scholarly journals The Andes mountain range uplift as a vicariant event in the Pimeliinae (Coleoptera :Tenebrionidae) in Southern South America

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Gustavo Ernesto Flores ◽  
Jaime Pizarro-Araya
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Vicariant Event ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Andes Mountain ◽  
Coleoptera Tenebrionidae

Temperate Forests of the Southern Andean Region

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Veblen
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Temperate Forests ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Andean Region ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Evergreen Conifers

Although most of the continent of South America is characterized by tropical vegetation, south of the tropic of Capricorn there is a full range of temperate-latitude vegetation types including Mediterranean-type sclerophyll shrublands, grasslands, steppe, xeric woodlands, deciduous forests, and temperate rain forests. Southward along the west coast of South America the vast Atacama desert gives way to the Mediterranean-type shrublands and woodlands of central Chile, and then to increasingly wet forests all the way to Tierra del Fuego at 55°S. To the east of the Andes, these forests are bordered by the vast Patagonian steppe of bunch grasses and short shrubs. The focus of this chapter is on the region of temperate forests occurring along the western side of the southernmost part of South America, south of 33°S. The forests of the southern Andean region, including the coastal mountains as well as the Andes, are presently surrounded by physiognomically and taxonomically distinct vegetation types and have long been isolated from other forest regions. Although small in comparison with the extent of temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, this region is one of the largest areas of temperate forest in the Southern Hemisphere and is rich in endemic species. For readers familiar with temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, it is difficult to place the temper temperate forests of southern South America into a comparable ecological framework owing both to important differences in the histories of the biotas and to contrasts between the broad climatic patterns of the two hemispheres. There is no forest biome in the Southern Hemisphere that is comparable to the boreal forests of the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The boreal forests of the latter are dominated by evergreen conifers of needle-leaved trees, mostly in the Pinaceae family, and occur in an extremely continental climate. In contrast, at high latitudes in southern South America, forests are dominated mostly by broadleaved trees such as the southern beech genus (Nothofagus). Evergreen conifers with needle or scaleleaves (from families other than the Pinaceae) are a relatively minor component of these forests.

scholarly journals Comparison of 20th century and pre-industrial climate over South America in regional model simulations

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1599-1620 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wagner ◽  
I. Fast ◽  
F. Kaspar
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Model ◽  
Andes Mountains ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
The Andes

Abstract. In this study, we assess how the anthropogenically induced increase in greenhouse gas concentrations affects the climate of central and southern South America. We utilise two regional climate simulations for present day (PD) and pre-industrial (PI) times. These simulations are compared to historical reconstructions in order to investigate the driving processes responsible for climatic changes between the different periods. The regional climate model is validated against observations for both re-analysis data and GCM-driven regional simulations for the second half of the 20th century. Model biases are also taken into account for the interpretation of the model results. The added value of the regional simulation over global-scale modelling relates to a better representation of hydrological processes that are particularly evident in the proximity of the Andes Mountains. Climatic differences between the simulated PD minus PI period agree qualitatively well with proxy-based temperature reconstructions, albeit the regional model overestimates the amplitude of the temperature increase. For precipitation the most important changes between the PD and PI simulation relate to a dipole pattern along the Andes Mountains with increased precipitation over the southern parts and reduced precipitation over the central parts. Here only a few regions show robust similarity with studies based on empirical evidence. However, from a dynamical point-of-view, atmospheric circulation changes related to an increase in high-latitude zonal wind speed simulated by the regional climate model are consistent with numerical modelling studies addressing changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. Our results indicate that besides the direct effect of greenhouse gas changes, large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperatures also exert an influence on temperature and precipitation changes in southern South America. These combined changes in turn affect the relationship between climate and atmospheric circulation between PD and PI times and should be considered for the statistical reconstruction of climate indices calibrated within present-day climate data.

Size and Locomotion in Teratorns (Aves: Teratornithidae)

The Auk ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth E. Campbell ◽  
Eduardo P. Tonni
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
New World ◽  
Pelvic Girdle ◽  
Andes Mountains ◽  
New Method ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Westerly Winds

Abstract The extinct family Teratornithidae contains the world's largest known flying birds. A new method of determining body weights of extinct birds, based on the size of their tibiotarsi, facilitates the estimation of the wing dimensions of these giant birds. An analysis of the bones of the teratorn wing shows that they closely resemble those of condors, suggesting that teratorns flew in a manner similar to these large New World vultures. The bones of the pelvic girdle and hindlimbs indicate that teratorns were probably agile on the ground, though better adapted for walking and stalking than running. We estimate that the largest teratorn, Argentavis magnificens, weighed 80 kg and had a wingspan of 6-8 m. It probably became airborne by spreading its huge wings into the strong, continuous, westerly winds that blew across southern South America before the elevation of the Andes Mountains and, once aloft, flew in the manner of condors.

