Animals and plants of the ancient Maya: a guide

paleopalynological assemblages recovered from Lacustrine Villa Alegria and the Cerro Prieto travertine were classified and assigned to potential vegetation types that were part of the local and regional flora, which grew accordingly along an altitudinal gradient. Multivariate statistical cluster analysis and principal components (PC) were calculated to corroborate floristic interpretation. The cluster analysis for Lacustrine Villa Alegria grouped the observed floristic elements into five probable types of vegetation: cloud forest, pine-oak forest, gallery forest, deciduous tropical forest and desert scrub. On the other hand, cluster analysis grouped the observed floristic elements into four likely types of vegetation for the Cerro Prieto travertine: cloud forest, pine-oak forest, tropical deciduous forest and desert scrub. Principal component analysis in both locations corroborated the results obtained through cluster analysis. Based on floristic interpretation and statistical analysis, possible paleovegetation was rebuilt. For Lacustrine Villa Alegra, inferred vegetation types were cloud forest, pine-oak forest, gallery forest, deciduous tropical forest and desert scrub, which grew according to an altitudinal gradient of moisture. Cloud forest occupied the surrounding areas with the greatest altitude and highest humidity, followed by the pine-oak forest; meanwhile, tropical deciduous forest grew at the bottom of the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley and desert scrub was established in the drier areas. Vegetation types that may have existed at the time of deposition the Cerro Prieto travertine are: cloud forest, pine-oak tropical deciduous forest and desert scrub. Regional flora was represented by cloud forest, pine-oak forest and gallery forest, while tropical deciduous forest and possible desert scrub represented local flora. The lakeside town Villa Alegria showed greater floristic affinity with the Tehuacan formation than the Cerro Prieto travertine. Likewise, there is a close paleophytogeographic relationship between both Lacustrine Villa Alegria and the Cerro Prieto travertine and other formations in the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley and central Mexico. Paleophytogeographic correlation separated central Mexican basins from those in the south; two distinct groups derived from floristic differences. Through stratigraphic correlation, the age set by Correlation was discovered between the abundance biozones of both sites: the middle of section VA-3 of Lacustrine Villa Alegria and sections CP-1 and CP-2 of the Cerro Prieto travertine.

Background: High post-dispersal fruit-seed removal can be a bottleneck for successful propagation to new areas of plant populations with fragmented distribution, as in cloud forest. Therefore, it is important to know how vegetation and fruit-eating behavior will influence the spatial removal pattern. Questions and/or Hypotheses: How do vegetation structure and density influence fruit removal of Persea hintonii in potential propagation areas? Study site and dates: Las Joyas Scientific Station, Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, Jalisco, Mexico. April-May 2015. Methods: The number of fruits removed were recorded in treatments excluding of different size vertebrates, in areas with a dense or sparse understory within two forest types plus open areas with shrub cover. To identify vertebrate fruit-removing species, camera-traps were placed under the canopy of P. hintonii trees with high fructification amounts. Results: Fruit removal was lower in areas of low understory density at pine-oak forests (11.17 ± 5.30 %) and gap areas (25.5 ± 2.39 %), compared to subtropical cloud forests (72.51 ± 0.60 %). The number of days to start the fruit removal was lower in the cloud and pine-oak forests with dense understory than in those with a sparse understory. We identified six mammal and three bird species as removers of P. hintonii fruits, among which Pecari tajacu and small mammals were the most important fruit removers. Conclusions: Low density understory in pine-oak favor less fruit removal of P. hintonii, probably associated with the behavior of its consumers.

The vertical structure of fern spore banks was studied in a xerophilous shrubland, montane rain forest, and pine-oak forest in Hidalgo, Mexico, using the emergence method. Soil samples were collected in April 1999 at depths of 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm. Viable spores decreased significantly with depth in all vegetation types, and the highest number of prothallia and sporophytes was found in the uppermost layer. The montane rain forest and the xerophilous shrubland had the largest and the richest banks, respectively. Twenty-three fern taxa were registered in the aboveground vegetation, 12 in the soil banks, and 43.5% were in both. Aboveground and in the soil bank, the xerophilous shrubland, the montane rain forest, and the pine-oak forest had, 17 and 7, 1 and 6, and 7 and 3 taxa, respectively. These were distributed differentially in relation to depth. The Sørensen index indicated a similarity of 61.5% between the xerophilous shrubland and the montane rain forest, and the Czeckanovsky index indicated 19.75%. The presence of viable spores in the soil of all vegetation types confirmed the existence of natural spore banks. Long-distance dispersal was an important factor determining the specific composition of the xerophilous shrubland and the pine-oak forest.

