a single biological issue. To fill this gap, a multidisciplinary research program was established in 2011 to investigate macroinvertebrates, diatoms, and water chemistry in 8 high altitude lakes within the boundaries of the Park (Rhaetian Alps, Eastern Alps). The results of this study were compared with data on biological assemblages and chemical parameters of Alpine lakes in the Pennine-Lepontine Alps (Western Alps), to evaluate the role of local drivers with respect to regional ones. This comparison was possible thanks to the adoption of standardized sampling methodologies developed since the ’90s by the National Research Council-Water Research Institute (Verbania), in collaboration with several European Research centers. Despite located in a restricted geographical area, the lakes of the Stelvio National Park showed a high variability of chemical composition, and of sensitivity to acidification, lower than that of the Pennine-Lepontine Alpine lakes. Macroinvertebrate and diatom taxa were ubiquitous and frequent along the Alps, and mainly represented by cold-stenothermal species. Richness, Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou indices applied to phyto- and zoobenthos highlighted significantly lower values in Stelvio National Park lakes than in those of Pennine-Lepontine for macroinvertebrates, while no significant differences were found for diatoms. Two groups of lakes were identified by Cluster Analysis, mainly on the basis of major ion concentrations. Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that the macroinvertebrate assemblage of the lakes studied is driven mainly by altitude and lake surface, and, to a lesser extent, by nutrient content. On the contrary, pH and acid-related variables played a secondary role for diatoms, while nutrients and, more in general, ionic content had significant effects on their species composition. Overall, the results of this first investigation showed that the high elevation of these lakes affects their macroinvertebrate assemblages, while their diatom communities are comparable throughout the Alps.

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On Vastness and Variability: Cultural Transmission, Historicity, and the Paleoindian Record in Eastern South America

Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ◽

10.1590/0001-3765201520140219 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 87 (2) ◽

pp. 1239-1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

ASTOLFO G.M. ARAUJO

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

South America ◽

Material Culture ◽

Cultural Transmission ◽

Raw Material ◽

Cultural Norms ◽

South American ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

Early Human

Eastern South America, or what is today Brazilian territory, poses interesting questions about the early human occupation of the Americas. Three totally distinct and contemporaneous lithic technologies, dated between 11,000 and 10,000 14C BP, are present in different portions of the country: the Umbu tradition in the south, with its formal bifacial industry, with well-retouched scrapers and bifacial points; the Itaparica tradition in the central-west / northwest, totally unifacial, whose only formal artifacts are limaces; and the "Lagoa Santa" industry, completely lacking any formal artifacts, composed mainly of small quartz flakes. Our data suggests that these differences are not related to subsistence or raw-material constraints, but rather to different cultural norms and transmission of strongly divergent chaînes opératoires. Such diversity in material culture, when viewed from a cultural transmission (CT) theory standpoint, seems at odds with a simple Clovis model as the origin of these three cultural traditions given the time elapsed since the first Clovis ages and the expected population structure of the early South American settlers.

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Physicochemical Parameters Affecting the Distribution and Diversity of the Water Column Microbial Community in the High-Altitude Andean Lake System of La Brava and La Punta

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8081181 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 1181

Author(s):

