Comparative phytolith analysis of Festuca (Pooideae: Poaceae) species native to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Botany ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 1113-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G. Fernández Pepi ◽  
A.F. Zucol ◽  
M.O. Arriaga
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Native Grasses ◽  
Phytolith Analysis ◽  
Adventitious Species

Festuca L. is one of the most representative native grasses of Tierra del Fuego in the southernmost area of South America. In several patches, however, domestic cattle have overgrazed, causing loss or replacement by exotic and adventitious species. We have carried out a comparative phytolith analysis of Patagonian fescue present in the Province of Tierra del Fuego. Fescue leaves are characterized by the presence of truncated cones, crescents, and sinuate trapezoid elements, predominantly short ones. Fan-shaped, small elongated prismatic, and point-shaped phytoliths, as well as articulated phytoliths originating in vascular and epidermal tissues, were observed less frequently. The most common articulated elements in leaf ashes are long cells and a combination of sinuate trapezoid and long cells or crescents. In inflorescence ash assemblages, long cells with undulate borders in association with crescents or emerging hooks are predominant. We have analyzed the diagnostic and differential characteristics of each species of phytolith assemblages to provide information for further studies on the presence of this species in different past soil samples.

Salicornia cuscoensis (Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae), a new species from Peru (South America)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 319 (3) ◽  
pp. 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. ÁNGELES ALONSO ◽  
MANUEL B. CRESPO ◽  
HELMUT FREITAG
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
South American ◽  
Habitat Distribution ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Molecular Analyses ◽  
Southern Patagonia ◽  
A New Species

The name Salicornia cuscoensis given to a plant from high Andean saltmarshes near Cusco [Cuzco] and Ayacucho, Peru (South America) is validated by a diagnosis and description. The main morphological characters that separate S. cuscoensis from other closely related species are creeping habit, delicate branches, inflorescence of short and thin spikes, and seed indumentum. The new species clearly differs from other perennial Salicornia taxa growing in high Andean saltmarshes such as S. pulvinata and S. andina. The former forms small compact cushions producing very short, few-flowered inflorescences. The latter shows woody stems and forms larger rounded carpets. Morphologically, S. cuscoensis is also similar to S. magellanica, a species growing along the seashore in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, but the latter has shorter and wider inflorescences and larger seeds with a different type and arrangement of indumentum. Molecular analyses also supported the separation of S. cuscoensis. Data on habitat, distribution and phylogenetic relationships are presented for the new species and its relatives, and an identification key is given for the South American taxa of the genus Salicornia.

scholarly journals First record of tuberculosis lesions in zooarchaeological samples of otariid pinnipeds. New aspects of the pre-european origin of human tuberculosis in South America and dissemination mechanisms of Mycobacterium pinnipedii in the Southern Hemisphere

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-253
Author(s):  
Ricardo Bastida ◽  
Viviana Quse ◽  
María Paz Martinoli ◽  
Atilio Francisco Zangrando
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
First Record ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Bone Lesions ◽  
Tuberculosis Complex ◽  
European Origin ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Pinniped Species ◽  
New Hypothesis

In 2003 Mycobacterium pinnipedii was described as responsible for producing tuberculosis (TB) in living otariid pinnipeds from Argentina and Australia. It is the only member of marine origin within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex (MTBC), which also affects other domestic and wild mammals, and humans. Based on several pre-Columbian records of human tuberculosis in South America, in 2010-2011 a new hypothesis about the origin of this zoonosis through otariid pinnipeds arose. In 2014, this hypothesis was confirmed based on the study of ancient DNA from three mummies (700-1,000 years BP) of the Chiribaya culture (Peru). Since there were no records of TB bone lesions in zooarchaeological samples of otariid pinnipeds from South America and the rest of the world, our study aimed at examining zooarchaeological samples of pinnipeds from coastal sites of the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina), being the oldest Túnel I (6,400-4,300 years BP). A total of 4,138 vertebrae were analyzed, of which 0.46 % showed lesions compatible with TB. In addition, we propose a new hypothesis on possible mechanisms of Mycobacterium pinnipedii dissemination that would explain the transmission routes to the different otariid pinniped species of the Southern Hemisphere. Mycobacterium pinnipedii is one of the most aggressive mycobacteria of the MTBC and of high risk for humans.

Cyttaria darwinii. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. Gamundí
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Wood Decay ◽  
Golf Ball ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Obligate Parasite ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
Nothofagus Antarctica ◽  
Highly Evolved

Abstract A description is provided for Cyttaria darwinii. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. DISEASE: A highly evolved and highly specific obligate parasite causing often spectacular cankers only on branches of Nothofagus species. Fruitbodies only appear on the cankers; this fungus does not cause wood decay. HOSTS: Nothofagus antarctica, N. betuloides, N. dombeyi, N. pumilio, Nothofagus sp. (Fagaceae); more than 70% of all records are from N. antarctica and N. pumilio. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina (Chubut, Neuquén, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego); Chile (Aisén, Los Lagos, Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, Bío-Bío, Maule). Highest recorded altitude: 1700 m. TRANSMISSION: Not known, but presumably infection is by wind-dispersed ascospores. The reasons postulated by INGOLD (1988) for evolution of the golf ball shape of fruitbodies of Cyttaria espinosae [IMI Descriptions No. 1593] are doubtless also valid for this species.

