11 research outputs found
Pastoralists as Optimal Foragers? Reoccupation and Site Selection in the Deserts of Post-Soviet Kazakhstan
New perspectives in ecosystem services science as instruments to understand environmental securities
How could herd mobility be used to manage resources and livestock grazing in semi-arid rangeland commons?
Computational Research on Mobile Pastoralism Using Agent-Based Modeling and Satellite Imagery
Implications of Fine-Grained Habitat Fragmentation and Road Mortality for Jaguar Conservation in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil
The importance of considering fibular robusticity when inferring the mobility patterns of past populations
In this chapter we investigate the lower limb structural rigidity (using cross-sectional geometric properties of the diaphyseal midshaft) within a sample of 124 individuals from the Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age from Italy, Medieval Germany, and twenty-first Century Britain (long distance runners, field hockey players, and sedentary controls). Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age samples were settled in rugged areas, whereas the other samples inhabited plain areas. The aim of this study is to assess whether fibular diaphyseal properties reflect mobility patterns or terrain properties in past populations. Both fibular rigidity and relative fibular rigidity ratio (fibula/tibia) have been analyzed. Results reveal that Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age samples show high fibular rigidity and have values of relative fibular rigidity that are most similar to modern hockey players. The relative fibular diaphyseal rigidity of hockey players has been previously explained as the consequence of their dynamic and repetitive change of direction. Late Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic individuals are thought to have been highly terrestrially mobile, while Iron Age people were probably fairly sedentary. However, all of the three groups lived in areas of uneven terrain. We conclude that fibular rigidity and relative fibular rigidity are influenced by factors that increase foot eversion/inversion such as frequent directional changes and uneven terrain. The results of this study suggest that inclusion of the fibula provides a valuable additional perspective that complements traditional predictions of mobility patterns based on the femur or the tibia alone
Analysis of GPS trajectories to assess spatio-temporal differences in grazing patterns and land use preferences of domestic livestock in southwestern Madagascar
Tropical Ungulates of Argentina
Argentina has an extensive and diverse terrain classified into 11 ecoregions. Seven of these ecoregions, occupying the north and north-central parts of the country, house the 11 tropical ungulate species found here. The ecoregions are lowland and subtropical, some beginning in the tropics, some extending to temperate climates. The principal topographical characteristics, hydrology, climate, vegetation and fauna are described for these seven ecoregions. Each of the 11 species is then treated in detail with respect to its ecology and conservation. Emphasis is placed on distribution, habitat and density, feeding ecology, threats and conservation in Argentina, based on the most recent studies. Data on reproductive biology and behaviour are included where information is relatively recent and unlikely to be covered elsewhere. The species include the following: the Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris), found in northern subtropical ecoregions, three species of peccary (Tayassu pecari, Pecari tajacu and Parachoerus wagneri) from northern subtropical and drier regions, of which the Chacoan peccary (P. wagneri) is endemic while the other two species have more extensive distributions. The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) occurs only in relict populations in the ecoregions considered. The taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis) occupies the eastern boundary between the Yungas and drier, high altitude ecoregions. Three species of brocket deer (Mazama americana, M. gouazoubira and M. nana) occupy the northern tropical, subtropical and Chacoan areas. The marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), the largest South American deer, has small populations occupying wetlands from the northern border to the Parana delta, while the pampas deer (Ozotocerus bezoaticus) is found in four isolated populations from Ibera to Buenos Aires province. Argentina represents the southern limit to the distribution of all these species and thus threats are often magnified. Ongoing conservation activities include the maintenance of protected areas, promotion (difusion, education, sensitization), investigation and the reintroduction of some species of formerly extinct ungulates into the Ibera wetlands area.Fil: Black Decima, Patricia. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Camino, Micaela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de EcologĂa Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de EcologĂa Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Cirignoli, Sebastian. Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico; ArgentinaFil: de Bustos, Soledad. FundaciĂłn Biodiversidad; ArgentinaFil: Matteucci, Silvia Diana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Grupo de EcologĂa del Paisaje y Medio Ambiente; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perez Carusi, Lorena Cynthia. AdministraciĂłn de Parques Nacionales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Diego Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de BiologĂa Subtropical. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de BiologĂa Subtropical; Argentina. Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico; Argentin