THE SPECIES OF EUCHEILOID PERICALINA: CLASSIFICATION AND EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE: LEBIINI)

The fourth biennial meeting of the International Biogeography Society (IBS) in Merida, Yucatan in January 2009 represented a double opportunity for Mexican biologists. First, it fostered the integration of the large community of Mexican biogeographers with the activities of the IBS. Second, the meeting allowed us to welcome a large number of delegates from distant parts of the world who were able to visit what has been considered an obligate destination for nature lovers and cultural tourists alike: the Yucatan peninsula. As Edward O. Wilson pointed out, besides economic power every country has two additional and important types of wealth: cultural and natural. Cultural richness is a naturally embedded component of the Mexican way of life.

Introduction Recent improvements in the fossil record of bats in the Americas provide new raw material to bolster interpretations of bat evolution and paleobiogeography. Herein we review the fossil record of bats from North America and South America and provide a narrative explanation of the historical development of the Neotropical bat fauna from a paleontological and biogeographical perspective. The phylogeography of bats in the Western Hemisphere as it pertains to the development of the modern Neotropical biogeographic region may also be important in developing strategies for the conservation of the tropical American chiropteran fauna. Throughout most of the Cenozoic Era there were three widely separated tropical regions in the New World: the island continent of South America, excluding temperate latitudes in Argentina and Chile; the West Indies and Middle America, including Central America and central and southern Mexico, and at times extending northward to encompass the Gulf Coastal Plain from Texas east to Florida. North America and South America possessed very different mammalian faunas prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange, which began with a limited exchange of large non-volant mammals in the Late Miocene (~9 Ma), presumably by overwater dispersal, and then became a fully fledged interchange following the formation of the Panamanian Isthmus joining these two continents in the Early Pliocene (~5 Ma). From the Pliocene onward, there was extensive intermingling between North and South American biotas, and the tropical portions of these two continents now share a common Neotropical mammalian fauna that extends northward to about the Tropic of Cancer (~23°N latitude) in central Mexico and southward to about the Tropic of Capricorn (~23°S latitude) in southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. The tropical American bat fauna has become so extensively intermixed since the Interchange, particularly in Middle America, that it is very difficult to determine the origin of most groups that lack a fossil record. By studying pre-Pliocene bats we can establish the pre-Interchange chiropteran faunas of North and South America, thereby determining which groups of bats were involved in the Interchange and where they may have originated. The Tertiary record of New World bats is primarily limited to temperate North America and tropical South America, with two localities from Patagonia in temperate South America. The Middle American Tertiary chiropteran record is limited to the extinct vespertilionid genus † Plionycteris from two Early Pliocene sites in Mexico (Lindsay and Jacobs, 1985; Carranza-Castaneda and Walton, 1992).

This paper outlines the methods and results for monitoring forest change and resulting carbon emissions for the 1990–2000 and 200–2005 periods carried out over tropical Central and South America. To produce our forest change estimates we used a systematic sample of medium resolution satellite data processed to forest change maps covering 1230 sites of 20 km by 20 km, each located at the degree confluence. Biomass data were spatially associated to each individual sample site so that annual carbon emissions could be estimated. For our study area we estimate that forest cover in the study area had fallen from 763 Mha (s.e. 10 Mha) in 1990 to 715 Mha (s.e. 10 Mha) in 2005. During the same period other wooded land (i.e., non-forest woody vegetation) had fallen from 191 Mha (s.e. 5.5 Mha) to 184 Mha (s.e. 5.5 Mha). This equates to an annual gross loss of 3.74 Mha∙y−1 of forests (0.50% annually) between 1990 and 2000, rising to 4.40 Mha∙y−1 in the early 2000s (0.61% annually), with Brazil accounting for 69% of the total losses. The annual carbon emissions from the combined loss of forests and other wooded land were calculated to be 482 MtC∙y−1 (s.e. 29 MtC∙y−1) for the 1990s, and 583 MtC∙y−1 (s.e. 48 MtC∙y−1) for the 2000 to 2005 period. Our maximum estimate of sinks from forest regrowth in tropical South America is 92 MtC∙y−1. These estimates of gross emissions correspond well with the national estimates reported by Brazil, however, they are less than half of those reported in a recent study based on the FAO country statistics, highlighting the need for continued research in this area.

