Amazonian Bolivia Research Articles

Associated motion, associated posture and imperfective aspect in Tacana (Amazonian Bolivia)

Abstract This paper is the first detailed description of the exceptionally rich subsystem of verbal inflections that express imperfective aspect in Tacana, an endangered and underdescribed language from the Takanan family. The unusually high degree of elaboration of this system, which includes nine members in paradigmatic opposition, is achieved by co-expressing imperfective aspect with spatial meanings taken from two distinct categories: associated motion (with five values: ‘going’, ‘coming’, ‘going back’, ‘coming back’, ‘wandering’) and what I will call “associated posture” (with three values: ‘standing’, ‘lying/bending’, ‘hanging’). The ninth member is a default imperfective marker that does not carry any spatial meaning. The paper challenges linguistic theories that consider grammatical(izable) concepts as belonging to a strictly limited range of notional domains from which motion and posture are excluded. Additionally, the paper provides strong support for a new comparative concept of “associated posture” in linguistics.

Fates of trees damaged by logging in Amazonian Bolivia

Estimation of carbon losses from trees felled and incidentally-killed during selective logging of tropical forests is relatively straightforward and well-documented, but less is known about the fates of collaterally-damaged trees that initially survive. Tree response to logging damage is an important and overlooked ecological process potentially affecting 2–5% of all extant tropical trees. Here we report on the fates of damaged trees over the first 8-years after logging in a transitional Amazonian forest in Eastern Bolivia. Mortality rates of damaged trees peaked in the first year after logging, and then slowly declined to background rates by the end of the study, indicating that if a damaged tree survives 8years, it then runs approximately the same annual mortality risk as an undamaged tree. Of all types of logging damage, crown damage reduced growth rates the most while inclined trees suffered the highest mortality rates. Neither wood density nor tree size conferred tolerance to damage, though species with bark exudates were less tolerant of damage. Surprisingly, damaged trees survived droughts better than undamaged trees, perhaps due to their proximity to felling gaps and concomitant reduced above- and below-ground competition or due to their reduced leaf areas and associated reductions in water stress. While this study only tests one interaction between an aspect of climate change and logging, we found a positive signal for forest resilience. This response should be considered amongst others in models of managed forests in climate change scenarios.

“We don't lie and cheat like the Collas do.” Highland–lowland regionalist tensions and indigenous identity politics in Amazonian Bolivia

This paper adds to the growing discussion on Bolivia's conflictive highland–lowland regionalism, going beyond it as predominantly a tension between a mestizo elite and the indigenous poor. Indigenous lowland groups' as Tacana people in the Amazon utilize their new ‘indigenous identity’ to effectively challenge highland indigenous migrants ( colonos) claiming land in their region. For this they link ‘being Tacana’ to the lowland identity of ‘ Camba’. Tacana people align with lowland mestizo people participating in Camba spectacles as Beauty Contests to annunciate a common heritage. They situate themselves against highland indigenous migrants ( colonos), an arrangement which surprises in light of the ‘indigenous solidarity’ propagated by the indigenous movement and indigenous President Evo Morales.

Physical Activity and Modernization among Bolivian Amerindians

BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a growing public health problem, and the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Conversely, indigenous populations living traditional lifestyles reportedly engage in vigorous daily activity that is protective against non-communicable diseases. Here we analyze physical activity patterns among the Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists of Amazonian Bolivia with minimal heart disease and diabetes. We assess age patterns of adult activity among men and women, test whether modernization affects activity levels, and examine whether nascent obesity is associated with reduced activity.Methods and FindingsA factorial method based on a large sample of behavioral observations was employed to estimate effects of age, sex, body mass index, and modernization variables on physical activity ratio (PAR), the ratio of total energy expenditure to basal metabolic rate. Accelerometry combined with heart rate monitoring was compared to the factorial method and used for nighttime sampling. Tsimane men and women display 24 hr physical activity level (PAL) of 2.02–2.15 and 1.73–1.85, respectively. Little time was spent “sedentary”, whereas most activity was light to moderate, rather than vigorous. Activity peaks by the late twenties in men, and declines thereafter, but remains constant among women after the early teens. Neither BMI, fat free mass or body fat percentage are associated with PAR. There was no negative effect of modernization on physical activity.ConclusionsTsimane display relatively high PALs typical of other subsistence populations, but of moderate intensity, and not outside the range of developed populations. Despite rapidly increasing socioeconomic change, there is little evidence that total activity has yet been affected. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among women than men, and Spanish fluency is associated with greater obesity in women. The lack of cardiovascular disease among Tsimane is unlikely caused by activity alone; further study of diet, food intake and infectious disease is needed.