La Sierra Madre del Sur es una región biológicamente importante por sus altos niveles de riqueza y endemismo. En las últimas dos décadas ha aumentado la presión sobre sus recursos naturales, lo que pone en riesgo su biodiversidad. En este estudio se analizó la biodiversidad de las aves de los Pueblos Santos de la Sierra Madre del Sur en el estado de Guerrero y se evaluó el recambio de especies entre los principales tipos de vegetación presentes: bosque mesófilo de montaña, bosque de pino-encino, bosque de encino-pino, selva mediana subcaducifolia y selva baja caducifolia. El trabajo de campo se realizó en 11 meses repartidos del 2006 al 2012. La información de las especies se obtuvo mediante registros visuales, auditivos y captura de ejemplares. Las aves se categorizaron por su estatus estacional, endemismo y categoría de riesgo. Se registró un total de 136 especies de aves agrupadas en 34 familias y 15 órdenes. El bosque mesófilo de montaña presentó la mayor riqueza de especies (70 especies), seguido del bosque de encino-pino (59), selva baja caducifolia (54), bosque de pino-encino (46) y selva mediana subcaducifolia (24). En el bosque mesófilo de montaña se encontró el mayor número de especies residentes (64 especies) y en la selva baja caducifolia el mayor número de migratorias (12 especies). Se registraron 15 especies endémicas a México y cuatro cuasiendémicas, de las cuales la selva baja caducifolia presentó el mayor número de especies. Se registraron nueve especies amenazadas y nueve en protección especial. El bosque mesófilo de montaña presentó el mayor número de especies en riesgo (16 especies). Existió una mayor similitud en la composición de aves entre el bosque mesófilo de montaña y el bosque de pino-encino, mientras que la selva baja caducifolia presentó la mayor diferencia con relación a los otros tipos de vegetación. En términos de la relación riqueza-área, la biodiversidad de aves y la riqueza de endemismos en los Pueblos Santos es alta. Esta avifauna, así como los tipos de vegetación que ocupan en la región requerirán de estrategias de manejo y conservación para asegurar su permanencia a largo plazo.

La Reserva de la Biosfera "El Cielo" alberga uno de los acervos más importantes de la biodiversidad en el estado de Tamaulipas, México. En esta reserva se pueden encontrar cuatro tipos de vegetación (bosque tropical subcaducifolio, bosque mesófilo de montaña, bosque de encino-pino y matorral xerófilo), a los que están aunados una fauna característica. Este estudio determinó las especies de mamíferos asociadas a cada tipo de vegetación. Se detectó que los mamíferos presentan una distribución diferencial en un gradiente altitudinal en cinco patrones: cuatro especies de distribución amplia, siete especies de distribución media, 31 especies de distribución reducida, 12 especies de distribución salteada y 42 especies de distribución específica. Además, el bosque tropical subcaducifolio contiene el mayor número de especies con distribución específica, seguido por el bosque mesófilo de montaña, matorral xerófilo y bosque de encino-pino con diez, nueve y cuatro, respectivamente. Se empleó el índice porcentual de Simpson para calcular la similitud mastofaunística entre hábitats y se obtuvo que el bosque tropical y el bosque mesófilo presentan un mayor porcentaje (72.54%) de especies en común. En tanto que el bosque de encino pino y el matorral xerófilo comparten menos especies con otros hábitats y sus valores de similitud fluctúan de 28.57 a 58.33%. Así, los mamíferos de esta reserva están asociados en tres grupos: los del bosque tropical subcaducifolio-bosque mesófilo de montaña, los del bosque encino pino y los del matorral xerófilo.