Cyttaria hariotii. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. Gamundí
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Wood Decay ◽  
Golf Ball ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Obligate Parasite ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
Nothofagus Antarctica ◽  
Highly Evolved

Abstract A description is provided for Cyttaria hariotii. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. DISEASE: A highly evolved and highly specific obligate parasite causing often spectacular cankers only on branches of Nothofagus species. Fruitbodies only appear on the cankers; this fungus does not cause wood decay. HOSTS: Nothofagus antarctica, N. betuloides, N. dombeyi, N. nitida, N. pumilio, Nothofagus sp. (Fagaceae) [old fallen ascomata have also been recorded on soil, being blackish]. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina (Chubut, Neuquén, Río Negro, Tierra del Fuego); Chile (Aisén, La Araucanía, Los Lagos, Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, Bío-Bío, Maule). Highest recorded altitude: 1000 m. TRANSMISSION: Not known, but presumably infection is by wind-dispersed ascospores. The reasons postulated by INGOLD (1988) for evolution of the golf ball shape of fruitbodies of Cyttaria espinosae [IMI Descriptions No. 1593] are doubtless also valid for this species.

Future Environments of South America

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Veblen ◽  
Kenneth R. Young
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Physical Geography ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
South American ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Natural Processes

An important goal of this book has been to provide a comprehensive understanding of the physical geography and landscape origins of South America as important background to assessing the probabilities and consequences of future environmental changes. Such background is essential to informed discussions of environmental management and the development of policy options designed to prepare local, national, and international societies for future changes. A unifying theme of this book has been the elucidation of how natural processes and human activities have interacted in the distant and recent past to create the modern landscapes of the continent. This retrospective appreciation of how the current landscapes have been shaped by nature and humans will guide our discussion of possible future trajectories of South American environments. There is abundant evidence from all regions of South America, from Tierra del Fuego to the Isthmus of Panama, that environmental change, not stasis, has been the norm. Given that fact, the history, timing, and recurrence intervals of this dynamism are all crucial pieces of information. The antiquity and widespread distribution of changes associated with the indigenous population are now well established. Rates and intensities of changes related to indigenous activities varied widely, but even in regions formerly believed to have experienced little or no pre-European impacts we now recognize the effects of early humans on features such as soils and vegetation. Colonization by Europeans mainly during the sixteenth century modified or in some cases replaced indigenous land-use practices and initiated changes that have continued to the present. Complementing these broad historical treatments of human impacts, other chapters have examined in detail the environmental impacts of agriculture (chapter 18) and urbanism (chapter 20), and the disruptions associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation events. The goal of this final synthesis is to identify the major drivers of change and to discuss briefly their likely impacts on South American environments and resources in the near and medium-term future. Our intent is not to make or defend predictions, but rather to identify broad causes and specific drivers of environmental change to inform discussions of policy options for mitigating undesirable changes and to facilitate potential societal adaptations to them.

Is the ‘Environment’ Good to Eat or Good to Paint? Faunal Consumption and Avoidance among Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers in the Beagle Channel Region (Tierra del Fuego, South America)

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dánae Fiore ◽  
Angélica Tivoli
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Beagle Channel ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario ◽  
Human Practices ◽  
Industrial Societies ◽  
Optimality Models ◽  
Channel Region

This chapter discusses some aspects of the multi-dimensional nature of human–environment relationships. It focuses on the interaction established between people and animals in the Beagle Channel region (Tierra del Fuego, South America; Figure 5.1) through an analysis of taxon selection or avoidance in two inter-related spheres: subsistence and ceremonial art. The selection or avoidance of a particular species can be related to environmental, economic, political, and ideological factors, and our aim is to point out which of these factors influenced the high exploitation of certain taxa and the low representation of others. We achieve this by comparing archaeological data with spatially and temporally contemporaneous ethnographic information about the representation of animal species in ceremonial body paintings. Thus, we seek to explain whether the selection of some species and the avoidance of others in the subsistence sphere was being reinforced by or forbidden according to symbolic values that stemmed from the ceremonial sphere. Such questions derive from a theoretical premise that dismisses the notion of absolute optimality in human practices. It proposes instead that people’s actions and decisions are not guided only by rational principles and cost-minimizing aims: they can also be non-rational and non-optimal, and yet can make a socio-economic system function and reproduce efficiently through time and space without collapse. We argue that archaeological techniques and data have much to contribute to an understanding of the complexity of human–environment relations—particularly the ability to critique the overly simplistic economic models that often feed into popular and bureaucratic approaches to human environments. During the last fifteen years, one of the most popular approaches to subsistence in prehistoric and non-industrial societies has been the application of optimality models (e.g. Broughton 1994; Grayson and Delpech 1998; Nagaoka 2002, among others). In principle, these models were conceived as methodological tools through which the researcher lays out a hypothetical scenario of how resources should be consumed if people were trying to minimize costs and maximize benefits towards reaching an optimal result.

Phytolith analysis of the main species of Distichlis sp. (Chloridoideae: Poaceae) distributed in South America

2019 ◽  
Vol 269 ◽  
pp. 42-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Fabián Zucol ◽  
Noelia Isabel Patterer ◽  
Eliana Moya ◽  
María Gabriela Fernández Pepi
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Phytolith Analysis ◽  
Main Species

scholarly journals Introduced beaver improve growth of non‐native trout in Tierra del Fuego, South America

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 9454-9465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Arismendi ◽  
Brooke E. Penaluna ◽  
Carlos G. Jara
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego

The Sons of Saint Francis in Texas

1945 ◽  
Vol 1 (03) ◽  
pp. 289-302
Author(s):  
Carlos E. Castañeda
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South America ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
New World ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Spanish Missions ◽  
Saint Francis

The New World had hardly begun to fire the imagination of the Old before the Sons of Saint Francis, filled with a burning desire to spread the faith in the unknown lands in fulfillment of the biblical injunction “Go ye into the whole world and teach all nations” began their ceaseless peregrinations across two continents, from distant Canada and the forbidding Northwest to Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia in South America. In our own United States, dotting the land from Georgia to San Francisco, we find today the imposing ruins of Spanish missions built by their loving hands, their fervent faith, and their unequaled zeal.

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