Anthropogenic Contexts Research Articles

The ethnoprimatological approach in primatology

Recent and long-term sympatries between humans and nonhuman primates (hereafter primates) are central to the behavioral ecology, conservation, and evolutionary trajectories of numerous primate species. Ethnoprimatology emphasizes that interconnections between humans and primates should be viewed as more than just disruptions of a "natural" state, and instead anthropogenic contexts must be considered as potential drivers for specific primate behavioral patterns. Rather than focusing solely on the behavior and ecology of the primate species at hand, as in traditional primatology, or on the symbolic meanings and uses of primates, as in socio-cultural anthropology, ethnoprimatology attempts to merge these perspectives into a more integrative approach. As human pressures on environments continue to increase and primate habitats become smaller and more fragmented, the need for a primatology that considers the impact of human attitudes and behavior on all aspects of primate lives and survival is imperative. In this special issue, we present both data-driven examples and more general discussions that describe how ethnoprimatological approaches can be both a contribution to the core theory and practice of primatology and a powerful tool in our goal of conservation action.

The hunted hunter: the capture of a lion ( Panthera leo fossilis) at the Gran Dolina site, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain

Many Pleistocene caves and rock shelters contain evidence of carnivore and human activities. For this reason, it is common to recover at these sites faunal remains left by both biological agents. In order to explain the role that carnivores play at the archaeological sites it is necessary to analyse several elements, such as the taxonomical and skeletal representation, the age profiles, the ratio of NISP to MNI, the anthropogenic processing marks on the carcasses (location and purpose of cutmarks and burning and bone breakage patterns), carnivore damage (digested bones, location and frequencies of toothmarks and bone breakage), length of the long bones, frequencies of coprolites and vertical distribution of the faunal remains, inter alia. From this, the documentation of carnivores in a faunal assemblage with a clear anthropogenic component can be understood from three main phenomena: (1) the carnivores as accumulators and the use of the site as a den; (2) carnivores as scavengers of hominid refuse and; (3) carnivores as hominids’ prey. Of these three phenomena, the last one is the least documented at the Middle Pleistocene sites. From this perspective, here we present the case of the anthropogenic use of a lion ( Panthera leo fossilis) from level TD10-1 of Gran Dolina (MIS 9, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). The lion bone remains show signs of direct interaction between this big cat and human groups that occupied Gran Dolina in these chronologies. From this perspective, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the role developed by large carnivores in the anthropogenic contexts and to provide data on human use of these predators at the European Middle Pleistocene sites.

The Sphere of Tourism Resilience

The concept of resilience offers a coherent interpretation of linked human and environmental processes, and is increasingly accepted as a framework for understanding world systems. Resilience theory was developed in the early 1970s to model fluctuations in ecological systems, and was later applied to linked social-ecological systems. It has been explored in a range of anthropogenic contexts, including recent applications to tourism. Resilience is related to vulnerability approaches, popular amongst development practitioners, and has roots in complexity science. Tourism is a good example of a complex adaptive system and, as Farrell and Twining-Ward (2004) remarked, lends itself to the integrative, interdisciplinary and non-linear approach to interpreting the world which is fundamental to resilience. Applied to tourism systems, resilience explains the deeper forces underlying Butler's ‘Tourism Area Life-Cycle’, proposed in 1980 when tourism destination development was thought to progress in a linear fashion. Later versions of the model proposed a ‘rejuvenation’ stage, but the resilience concept goes further in explaining the cyclical and complex nature of systems, based on recovery from perturbation and the accumulation of various forms of capital which allow faster renewal and stronger structures. This paper explains the cycle and applies it to tourism in Asia, drawing on research into World Heritage Sites, community-based tourism and recovery from the Asian tsunami. Although resilience and complexity science are inherently anti-reductionist, factors underlying resilient systems are identified in order to link the conceptual discussion to a real world realm and formed into a model termed ‘the Sphere of Tourism Resilience’.