Tropical South America during the Last Glacial Maximum: evidence from glacial, periglacial and fluvial records

This chapter provides definitions of what climate variabilityClimate variability and change are and an overview of observed and projected changes in climate in tropical South AmericaTropical South America. We present a review of the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeClimate change (IPCC) from the First Report launched in 1990 until the Sixth Report AR6 released in 2021. This review includes the evolution of models, projections and emission scenarios used by the IPCC since the 1990s. We also include a review of observed long term hydroclimate variability for some key regions in tropical South AmericaTropical South America that include biomes such as Pantanal, Amazon, the semiarid lands of Northeast Brazil and the Paraná-Plata river basin. For these regions, the focus is on extremes, such as droughtsDrought and floods. Temperature, rainfallRainfall and droughtDrought projections are assessed from the ensemble of global and regional model projections under global warming scenarios of 1.5 and 4.0 °C for various regions of South America. Finally, we also discuss some societal impacts of climate variabilityClimate variability and change as well as knowledge gaps that need to be filled with new studies.

Wood density is a critical control on tree biomass, so poor understanding of its spatial variation can lead to large and systematic errors in forest biomass estimates and carbon maps. The need to understand how and why wood density varies is especially critical in tropical America where forests have exceptional species diversity and spatial turnover in composition. As tree identity and forest composition are challenging to estimate remotely, ground surveys are essential to know the wood density of trees, whether measured directly or inferred from their identity. Here, we assemble an extensive dataset of variation in wood density across the most forested and tree-diverse continent, examine how it relates to spatial and environmental variables, and use these relationships to predict spatial variation in wood density over tropical and sub-tropical South America. Our analysis refines previously identified east-west Amazon gradients in wood density, improves them by revealing fine-scale variation, and extends predictions into Andean, dry, and Atlantic forests. The results halve biomass prediction errors compared to a naïve scenario with no knowledge of spatial variation in wood density. Our findings will help improve remote sensing-based estimates of aboveground biomass carbon stocks across tropical South America.

Nature and causes of Quaternary climate variation of tropical South America

Differences in vessel shape and decoration in the earliest ceramic complexes of Middle and South America permit the recognition of two generalized ceramic traditions: an earlier one featuring large rounded jars or tecomates, and a later one emphasizing flange-rim bowls and broad-line incised decoration. The earliest sites of the tecomate tradition are shell middens, suggesting primary diffusion in a nonagricultural context. Sites of the flange-rim tradition are associated with tropical forest vegetation, and its initial spread may be coupled with that of slash-and-burn agriculture. The tecomate tradition diffused between 3000 and 1500 B.C. from a source on the coast of Ecuador. The flange-rim tradition spread rapidly between 1200 and 1000 B.C., probably from a center on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. ALTHOUGH THE PLACE where pottery first appeared in the New World and the paths of its subsequent diffusion are still largely a matter of speculation, recent investigations have provided new evidence that offers the opportunity for reappraisal of these problems. Their solution is important because pottery can be used as a tracer for recognizing paths of immigration or cultural diffusion and not because archeologists believe that pottery is in itself a particularly significant cultural trait. Pottery is ideal for this purpose because innumerable variations in vessel shape and decoration are compatible with its function, permitting the development of diagnostic regional styles. On the other hand, its manufacture follows culturally recognized norms, with the result that traditional forms and decoration tend to be preserved. Fortunately for the archeologist, potsherds are among the most durable ingredients of the archeological record because without this cvidence reconstruction of the New World cultural history would be much more difficult than it is. Reconstruction of the development and diffusion of cultural traits or complexes must take into account two factors: 1) the extent to which similarity in cultural traits is an indicator of common ancestry, and 2) the role of the environment in channeling or limiting cultural development. Since the manner in which these data are interpreted makes a great deal of difference in the kinds of inferences that different archeologists are willing to make, it is appropriate to review the reasoning on which our own presentation will be based. The significance of similarity in cultural traits as an indicator of common ancestry has been debated for as long as anthropologists have been involved in the problem of tracing cultural development and diffusion. Unfortunately, there are no simple rules for differentiating between diffusion and independent invention. Traits that in one part of the world or one temporal context serve as reliable indicators of contact are clearly traceable in other places and times to independent origins (cf. Meggers 1964). Efforts to formulate rules based on the complexity of a trait or the number of traits occurring together have failed to produce satisfactory results. Often a criterion of economy can be applied, by which two occurrences in different areas are judged to be related if they are of similar age, and if the existence of communication routes between them can be recognized or inferred. If such occurrences are widely separated geographically and associated with complexes of markedly different ages, difficulties of accounting for both transmission and differential survival make an inference of independent invention seem more economical. In the case of many early ceramic complexes in the New World, geographical distribution is incompletely known and chronological controls are poor, preventing conclusive demonstration that similarities are the result of common origin rather than independent invention. Examination of the environment in which the cultural complexes occur may shed light on the cor' This article is a revision of Especulaciones sobre rutas tempranas de difusion de la ceramica entre Sur y Mesoamerica (Hombre y Cultura. tomo 1. no. 3. pp. 1-15. Panama. 1964). We are grateful to the editor, Reina Torres de Arauz, for permission to publish an English version. 20 BIOTROPICA 1(1): 20-27. 1969 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.254 on Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:05:01 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms rect interpretation of such traits. Culture is the primary means by which man adapts to his physical environment, and the main difference between man and other animals is the substitution of this cultural means of adaptation for biological ones (e.g., Mead 1964). Of the major categories of culture-technological, social, and ideological-technology, which includes subsistence techniques, is most intimately related to the environment. All environments are not equally suitable for hunting, for shellfish gathering, or for agriculture. To the extent that environments offer different potentialities for human subsistence exploitation, either in terms of wild foods or in terms of agricultural productivity, they limit the level of complexity attainable by cultures occupying them. O'n the other hand, an environmental setting with high potential for cultural exploitation will not necessarily lead to realization of this potential. Recognition of this general relationship makes it possible to approach the problem of prehistoric migration from a new direction. One can analyze the ecological setting of a particular culture, isolate its significant features from the standpoint of subsistence, and look for other areas with similar environmental characteristics. If a group with a certain kind of subsistence pattern were to move, it would be expected that it would be most successful if the area colonized closely resembled environmentally the one it left, because techniques for food getting and satisfaction of other basic requirements would require little or no modification. A different environment would make existing techniques less effective, and adoption of new techniques would be requisite for survival. The absence of already resident groups from which such techniques could be learned might lead to temporary cultural regression or even extinction. Application of these propositions to the situation several thousand years ago makes it necessary to assume either that the present distribution of environmental varieties is similar to that of the recent past, or that parallel changes have occurred in different regions. Although some alteration has undoubtedly taken place during the past 5000 years, there is growing evidence of post-Pleistocene climatic stability in North America (Byers 1968, p. 249). Furthermore, a significant wild food resource is shellfish, and its exploitation leaves a clear imprint on the archeological record. With these considerations in mind, let us review evidence bearing on the origin and diffusion of early pottery in South and Middle America. Although local chronological sequences extending backward beyond 1000 B.C. are few, the following have been described in sufficient detail to be included in the analysis: Orinoco delta, Venezuela (Cruxent and Rouse 1959) Kotosh, central highlands of Peru (Izumi and Sono 1963) Guayas Province, c o a s t a l Ecuador (Meggers, Evans, and Estrada 1965) North coastal Colombia Puerto Hormiga (Reichel-Dolma-