The purpose. To carry out a thematic review of scientific works published in recent years and devoted to the emergence and historical development of the postcard greeting card of the late nineteenth — early twentieth century in the context of its historical and socio-cultural development.The research methodology. The article uses well-known art methods: historical-cultural, historical-attribute, which cover the process of formation of a greeting card from the standpoint of socio-cultural and historical heritage, and not only from the standpoint of information, contribute to the evolution and figurative transformation of the greeting card. chronological order. Along with this, general scientific methods are used: comparative, analysis, synthesis, monitoring, systematization, statistical, historical and chronological, which allows scientists to analyze the communicative, philological component, to reveal the collection and classification of postcards. Based on this, we gain additional knowledge about the object of study.The results. A thematic review of scientific works published in recent years and devoted to the emergence and historical development of the postal greeting card of the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century in the context of its historical and socio-cultural development was conducted. The problems, content and main ideas of scientific publications are considered, in which scientists conduct an analysis of the communicative and philological component, reveal the issue of collecting and classifying postcards, highlight the process of creating a postal greeting card from the standpoint of socio-cultural and historical heritage, and not only from the standpoint of a means of transmission information.An overview of the directions of scientific research on postcards of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries was carried out. The authors of scientific works, for the most part, consider the history of the origin and formation of the greeting card (historical component), consider the postcard as one of the currents of fine art, in the context of studying the socio-cultural development of the corresponding historical period of time, propose methods of classification and attribution of postcards, considering the postcard from the point of view collecting, offering their approaches to exhibiting collectible collections of postcards by thematic areas. The article also includes scientific publications by authors who researched not only the front side of the postcard, which contains an artistic (graphic) image, but also the reverse side, which contains the text, postmarks, country of origin, dates of dispatch (production), etc. Attention is focused on the work, where the author for the first time carried out an analysis of the main directions of using the texts of open letters and developed methodical recommendations for their study.As a result of research, it was established that the majority of modern scientific works, articles and other publications on a certain topic belong to Russian scientists. The Ukrainian greeting card as an object of study of the phenomenon of graphic art remains out of the attention of domestic researchers, especially in the context of design. This requires further art studies of the peculiarities of the design of the domestic postal greeting card of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries from the standpoint of figurative, stylistic and cultural potential.Scientific novelty. Is to consider the issues, content and main ideas of scientific publications, in which scientists analyze the communicative, philological component, reveal the collection and classification of postcards, highlight the process of creating a greeting card from the standpoint of socio-cultural and historical heritage, not just means of transmitting information.Practical significance. Dissertation research can serve as a basis for practical work with postcard funds in departments of libraries, archives and museums; for the development of methodological recommendations aimed at improving the modern practice of publishing art postcards; while reading courses on the history of Ukrainian art of the end of the 11th and beginning of the 20th centuries, as well as preparing a general monographic study on the Ukrainian art postcard.

The use of statistical tools to assess species richness in different biological groups has increased considerably in the recent years. In this context, during the wet and dry seasons of 2007 and 2008 (dry only), we evaluated the amphibian species richness (alpha and beta diversity) in four vegetation types: cloud forest (CF), pine-oak forest (POF), xeric scrub (XS), and tropical evergreen forest (TEF) in Hidalgo state, Mexico. In this study, we sampled 16 sites in 9 months. The total species number recorded in the four vegetation types was 31. The CF was the vegetation type with the highest number of species. In contrast, the POF and the XS had the lowest alpha diversity. The POF had the highest number of exclusive species and the XS the lowest. The highest value of complementarity (beta diversity) was between the XS and the TEF. Our data reveals the conservation status of amphibian populations in different vegetation types in Hidalgo, and the high variation in species richness in each vegetation community suggests species habitat quality.

Variation of above-ground tree biomass and soil carbon stocks across neotropical forest types

Bat communities' responses to land use change in neotropical montane forests have scarcely been studied. We hypothesized that, like in lowland forests, a montane agricultural area will have a lower species richness, abundance, diversity and species composition of understory phyllostomid bats than a native forest (montane cloud forest and pine-oak forest). Monthly surveys over the course of a year gave an overall low species richness and abundance (167 captures corresponding to nine species). We found a slight loss of species richness in agricultural areas with respect to the montane cloud forest (one species) and pine-oak forest (two species). However, differences in abundance were noteworthy: 45% and 73% fewer captures in agricultural areas than in the montane cloud forest and pine-oak forest, respectively. Species diversity was higher in the montane cloud forest than the pine-oak forest, but the diversity of agricultural areas did not differ between the types. Species and guild compositions did not differ between crops and forests. At least for the understory phyllostomid bats, and at the spatial scale studied, traditional management of agricultural areas in the study area and the surrounding matrix could explain the similarity in species richness, composition, and diversity between the agricultural area and native montane forests; however, other indicator groups should be evaluated to understand the effects of habitat loss on montane forests.

