Deforestation

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Beresford-Jones
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Arid Lands ◽  
South Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
Recent Memory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Riparian Woodland

The loss of riparian woodland recorded in the archaeological and geomorphological records of the basins of the lower Ica Valley is but one early part of a larger and still ongoing history of the deforestation of the coast of Peru. This is an old and gradual story that can be read through the Spanish chronicles, administrative records, and recent memory. This chapter follows the traces of this tale, beginning in the deep past with the archaeology of the south coast, beyond the lower Ica Valley. It then turns to historical documentation, firstly to review the uses of Prosopis by humans on the coast of Peru and in arid lands elsewhere in South America, before finally returning to focus on the south coast to examine the historical record of deforestation there.

A new fossil cricetid (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) from northeastern Brazil with remarks on small mammal extinctions in the tropical Quaternary

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1133-1147
Author(s):  
Simone B das Neves ◽  
Ulyses F J Pardiñas ◽  
Patrícia Hadler ◽  
Elver L Mayer ◽  
Ana M Ribeiro
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
The South ◽  
Quaternary Deposits ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Genetic Features ◽  
History Of

Abstract The rare cricetid rodent Bibimys Massoia, 1980 contains three extant species that are distributed in the lowlands of eastern South America between 35°S and 20°S and distinguished mostly by subtle morphological and genetic features. Several fragmented jaws belonging to this genus were recovered from Late Quaternary deposits located in northeastern Brazil, forming part of a rich archaeological and paleontological small mammal assemblage that has been recovered from caves in the Serra da Capivara, state of Piauí. This material is described herein as belonging to a new species, the most hypsodont member of the genus. The specimens also represent an extralimital occurrence of this sigmodontine, as the nearest extant population of Bibimys is ~1,200 km to the south. Because there are few reliable records of extinct small mammals from the Pleistocene–Holocene transition on the South American continent, in describing this new sigmodontine we extend the records of past biodiversity preserved in the Quaternary deposits of tropical South America. This new species likewise highlights that the Serra da Capivara deposits are promising for understanding the evolutionary history of cricetid rodents.

Accounting in the King's Storehouse: the Inkawasi Khipu Archive

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Urton ◽  
Alejandro Chu
Keyword(s):  
South Coast ◽  
Storage Facility ◽  
The South ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Black Beans ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Agricultural Produce ◽  
Close Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
Accounting Units

The site of Inkawasi (or Incahuasi) is located in the Cahete Valley, on the south coast of Peru. It was a major garrison and storage facility for the Inka expansion onto the south coast, built for housing and provisioning troops in the Inka assault on the Huarco peoples. Archaeological excavations of the storage facility have exposed what is to date a collection of 34 khipus (or quipus), the Inka knotted-string recording devices. We first explain why we consider the collection to constitute an “archive” and what the implications of that classification are for considering the significance of such a large collection of accounting devices associated with state storage. Several of the khipus were found associated with, or covered by, aji (Capsicum sp.), peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), and black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). We suggest that these may be the products that the khipus recorded. Several khipus were tied together, and two sets of tied, paired samples are shown to contain very similar quantitative records. Close study of the paired samples, as well as the numerical values knotted into several other khipus, reveal different strategies that were being used by the khipu-keepers to maintain “checks-and-balances” accounting. Evidence was also found of possible standardized accounting units for agricultural produce brought to Inkawasi. These took the form of a grid-like array of squares produced by impressing ropes into the floors of two rectangular sorting spaces in the storage complex. The grid-work of squares may have served in the process of spreading out the produce on the floor and collecting and accounting for these products in standardized units. We conclude with reflections on how the processes, procedures, and routines of accounting observed at Inkawasi provide information for approaching the writing of an autochthonous history of the Inka state based on the study of accounting practices.

scholarly journals Colonization of an empty island: how does a plant with a plastic gender system respond?

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 10647-10672
Author(s):  
M. Philipp ◽  
H. Adsersen
Keyword(s):  
South Coast ◽  
Random Pattern ◽  
The South ◽  
Juvenile Period ◽  
Colonization History ◽  
Water Stress Tolerance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gender System ◽  
Common Plant ◽  
Common Plant Species

Abstract. Honckenya peploides is the most common plant species on the island of Surtsey. It arrived in 1967 and after a juvenile period of 4 years it produced seeds and has increased its number from below 100 to several millions. Most populations have the individuals distributed in a regular or random pattern, suggesting that intraspecific competition is important. H. peploides has a subdioecious reproductive system consisting of pistillate plants producing capsules, and staminate plants delivering pollen and some in addition are producing capsules and are denoted hermaphrodites. Populations at the south coast of Iceland had around fifty–fifty pistillate to staminate plants. At Surtsey we found more pistillate plants probably due to the higher water stress tolerance by pistillate plants. We also found a tendency to a higher frequency of hermaphrodite plants with a higher number of seeds per capsule compared to populations at the south coast of Iceland + Heimaey. We suggest that this is a reminiscence from the time right after the colonization of Surtsey where population size was small and the small generalist pollinators were not able to deposit sufficient pollen on pistillate plants causing the hermaphrodites to have an advantage by being able to set seed after selfing. The result of this initial advantage of the hermaphrodites in combination with the inheritance of the sexes can still be seen due to the longevity of the individuals. A generalized account of the colonization history of H. peploides is given.

scholarly journals Colonization of an empty island: how does a plant with a plastic gender system respond?