Human influences on rates of phenotypic change in wild animal populations

Human activities can expose populations to dramatic environmental perturbations, which may then precipitate adaptive phenotypic change. We ask whether or not phenotypic changes associated with human-disturbed (anthropogenic) contexts are greater than those associated with more 'natural' contexts. Our meta-analysis is based on more than 3000 rates of phenotypic change in 68 'systems', each representing a given species in a particular geographical area. We find that rates of phenotypic change are greater in anthropogenic contexts than in natural contexts. This difference may be influenced by phenotypic plasticity - because it was evident for studies of wild-caught individuals (which integrate both genetic and plastic effects) but not for common-garden or quantitative genetic studies (which minimize plastic effects). We also find that phenotypic changes in response to disturbance can be remarkably abrupt, perhaps again because of plasticity. In short, humans are an important agent driving phenotypic change in contemporary populations. Although these changes sometimes have a genetic basis, our analyses suggest a particularly important contribution from phenotypic plasticity.

Hyenas and Humans in the Horn of Africa

The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), the most common large carnivore in the highlands and lowlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, has occupied both a scavenging niche and a predatory position at the top of the food chain. My own field explorations on this animal and the observations of travelers document its long and ambivalent association with people in the Horn of Africa. Spotted hyenas in this region have mostly lived in anthropogenic contexts rather than, as in East Africa, on wildlife. Tolerated as efficient sanitation units, hyenas have removed garbage and carrion from towns. They have also destroyed livestock, killed people, and eaten corpses. Famine, epidemics, and armed conflict have provided opportunities for unbridled anthropophagy. The past and present coming together of human and hyena in this multiethnic region can be viewed as a vestige of a primeval African ecological relationship that dates far back in prehistory. Biological processes offer a deeper framework than culture with which to grasp the inherent contradiction of the hyena/human relationship past and present.

SERGE: An expert system to recognize geochemical anomalies

Abstract In recent years, the effectiveness of geochemical exploration techniques have improved significantly, mainly due to major progress in multi-element analytical methodology and the computer-processing of data. In France, these improved techniques have made it possible to analyze and interpret the results from more than 250,000 samples. The necessity to select mineral targets as early as possible has shown the need for reliable selection procedures for geochemical anomalies, taking account of highly varied nonnumerical factors such as sample type, morpho-climatic an geological settings, and anthropogenic context. Such a procedure is provided by serge (Systeme Expert en Reconnaissance d'Anomalies Geochimiques) developed jointly by the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres and Paris-Sud University. serge simulates the reasoning process of a geochemist in ranking multi-element geochemical anomalies. serge is composed of three distinct parts: a knowledge base, an inference engine, and user interfaces. The knowledge base contains the expert knowledge, which is expressed according to the production rules of the type “If X then Y”, for example, “if Cr grades are high, then a pollution risk exists”. These rules are close to natural language and can easily be modified and applied. At present, serge comprises a knowledge base of about 150 rules applicable to base-metal anomalies in Brittany. Such rules concern mainly the morphology of the anomaly, the sample type, the contrast, the contamination risk, the landscape, and the accompanying validating or penalizing elements. The inference engine manages all of the knowledge base and functions backward-chaining and forward-chaining modes without using a probability coefficient. The engine explains its reasoning, either during dialogue with the user by explaining the problems it is trying to resolve, or at the end of its diagnosis by justifying its modus operandi. The user interfaces serve to “feed” the system. Two types of data input are possible: (1) manual input, where the user answers questions asked by serge ; and (2) semi-automatic input, where serge searches image files for the data it requires, such as geochemical contrast, geological context, and type of anomaly. Tests show that serge presents a performance that falls between that of highly qualified experts and of junior geochemists. Therefore, in contrast to the expert system prospector , whose aim was to help all specialists contributing to mineral exploration, serge is designed to provide specific assistance by ranking geochemical anomalies, which were previously defined using an algorithmic processing chain.