Reviewed by: Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity Tyler Boulware Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity. By Michael J. Zogry. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. Pp. x, 318.) Michael J. Zogry has given us an exceptional study of anetso. Otherwise known as the Cherokee ball game or what casual observers may call lacrosse, anetso defies simple explanation. Anetso, for example, is often considered a sport on the one hand and a religious ritual on the other, but Zogry effectively undermines this game versus ritual dichotomy. Challenging the western notion that the realms of game and ritual are distinct, Zogry instead demonstrates how anetso "is a perfect model to test the limits of received categories and definitional boundaries" (4). The author accordingly situates the ball game within a Cherokee ceremonial complex as he stresses the need for multiple interpretations to truly understand anetso and its cultural significance. Zogry combines extensive archival research and ethnographic fieldwork with a firm theoretical foundation to convincingly argue for the centrality of anetso to Cherokee cultural identity. Even during times of great stress and change, particularly in the first half of the nineteenth century when missionaries and other "civilizing" agents threatened Cherokee cultural norms, the ball game remained "an unmistakable statement of [Cherokee] identity" (68). Its prevalence and persistence show that Cherokees "asserted their identity, demonstrated resiliency, and creatively improvised responses to changing circumstances" (72). Zogry therefore adds to a chorus of voices (see, for example, Theda Perdue's Cherokee Women [Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1998]) that challenge William McLoughlin's increasingly tenuous position that Cherokee peoples experienced "anomie," or cultural degeneration, during the early nineteenth century (see McLoughlin's Cherokee Renascence [New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press, 1986], and his article in American Encounters [New York: Routledge, 2000]). Following the era of removal and the division of Cherokee peoples into distinct political bodies, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation maintained–and continue to maintain–key elements of the anetso ceremonial complex, such as "going [End Page 81] to water," prohibition, and medicine (among others discussed in chapter three). Although the ceremonial complex has undergone significant change, it nevertheless continues as "a distinct and enduring cultural element" (144). One of the more original and convincing premises of the book is found within chapter four, which highlights the Cherokee ball game in the twentieth century. Zogry finds that some Eastern Band members have strategically adopted non-Cherokee cultural elements, such as Plains-style headdresses, not only to market their community to tourists but also to safeguard "traditional behaviors and beliefs" (154). Anetso reflects this strategy, Zogry notes, in that Cherokee people for more than two hundred years have played the ball game "for the benefit of visitors, as tourist events" (159). In doing so, they have selectively presented elements of anetso to outsiders, while they privately performed other ceremonial practices to uphold their traditions. This book is both conceptually clear and culturally sensitive. Zogry takes seriously his role as a scholar and ethnographer. As a guest among the Eastern Band and friend to certain tribal members, Zogry protects the identity of consultants and relates Cherokee perspectives in a balanced way. Perhaps at times the author is too self-conscious of offending his Cherokee audience, but this is understandable since he journeys into Cherokee religion, where few academics dare to tread. Another critique of the book is that it may prove less accessible to the general public because of its theoretical "thickness," particularly chapter five, "Theory and the Meaning of Anetso." Zogry, however, often employs an informal and personal writing style to counter this potential obstacle to a wider readership. In sum, Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game is a valuable contribution to the field. I highly recommend this book. Tyler Boulware West Virginia University Copyright © 2011 West Virginia University Press

Bess beetle species tend to be endemic and are useful indicators for the designation of conservation areas. However, little is known about the diversity and distribution of these beetles in El Salvador. Here, we present results from a study testing if species segregated along the altitudinal gradient of Montecristo National Park, El Salvador. The survey was done between September and December 2015. Beetles were collected at nine transects from three ecosystems, which included cloud, mixed-pine, and dry forests that occur along the altitudinal gradient of Montecristo. We sampled a total of 696 trees, finding 79 galleries of bess beetles, belonging to 13 species, which included: Arrox agassizi (Kaup), Chondrocephalus granulifrons (Bates), Chondrocephalus sp., Chondrocephalus salvadorae (Schuster), Heliscus eclipticus (Truqui), Odontotaenius striatopunctatus (Percheron), Ogyges politus (Hincks), Oileus sargi (Kaup), Passalus punctatostriatus Percheron, Passalus punctiger Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, Verres hageni Kaup, Vindex sculptilis Bates, and Chondrocephalus gemmae Reyes-Castillo & Castillo which is a new species record for El Salvador. We found that species segregated by altitude, with the highest species richness observed in the cloud forest (n = 6), followed by the dry (n = 5) and mixed pine-oak (n = 4) forests. Most species were randomly associated with different tree species trunks, with the exception of V. hageni which was associated with trunks of Cecropia sp. Loefl. (Rosales: Urticaceae), and P. punctastriatus and P. punctiger which were associated with trunks of Cordia alliodora (Ruiz & Pav.) Oken (Boraginales: Boraginaceae). Our results show that species segregate by habitat, as only two species (C. gemmae and H. eclipticus) were found in more than one ecosystem.