A new mechanism for millennial scale positive precipitation anomalies over tropical South America

THE incidence of hereditary blood antigens among American Indians of Middle and South America has been studied by several workers: Goodner (1930), Salazar-Mallen and Hernandez de la Portilla (1944), SalazarMallen and Martinez (1947), Wiener, Zepeda, Sonn and Polivka (1945), Miller, Rosenfield and Vogel (1951). Comprehensive reviews on blood group studies among American Indians have been prepared by Boyd (1939) and more recently by Mourant (1954), Mourant et al. (1958), and on South American Indians by Salzano (1957). Excepting a few papers these studies have been limited, for the most part, to antigens in the ABO, M-N, P, and Rh-Hr systems. Comparatively little has been done among American Indians of Middle and South America to determine the distribution of more recently discovered hereditary blood factors. It seemed important, therefore, to make a survey among Indians in Middle and South America of the incidence of as many of these factors as available antisera would permit. As part of a larger project to study the distribution of hereditary factors in the blood of American Indians in Middle and South America, blood specimens were obtained from 1,089 Maya Indians. Of these, 94 specimens were from Lacandon Indians in the Chiapas rain forest. When these specimens were tested for various blood group antigens, it became apparent that there were certain differences in the distribution of the factors among the Lacandon as compared to other Maya Indians in Chiapas, Mexico, and Guatemala. The purpose of this paper is to present some of these differences and to proffer a possible explanation for them. Results of a larger study will be published elsewhere.

A first comprehensive checklist of the Ocnerodrilidae in South America is provided. It includes 70 nominal taxa (species and subspecies), 31 of which were described as new by Gilberto Righi. Of this fauna, 86% is endemic to South America. Sixteen species are endemic in subtropical South America, 34 are endemic in tropical South America, and 10 are endemic in both tropical and subtropical South America. Ten species extend their distributions into Central America, North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and/or Australia. Only two of these, Eukerria saltensis and Ocnerodrilus occidentalis, have become virtually pantropical, reaching also into the temperate region of the northern hemisphere. An updated distribution of each taxon is also given, with references for each locality. Full synonyms and detailed South American occurrences are provided.