Reynaldo Núñez Salazar ◽

Carlos Aguirre ◽

Jorge Soto ◽

Pamela Salinas ◽

Carlos Salinas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

High Altitude ◽

Water Column ◽

Physicochemical Parameters ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

16S Rrna Gene Analysis ◽

Lake System ◽

Influence Of Water

Due to the low incidence of precipitation attributed to climate change, many high-altitude Andean lakes (HAALs) and lagoons distributed along the central Andes in South America may soon disappear. This includes La Brava–La Punta, a brackish lake system located south of the Salar de Atacama within a hyper-arid and halophytic biome in the Atacama Desert. Variations in the physicochemical parameters of the water column can induce changes in microbial community composition, which we aimed to determine. Sixteen sampling points across La Brava–La Punta were studied to assess the influence of water physicochemical properties on the aquatic microbial community, determined via 16S rRNA gene analysis. Parameters such as pH and the concentrations of silica, magnesium, calcium, salinity, and dissolved oxygen showed a more homogenous pattern in La Punta samples, whereas those from La Brava had greater variability; pH and total silica were significantly different between La Brava and La Punta. The predominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. The genera Psychroflexus (36.85%), Thiomicrospira (12.48%), and Pseudomonas (7.81%) were more abundant in La Brava, while Pseudospirillum (20.73%) and Roseovarius (17.20%) were more abundant in La Punta. Among the parameters, pH was the only statistically significant factor influencing the diversity within La Brava lake. These results complement the known microbial diversity and composition in the HAALs of the Atacama Desert.

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Accurate determination of the total alkalinity and the CO2 system parameters in high-altitude lakes from the Western Pyrenees (France – Spain)

Microchemical Journal ◽

10.1016/j.microc.2019.104345 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 152 ◽

pp. 104345

Author(s):

Leire Kortazar ◽

Bastien Duval ◽

Olaia Liñero ◽

Olaia Olamendi ◽

Ainhoa Angulo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Accurate Determination ◽

Total Alkalinity ◽

System Parameters ◽

High Altitude Lakes ◽

Western Pyrenees

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Landscape evolution and the environmental context of human occupation of the southern pampa del tamarugal, Atacama Desert, Chile

Quaternary Science Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106502 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 243 ◽

pp. 106502

Author(s):

T. Race Workman ◽

Jason A. Rech ◽

Eugenia M. Gayó ◽

Calogero M. Santoro ◽

Paula C. Ugalde ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Landscape Evolution ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Environmental Context ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Pampa Del Tamarugal

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Recent Observation of a Proliferation of Ranunculus trichophyllus Chaix. in High-altitude Lakes of the Mount Everest Region: Comment

Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research ◽

10.1657/1523-0430(2007)39[340:rooapo]2.0.co;2 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 340-341 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anton Seimon ◽

Stephan R. P. Halloy ◽

Tracie A. Seimon

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Recent Observation ◽

Mount Everest ◽

High Altitude Lakes

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Relocation of Alona manueli Sinev & Zawisza 2013 and a new closely related species from the Ecuadorian Andes to the new genus Alpinalona (Cladocera, Chydoridae, Aloninae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4350.3.8 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4350 (3) ◽

pp. 563 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

MIGUEL ALONSO ◽

ARTEM Y. SINEV

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

South America ◽

High Altitude ◽

Related Species ◽

National Park ◽

New Genus ◽

Ventral Surface ◽

Closely Related Species ◽

Head Pores ◽

Lateral Head

Alpinalona gen. nov. is described for two species found in high altitude localities of continental North America and South America: Alona manueli (Sinev & Zawisza, 2013) from the Neovolcanic Mexican Axis and Alpinalona cajasi gen. et sp. nov from El Cajas National Park (Ecuador). The new genus is separated from Hexalona and allies by the absence of limb VI and filter plate V; from Anthalona, Coronatella and the elegans-group by having seven setae on exopodite III, and by the presence of a well-developed seta 1 on the IDL of limb III; from Alona s. str. (quadrangularis-group) and Ovalona, by two main head pores, lateral head pores located close to main pores, and by a bilobed exopodite V; from Ovalona by the presence of seta (i) and inner setae 2–3 on limb I, and setae 4–5 of exopodite III being of same size; and from Alona s. lato by weakly developed marginal denticles of postabdomen, clusters of thin setulae on ventral surface of limb I, and by plumose setae 5–6 of exopodite IV. Alpinalona cajasi sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from A. manueli by the following characteristics: prominent posterodorsal angle of carapace; broader headshield; longer PP distance; and postanal marginal denticles organized into groups.

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