Darwin the geologist in southern South America

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Dott ◽  
Ian W. D. Dalziel
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Lateral Compression ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Andean Cordillera ◽  
Marine Terraces ◽  
Four Books ◽  
Geological Map

Charles Darwin was a reputable geologist before he achieved biological fame. Most of his geological research was accomplished in southern South America during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (1831–1836). Afterward he published four books and several articles about geology and coral atolls and became active in the Geological Society of London. We have followed Darwin's footsteps during our own researches and have been very impressed with his keen observations and inferences. He made some mistakes, however, such as appealing to iceberg rafting to explain erratic boulders and to inundations of the sea to carve valleys. Darwin prepared an important hand-colored geological map of southern South America, which for unknown reasons he did not publish. The distributions of seven map units are shown. These were described in his books wherein he also documented multiple elevated marine terraces on both coasts of South America. While exploring the Andean Cordillera in central Chile and Argentina, he discovered two fossil forests. Darwin developed a tectonic theory involving vertical uplift of the entire continent, which was greatest in the Andes where magma leaked up from a hypothetical subterranean sea of magma to form volcanoes and earthquakes. The theory had little impact and was soon eclipsed by theories involving lateral compression of strata. His and other contemporary theories suffered from a lack of knowledge about the earth's interior. Finally with modern plate tectonic theory involving intense lateral compression across the Andean Cordillera we can explain satisfactorily the geology so carefully documented by Darwin.

Bomarea rinconii (Alstroemeriaceae), a new species from the Talamanca Mountains in Chiriqui Province, Panama

Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
DANIEL ADOLFO CÁCERES GONZÁLEZ
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
The Andes ◽  
A New Species

Bomarea Mirbel (1804: 71; Alstroemeriaceae) includes 122 species (Govaerts 2013) and is divided into four subgenera (Hofreiter & Tillich 2002): Baccata (five species), Bomarea (ca. seventy species), Sphaerine(twelve species) and Wichuraea (eighteen species). Bomarea is distributed from Mexico and the Greater Antilles to southern South America (Gereau 1994). The centre of distribution of the genus is along the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia (Hofreiter 2008).

scholarly journals Lymnaea viatrix and Lymnaea columella in the neotropical region: a distributional outline

1982 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Lobato Paraense
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
South America ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Negro River ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Guianas ◽  
Northeastern Argentina

A review of lymnaeid samples collected by the author from 106 localities in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panamá, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay andBrazil showed that one of them (from Ecuador) belonged to Lymnaea cousini Jousseaume, 1887, and all the others to either L. viatrix Orbigny, 1835 or l. columella Say, 1817. The ranges of L. viatrix and L. columella overlap in Middle America, and in northern and southern South America (Venezuela-Colombia-Ecuador and northeastern Argentina-Uruguay-southernmost Brazil, respectively). L. viatrix was the only species found in Peru west of the Andes and in Chile, and is supposed to have migrated eastward to Argentina via the Negro river basin. The range of L. columella in South America is discontinuous. The species has been recorded from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador and, east of the Andes, from latitudes 15º S (central-west Brazil) to 35º S (La Plata, Argentina). Such a gap may be attributed to either introduction from the northern into the southern area, or migration along the unsampled region on the eastern side of the Andes, or extinction in the now vacant area. No lymnaeids have been found so far in Brazil north of latitude 15º S and in the Guianas.

ASPECTS OF GEODIVERSITY IN THE WEST OF ACRE STATE - BRAZIL

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-10
Author(s):  
FRANK OLIVEIRA ARCOS ◽  
ELISANDRA MOREIRA DE LIRA ◽  
HILZA DOMINGOS SILVA DOS SANTOS ARCOS
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
The State ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The West ◽  
Natural Heritage ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Andes Mountain

Geodiversity is associated with aspects of geoconservation, natural geological and hydrogeomorphological heritage in each morphoclimatic domain in Brazil. In the Amazon domain, such aspects have been forged in an environment of sedimentary origin since the Cretaceous, identified in the Rio Branco, Juruá-Mirim, Moa and Jaquirana mountains, composed predominantly of sandstones and siltstones. The Serra do Divisor National Park (PNSD) is located in the state of Acre, on the border with Peru and the Andes mountain range. The region has a natural heritage and a geological-geomorphological structure, where waterfalls, caves, valleys and high hills are found, endogenous to the site. The general objective of this article is to present elements of the Geodiversity of the Serra do Divisor National Park (PNSD) focused on the category of geotourism aiming at dissemination at regional, national and international levels.

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