Social Aggression and Resource Conflict Across the Female Life‐Course in the Bolivian Amazon

This work explores sources of conflict among forager-horticulturalist women in Amazonian Bolivia, and applies life history theory as a tool for understanding competitive and cooperative social networking behaviors among women. In this study, 121 Tsimane women and girls were interviewed regarding current and past disagreements with others in their community to identify categories of contested resources that instigate interpersonal conflicts, often resulting in incidences of social aggression. Analysis of frequency data on quarrels (N = 334) reveals that women target several diverse categories of resources, with social types appearing as frequently as food and mates. It was also found that the focus of women's competition changes throughout the life-course, consistent with the notion that current vs. future reproduction and quantity-quality trade-offs might have different influences on competition and social conflict over resources within women's social networks across different age groups.

Third-Person Agreement and Passive Marking in Tacanan Languages: A Historical Perspective

The five Tacanan languages (Amazonian Bolivia and Peru)—Araona, Cavineña, Ese Ejja, Reyesano, and Tacana—have a conspicuously similar verbal suffix -ta (or -ka in one dialect of Ese Ejja). Depending on the language and the transitivity of the verb stem it attaches to, this suffix is used either to refer to a third-person plural S argument or a third-person singular or plural A argument, or to mark a passive derivation. In this paper, I argue that the suffixes are all historically related and that they come from a single source: a third-person plural suffix *-ta. I also suggest that this marker could have originated in a third-person plural independent pronoun that I reconstruct as **tuna.

Fishing activity, health characteristics and mercury exposure of Amerindian women living alongside the Beni River (Amazonian Bolivia)

Populations in Bolivian Amazonia are exposed to mercury contamination through fish ingestion. A group of 170 Amerindian women living along the banks of the Beni River were examined in order to detect any adverse effects on their health consistent with the toxic effects of mercury. The mercury content of the women's hair (H-Hg) was used as the bio-indicator of mercury exposure. The women answered a 24-h food recall questionnaire on the frequency of their fish consumption. They also underwent a clinical examination with their weight, stature, hemoglobin concentration in blood, and blood pressure being recorded. Significant relationships were found between fishing practices, the frequency of fish consumption and H-Hg levels with mercury contaminated women (H-Hg>5μg/g) being more likely to present neurological abnormalities (paresthesia, static and dynamic imbalance, poor motor coordination) than non-contaminated women. No relationship was found between blood pressure and mercury levels. Women with higher H-Hg reported more infant deaths than did women with lower levels. A logistic regression analysis which included socio-cultural traits, fish consumption habits and health characteristics was performed in order to determine the risks of contamination. Contaminated women were more likely to belong to those communities pursuing traditional fishing activities; moreover these women tended to be younger and frailer than other. They also exhibited mild neurological abnormalities and reported more infant deaths. These findings should stimulate local communities to take preventive actions directed towards the more "traditional" and vulnerable groups of population.

Pollen-based differentiation of Amazonian rainforest communities and implications for lowland palaeoecology in tropical South America