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6657-6665 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Philipp ◽  
H. Adsersen
Keyword(s):  
South Coast ◽  
Random Pattern ◽  
The South ◽  
Juvenile Period ◽  
Colonization History ◽  
Water Stress Tolerance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gender System ◽  
Common Plant ◽  
Common Plant Species

Abstract. Honckenya peploides is the most common plant species on the island of Surtsey. It arrived in 1967 and after a juvenile period of 4 years it produced seeds and had increased its number from below 100 to several millions. Most populations had the individuals distributed in a regular or random pattern, suggesting that intraspecific competition is important. H. peploides has a subdioecious reproductive system consisting of pistillate plants producing capsules, and staminate plants delivering pollen. Some of the latter are in addition producing capsules and are denoted hermaphrodites. Populations at the south coast of Iceland had around equal numbers of pistillate and staminate plants. At Surtsey we found more pistillate plants, probably due to their higher water stress tolerance. We also found a tendency to a higher frequency of hermaphrodite plants with a higher number of seeds per capsule compared to populations at the south coast of Iceland and the nearby island of Heimaey. We suggest that this arises from the time right after the colonization of Surtsey where population size was small and the small generalist pollinators were not able to deposit sufficient pollen on pistillate plants, causing the hermaphrodites to have an advantage by being able to set seed after selfing. The result of this initial advantage of the hermaphrodites in combination with the inheritance of the sexes can still be seen due to the longevity of individuals. A generalized account of the colonization history of H. peploides is given.

scholarly journals Cycling in South America, 1880-1920

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-325
Author(s):  
Matthew Brown
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
South American ◽  
Global History ◽  
The South ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Mode Of Transport

Historians have tended to ignore the South American experience of cycling. The continent’s diverse history of sports has been effaced by a popular and academic focus on soccer. The global history of cycling has therefore omitted South America from its analysis, perpetuating mistaken assumptions about the continent’s absence from technological and social innovation. This article analyses the sources located across the continent to demonstrate that cyclists raced, toured, and did acrobatics, often watched by thousands of spectators, attracting the attention of chroniclers and the media. The physical sensations of travelling through the environment on a pedal-powered machine were new and unexpected. With its focus on cycling as sport, recreation and mode of transport, this article inserts South America into the early global history of cycling.

3. The Geological Relations of South Georgia

1914 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-64
Author(s):  
J. W. Gregory
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Geological History ◽  
The South ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
South Georgia ◽  
The Andes ◽  
History Of

The special interest of the island of South Georgia depends on the evidence it promises as to the geological history of that part of the Southern Ocean which lies south of the South Atlantic. According to the well-known views of Professor Suess, South Georgia is on a continuation of the mountain line of the Andes, which at the southern end of South America bends eastward along the northern margin of Drake's Sea and continues 30° to the east, where it turns southward; it completes a great horseshoe-shaped course by passing through South Georgia and returning westward through the South Orkneys to Grahamland.

scholarly journals Novyi Mishor – first country-style resort on the South Coast of Crimea (1898-1920): reconstruction of sociocultural history

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-127
Author(s):  
Andrey Vasil'evich Karagodin ◽  
Mariya Mikhailovna Petrova
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
The South ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
First Time

The subject of this research is the history of the first of country-style resort appeared on the South Coast of Crimea at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries on the lands of country estates of New Mishor belonged to Shuvalov-Dolgorukov family. The phenomenon of country-style construction on the South Coast of Crimes, which starting point was the foundation of the Novyi Mishor, is viewed in the context of the processes of economic and sociocultural modernization of Russian society, formation of self-identification mechanisms of the emerging “middle class”, and new urban culture. Special attention is given to the period from 1917 to 1920, when the cultural figures left the capital and resided in the villages of Novyi Mishor. Based on examination the body of historical sources, many of which introduced to the scientific discourse for the first time, the author formed the database of villages and countryside residents of Novyi Mishor. A vast array of archival funds, reference literature, sources of personal provenance (memoirs, correspondence), and visual sources was attracted in the course of research. The novelty of consists in establishment of identities and social status of the residents of country resort of Novyi Mishor, determination of a range of sources for its further research, reconstruction of chronology of the development of this resort, details of everyday life and mentality traits of the residents, among which were the prominent figures of culture and art of Russia of that time – writers, actors, painters, scholars, and philanthropists.

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