Perspectives on coral reef research and management in the Pacific

How do race and nature work as terrains of power? From eighteenth-century claims that climate determined character to twentieth-century medical debates about the racial dimensions of genetic disease, concepts of race and nature are integrally connected, woven into notions of body, landscape, and nation. Yet rarely are these complex entanglements explored in relation to the contemporary cultural politics of difference. This volume takes up that challenge. Distinguished contributors chart the traffic between race and nature across sites including rainforests, colonies, and courtrooms. Synthesizing a number of fields—anthropology, cultural studies, and critical race, feminist, and postcolonial theory—this collection analyzes diverse historical, cultural, and spatial locations. Contributors draw on thinkers such as Fanon, Foucault, and Gramsci to investigate themes ranging from exclusionary notions of whiteness and wilderness in North America to linguistic purity in Germany. Some essayists focus on the racialized violence of imperial rule and evolutionary science and the biopolitics of race and class in the Guatemalan civil war. Others examine how race and nature are fused in biogenetic discourse—in the emergence of “racial diseases” such as sickle cell anemia, in a case of mistaken in vitro fertilization in which a white couple gave birth to a black child, and even in the world of North American dog breeding. Several essays tackle the politics of representation surrounding environmental justice movements, transnational sex tourism, and indigenous struggles for land and resource rights in Indonesia and Brazil. Contributors. Bruce Braun, Giovanna Di Chiro, Paul Gilroy, Steven Gregory, Donna Haraway, Jake Kosek, Tania Murray Li, Uli Linke, Zine Magubane, Donald S. Moore, Diane Nelson, Anand Pandian, Alcida Rita Ramos, Keith Wailoo, Robyn Wiegman

Introduction: The tropical porcupine, Sphiggurus mexicanus is distributed from west Panama and Costa Rica to Michoacan on the Pacific versant and San Luis Potosi on the Gulf of Mexico basin. It dwells in tropical and semitropical dry forests, at altitudes from 0 to 3,200 m; it was recently recorded at temperate pine and pine-oak forests in Michoacan. In Oaxaca this species had been recorded only at Gulf of Mexico coastal plain, Pacific coastal plain and Isthmus of Tehuantepec, at low elevations from 0 to 500 m, and inhabiting costal dunes, tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, grasslands, farmland and secondary vegetation. The goal of this paper is to report new data on the distribution of the tropical porcupine in Oaxaca, Mexico. Methods: Five records are based on a voucher specimen and direct sight of individuals or remains found along field trips. A sixth record was obtained with Camera traps. Results: We report a specimen of S. mexicanus found dead on the road near Colonia Cuauhtemoc, this record lies within the known distribution for the species. We also report five noteworthy records for the Mexican tree porcupine, three at Sierra Norte and two at Cuicatlan- Tehuacan Valley regions, all within cloud forests, at altitudes from 1,673 to 2,668 m. Discussion and conclusions: The three records at Sierra Norte expand the geographical range for this species 34 km to the southwest, from San Juan Petlapa, the closest known locality. These records along with the two from Cuicatlan valley are the first records for the tropical porcupine within cloud forests in Oaxaca and at higher altitudes than those previously reported. The record of a small immature female implies that the species is actually breeding within this type of forest in Oaxaca. These five records are noteworthy as they expand the known geographical and ecological distribution of the Mexican tree porcupine in Oaxaca. Distributional data are fundamental to the species biology and critical to conservation strategies.

Se examinaron ejemplares de cuatro especies monotípicas, Cryptotis mexicana (n = 48), C. obscura (n = 47),C. alticola (n = 8) y C. magna (n = 3); además, de una politípica, C. parva berlandieri (n = 1), C. p. pueblensis (n= 16) y C. p. soricina (n = 84). La gran mayoría del material proviene de localidades del centro de México, exceptolos de Cryptotis magna, C. obscura y C. p. berlandieri. Los ejemplares de C. mexicana, C. obscura y C. magnafueron recolectados en bosque mesófilo de montaña, los de C. alticola en bosque de Pinus sp. y Abies sp. y losde C. parva en bosque tropical y subtropical, mesófilo de montaña, bosque de Quercus sp. y bosques mixto depino-encino. Las medidas morfométricas de 25 variables externas, craneales y mandibulares se obtuvieron decada ejemplar. Las especies C. alticola, C. magna y C. parva se reconocieron con facilidad; sin embargo, en C.mexicana y en C. obscura se traslapan sus medidas pero se pudieron distinguir con el empleo de un AnálisisDiscriminante. Las medidas de C. magna fueron mayores que las de las otras cuatro especies, así como las deC. alticola en general lo fueron de C. mexicana, C. obscura y C. parva. La comparación de las medidas de C. p.pueblensis y C. p. soricina mostraron que las de la primera son mayores que las de la segunda. Variación sexualsecundaria se encontró solamente en C. p. soricina, en donde las hembras resultaron de mayores dimensionesque los machos. Se mencionan dos registros de simpatría entre C. obscura y C. parva y uno entre C. mexicanay C. parva.