An ongoing controversy in Amazonian palaeoecology is the manner in which Amazonian rainforest communities have responded to environmental change over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Much of this controversy results from an inability to identify the floristic heterogeneity exhibited by rainforest communities within fossil pollen records. We apply multivariate (Principal Components Analysis) and classification (Unweighted Pair Group with Arithmetic Mean Agglomerative Classification) techniques to floral-biometric, modern pollen trap and lake sediment pollen data situated within different rainforest communities in the tropical lowlands of Amazonian Bolivia. Modern pollen rain analyses from artificial pollen traps show that evergreen terra firme (well-drained), evergreen terra firme liana, evergreen seasonally inundated, and evergreen riparian rainforests may be readily differentiated, floristically and palynologically. Analogue matching techniques, based on Euclidean distance measures, are employed to compare these pollen signatures with surface sediment pollen assemblages from five lakes: Laguna Bella Vista, Laguna Chaplin, and Laguna Huachi situated within the Madeira-Tapajós moist forest ecoregion, and Laguna Isirere and Laguna Loma Suarez, which are situated within forest patches in the Beni savanna ecoregion. The same numerical techniques are used to compare rainforest pollen trap signatures with the fossil pollen record of Laguna Chaplin. Pollen assemblages of pollen traps situated within riparian forest communities are most similar to surface sediment samples from Lagunas Bella Vista and Chaplin. Pollen derived from terra firme forests also comprises a significant proportion of these assemblages. Together, these pollen spectra successfully identify riparian and terra firme rainforest communities surrounding the two lakes today. Close similarity between terra firme liana pollen trap assemblages and surface samples obtained from Laguna Huachi, a lake surrounded by relatively undisturbed liana forest, suggests liana forest pollen rain may also be identified within lake sediment records. Pollen spectra obtained from surface sediment samples from lakes situated within gallery forests of the Beni savanna ecoregion are significantly different to those obtained from the Madeira-Tapajós ecoregion, reflecting their different floristic compositions. By applying our findings to the previously published Laguna Chaplin Quaternary pollen record, we show that differentiation between riparian and terra firme rainforest pollen assemblages can lead to more robust and detailed palaeovegetation reconstructions than has hitherto been possible.

A new species of Osteocephalus (Anura: Hylidae) from Amazonian Bolivia: first evidence of tree frog breeding in fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree

A new species of Osteocephalus (Anura: Hylidae) from Amazonian Bolivia: first evidence of tree frog breeding in fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree

A new species of Osteocephalus (Anura: Hylidae) from Amazonian Bolivia: first evidence of tree frog breeding in fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree

A new species of Osteocephalus is described from lowland Amazonia of the Departamento Pando, northern Bolivia. The new species is most similar to Osteocephalus planiceps but differs by its smaller size (SVL 47.8–51.3 mm in males, 47.7–63.3 mm in females), absence of vocal slits, lack of sexual dimorphism in dorsal tubercles, single distal subarticular tubercle on the fourth finger, absence of dark spots on flanks, and by bicoloured iris with fine dark reticulate to radiate lines. The new species inhabits terra firme rainforest, breeds in water-filled fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree and has oophagous tadpoles. Estimations of phylogenetic relationships within Osteocephalus based on mitochondrial DNA sequences show that the new species is closely related to O. planiceps and O. deridens.

A nutritional dilemma: fish consumption, mercury exposure and growth of children in Amazonian Bolivia

To study associations between nutritional status and mercury exposure among communities of the Beni River. Cross-sectional survey of mothers and their children from 15 riverside Amerindian communities in the Beni River valley (Amazonian Bolivia). Hair mercury content (H-Hg) served as a bioindicator of mercury exposure. A total of 556 people were measured. Anthropometric indices of nutrition were calculated after measurements of stature, weight, arm circumference and subcutaneous fat folds. Indicators of lifestyle were collected: subsistence activity, fish consumption and ethnicity. The median of H-Hg was equal to 4.0 μg/g (CI 95%: 3.6 ∼ 4.4). There existed a significant relationship between H-Hg and nutritional indices in 5- to 10-year-old children (F = 12.1; p < 0.0001) but not in other age groups. Fishing activity, fish consumption and ethnicity had an effect upon the variance of H-Hg. Positive relationships between nutritional status and H-Hg may be related to the high nutritional value of fish. Among women, the relationship between H-Hg and nutritional status was negative (F = 7.1; p < 0.001), but this disappeared when ethnicity and subsistence activity were taken into account. In these Amazonian communities, recommendations aimed at lowering fish consumption to prevent mercury exposure should be balanced against nutritional advantages conferred upon growing children.