Usnea is a highly diverse lichen genus, currently including ca. 350 species that are widely distributed from polar to tropical regions. The exceptional plasticity of morphological traits towards environmental parameters causes difficulties in the circumscription of species, and taxonomic revisions are needed, especially in tropical regions. In this taxonomic treatment of Usnea in tropical South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, incl. the Galapagos Islands, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela), we identified 51 species, representing ca. half of the total diversity of species occurring in this region. Out of these 51 species, 16 are so far endemic to South America, whereas several species have a wide distribution, sometimes across several continents. Twelve species were newly described and 15 species were newly reported for South America, indicating that the diversity of Neotropical Usnea species is particularly high and that numerous discoveries are yet to be made. In addition to taxonomic studies, the phylogeny of Usnea was investigated using the nuclear ribosomal genes ITS rDNA and nuLSU, as well as two protein-coding genes RPB1 and MCM7. The concatenated dataset revealed that Usnea is subdivided into four highly-supported clades, corresponding to the traditionally circumscribed subgenera Eumitria, Dolichousnea, Neuropogon and Usnea. However, phenotypic characters that have been used to characterize these subgenera are often homoplasious in the phylogeny and a parallel evolution of these characters is suggested. On the other hand, the majority of species described from phenotypic characters are monophyletic in our phylogeny. We conclude that the combinations of phenotypic characters are suitable discriminators for the delimitation of species. On the other hand, most of these characters have evolved several times independently during the diversification of the genus Usnea and are therefore inadequate to describe generic subdivisions.

In this paper we present a preliminary vertical modal decomposition of FGGE level IIIb data for the tropical sector over South America during the summer period 29 January-16 February. The vertical modes are defined by a linearized σ-coordinate primitive equation model as in Kasahara and Puri. The average flow during the analysed period is separated into 9 blocks covering tropical and subtropical South America and the average energetics is computed as a function of the vertical mode index. It is shown that the external mode is dominant at higher latitudes and, as the equator is approached, an internal mode with equivalent depth of the order of 250 m becomes dominant. The basic characteristics of the tropical upper circulation over South America, such as the Bolivian High and the deep trough off the NE coast of Brazil, are clearly depicted by the 4th internal mode. The flow at higher latitudes in the southern hemisphere is represented by a combination of both external and 4th internal modes with a dominant external mode at higher northern latitudes. The transient behaviour of the energetics over the continental blocks is correlated with the convective activity over the region.

The South American Summer Monsoon (SASM) is a prominent feature of summertime climate over South America and has been identified in a number of paleoclimatic records from across the continent, including records based on stable isotopes. The relationship between the stable isotopic composition of precipitation and interannual variations in monsoon strength, however, has received little attention so far. Here we investigate how variations in the intensity of the SASM influence δ18O in precipitation based on both observational data and Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) simulations. An index of vertical wind shear over the SASM entrance (low level) and exit (upper level) region over the western equatorial Atlantic is used to define interannual variations in summer monsoon strength. This index is closely correlated with variations in deep convection over tropical and subtropical South America during the mature stage of the SASM. Observational data from the International Atomic Energy Agency-Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (IAEA-GNIP) and from tropical ice cores show a significant negative association between δ18O and SASM strength over the Amazon basin, SE South America and the central Andes. The more depleted stable isotopic values during intense monsoon seasons are consistent with the so-called ’‘amount effect‘’, often observed in tropical regions. In many locations, however, our results indicate that the moisture transport history and the degree of rainout upstream may be more important factors explaining interannual variations in δ18O. In many locations the stable isotopic composition is closely related to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), even though the moisture source is located over the tropical Atlantic and precipitation is the result of the southward expansion and intensification of the SASM during austral summer. ENSO induces significant atmospheric circulation anomalies over tropical South America, which affect both SASM precipitation and δ18O variability. Therefore many regions show a weakened relationship between SASM and δ18O, once the SASM signal is decomposed into its ENSO-, and non-ENSO-related variance.

In this paper we present a preliminary vertical modal decomposition of FGGE level IIIb data for the tropical sector over South America during the summer period 29 January-16 February. The vertical modes are defined by a linearized σ-coordinate primitive equation model as in Kasahara and Puri. The average flow during the analysed period is separated into 9 blocks covering tropical and subtropical South America and the average energetics is computed as a function of the vertical mode index. It is shown that the external mode is dominant at higher latitudes and, as the equator is approached, an internal mode with equivalent depth of the order of 250 m becomes dominant. The basic characteristics of the tropical upper circulation over South America, such as the Bolivian High and the deep trough off the NE coast of Brazil, are clearly depicted by the 4th internal mode. The flow at higher latitudes in the southern hemisphere is represented by a combination of both external and 4th internal modes with a dominant external mode at higher northern latitudes. The transient behaviour of the energetics over the continental blocks is correlated with the convective activity over the region. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0870.1985.tb00280.x