Comparison of Morphology and Calls of Two Cryptic Species of Physalaemus (Anura: Leiuperidae)

We analyzed and described quantitative differences in morphology and calls of Physalaemus petersi and P. freibergi, both members of the monophyletic Physalaemus pustulosus species group. We found significant differences between the two species in both morphometric and call parameters. Physalaemus petersi has proportionately longer legs and a narrower dorsum and head than P. freibergi. The calls of P. petersi are higher in frequency and longer than P. freibergi. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) of morphometric variables correctly classified 76.7–87.4% of individuals to species. DFA of call variables correctly classified 96.8–100.0% of males to species. Physalaemus petersi is found north of the Río Marañon and Río Amazonas in eastern Ecuador, northeastern Peru, and southeastern Colombia; P. freibergi is found south of these rivers in Amazonian Brazil, southeastern Peru, and Amazonian Bolivia. Calls and geographic locations are the most reliable means of identifying these species in the field.

Maintenance versus growth: Investigating the costs of immune activation among children in lowland Bolivia

Immune function is a central component of maintenance effort, and it provides critical protection against the potentially life threatening effects of pathogens. However, immune defenses are energetically expensive, and the resources they consume are not available to support other activities related to growth and/or reproduction. In our study we use a life history theory framework to investigate tradeoffs between maintenance effort and growth among children in a remote area of Amazonian Bolivia. Baseline concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 309 2- to 10-year olds as an indicator of immune activation, and height was measured at baseline and three months later. Elevated CRP at baseline predicts smaller gains in height over the subsequent three months, with the costs to growth particularly high for 2- to 4-year olds and for those with low energy reserves (in the form of body fat) at the time of immunostimulation. These results provide evidence for a significant tradeoff between investment in immunity and growth in humans, and highlight an important physiological mechanism through which maintenance effort may have lasting effects on child growth and development.

Quantitative estimates of glacial and Holocene temperature and precipitation change in lowland Amazonian Bolivia

Quantitative estimates of temperature and precipitation change during the late Pleistocene and Holocene have been difficult to obtain for much of the lowland Neotropics. Using two published lacustrine pollen records and a climate-vegetation model based on the modern abundance distributions of 154 Neotropical plant families, we demonstrate how family-level counts of fossil pollen can be used to quantitatively reconstruct tropical paleoclimate and provide needed information on historic patterns of climatic change. With this family-level analysis, we show that one area of the lowland tropics, northeastern Bolivia, experienced cooling (1–3 °C) and drying (400 mm/yr), relative to present, during the late Pleistocene (50,000–12,000 calendar years before present [cal. yr B.P.]). Immediately prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 21,000 cal. yr B.P.), we observe a distinct transition from cooler temperatures and variable precipitation to a period of warmer temperatures and relative dryness that extends to the middle Holocene (5000–3000 cal. yr B.P.). This prolonged reduction in precipitation occurs against the backdrop of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, indicating that the presence of mixed savanna and dry-forest communities in northeastern Bolivia durng the LGM was not solely the result of low CO2 levels, as suggested previously, but also lower precipitation. The results of our analysis demonstrate the potential for using the distribution and abundance structure of modern Neotropical plant families to infer paleoclimate from the fossil pollen record.

Revisiting “Split Ergativity” in Cavineña

Cavinena, an ergative language spoken in Amazonian Bolivia, has a very intriguing pronominal system where, notably, a pronoun coding a transitive subject can either have a full “ergative” form or a reduced form that makes it look like an “absolutive” pronoun (used to code an intransitive subject or a transitive object). Camp (1985) describes the system as an instance of “split ergativity” conditioned by the difference between main and subordinate clause, the mood/polarity of the clause, the constituent order, and a person hierarchy. The phenomenon of split ergative systems was first discussed in the 1970s (by Dixon 1972; 1979, Silverstein 1976, and Comrie 1978, among others) and this certainly influenced Camp’s “split ergative” analysis. The goal of this paper is to reevaluate Camp’s analysis in the light of new findings about the coding of grammatical functions in this language. It is shown that the peculiarities of the Cavinena pronominal system can be accounted for in a more elegant explanatory and typ...

NET CARBON FLUXES FROM FOREST CLEARANCE AND REGROWTH IN THE AMAZON

Estimates of net carbon exchange resulting from forest clearance and regrowth were made for three areas in the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazon. The study areas, ranging in size from 600 to 10 000 km2, include communities that practice a range of land uses from small‐scale, rotational agriculture to long‐term pasture. Carbon emissions from deforestation were estimated based on rates of deforestation derived from Landsat satellite data and published estimates of mature forest biomass. Estimates of carbon uptake by secondary forest regrowth were based on area estimates from the satellite data and biomass estimates from field surveys. Estimates of carbon emissions from the clearance of secondary forest were included. The total carbon emissions were partitioned into that immediately released by biomass burning during clearance and that from subsequent decomposition and burning of felled biomass. A range of net carbon fluxes from secondary forest regrowth and clearance was estimated by extrapolating land‐use patterns in each study area to the entire area of deforested landscape in Amazonian Brazil and Bolivia, and by varying average biomass accumulation rate of regrowing forest and fallow period.Over 60 km2 of forest were cleared from 1988 to 1995 in each of the Brazilian study areas, and over 940 km2 were cleared from 1986 to 1996 in the Bolivian study area. This resulted in 30–200 Mg C/yr emitted from biomass burning during deforestation. If the carbon that is committed to subsequent burning and decomposition of felled biomass is included, total committed emissions of 75–650 Mg C/yr resulted from deforestation in each study area. The carbon uptake by secondary forests was 33–435 Mg C/yr. However, emissions from the reclearance of secondary forests were nearly as large: 17–365 Mg C/yr. Extrapolation of these results to the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazon suggests that, at the national level, carbon uptake by secondary forests offset less than one‐fifth of the carbon emissions from deforestation. Despite differences in land‐use pattern, average fallow period, and rate of biomass accumulation used in the extrapolation, net carbon uptake by secondary forests was consistently small when compared to the total emissions from deforestation.

A Comparison of Useful Pteridophytes between Two Amerindian Groups from Amazonian Bolivia and Ecuador

Abstract An ethnobotanical study of the pteridophytes used by the Tacana and Huaorani indigenous groups from Amazonian forests of Bolivia and Ecuador is presented. Twenty-four useful species, eleven for Bolivia and fourteen for Ecuador, are reported. The only species used by both groups is Cyathea pungens. Most of the recorded uses (76%) are medicinal. Whereas the Tacana use most medicinal pteridophytes by external administration, to heal wounds, swelling, boils, and as eyewash, the Huaorani use them by internal administration, mainly to cure diarrhea, stomachache, body-pain, toothache, and colds. Three species are recorded for veterinary use (12%), to heal wounds and to expel intestinal parasites of domestic animals. Tree-ferns were widely used by all the interviewed informants.

The Return of the Native

The Return of the Native

A spatial model of tree α-diversity and tree density for the Amazon

Large-scale patterns of Amazonian biodiversity have until now been obscured by a sparse and scattered inventory record. Here we present the first comprehensive spatial model of tree α-diversity and tree density in Amazonian rainforests, based on the largest-yet compilation of forest inventories and bolstered by a spatial interpolation technique that allows us to estimate diversity and density in areas that have never been inventoried. These data were then compared to continent-wide patterns of rainfall seasonality. We find that dry season length, while only weakly correlated with average tree α-diversity, is a strong predictor of tree density and of maximum tree α-diversity. The most diverse forests for any given DSL are concentrated in a narrow latitudinal band just south of the equator, while the least diverse forests for any given DSL are found in the Guayana Shield and Amazonian Bolivia. Denser forests are more diverse than sparser forests, even when we used a measure of diversity that corrects for sample size. We propose that rainfall seasonality regulates tree α-diversity and tree density by affecting shade tolerance and subsequently the number of different functional types of trees that can persist in an area.

Itonama o Sihnipadara, lengua no clasificada de la Amazonia boliviana

The purpose of this paper is to give a preliminary sketch of some interesting structural features of Itonama, a moribund indigenous language spoken in Amazonian Bolivia, against the historic and sociolinguistic background of the area. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a subbranch of Macro-Chibchan, has not been supported by other linguists and the language is still considered to be an isolate or rather an unclassified language. Itonama is a head-marking VSO language, which marks gender on the verb and distinguishes masculine and feminine gender in pronouns and demonstratives. It has a multiple classifier system and only two open word classes: verbs and nouns. While its nominal morphology seems quite transparent, the verbal morphology is much more complex with various prefix and suffix slots, verbal classifiers —which also appear on demonstratives—, body-part incorporation, and verbal number.