中国狩猎采集者的模拟研究

狩猎采集者在中国这块土地上生存了上百万年,尤其在晚更新世之末全新世之初他们的适应模式发生了根本的改变,而我们对这个问题的研究相对比较单一。本文提出一个简约的模型来模拟狩猎采集者可能的适应行为的变化。这个模型利用我国431个气象站三十年的气候材料,模拟狩猎采集者的生态环境与可能的食物资源,然后参考民族学上狩猎采集者的材料来推定我们假想的狩猎采集者的生计特征,进而预测他们可能的适应行为的变化,尤其是这些变化的地理分布,这对于我们探讨史前狩猎采集者适应行为变迁的规律可能有一定的启示作用。     

从石制品技术特征视角探讨史前狩猎采集者的流动性

流动采食是狩猎采集者适应环境,获取生存资源的重要策略。对不同时空范围内狩猎采集群体的流动性具体特征进行探讨,有利于我们更加深入全面地理解史前狩猎采集者的人地互动模式、文化演进、社会转型等重要问题。本文以石制品技术组织理论为视角,结合相关研究案例,探讨如何通过分析考古出土的石制品特征,推断史前狩猎采集者不同形态特征的流动性策略,并讨论了通过石制品视角推断流动性特征的局限性及所需注意的事项。     

河北省文安洼湿地晚全新世环境变迁的孢粉记录

通过对河北省文安洼湿地沉积物孢粉组合特征、粒度的综合分析,重建了该地区晚全新世以来气候环境变化过程。研究结果表明,该地区晚全新世以来气候总体由凉湿转变为冷干,具体可以分为3个阶段:3 200-2 010cal.a B.P.以湿润气候为主;2 010-1 280cal.a B.P.气候偏冷干;1 280cal.a B.P.以来气候进一步冷干。小冰期以来(556-160cal.a B.P.),中华卷柏孢子持续高含量,伴随粗颗粒物质63μm含量的上升,表明小冰期以来,文安洼流域气候波动较大,雨水、干旱、洪水并存。     

孢粉记录的晚全新世以来大兴安岭北部多年冻土泥炭地演化及其影响因素

当前泥炭所揭示的区域古植被、古气候与环境变化相关工作已广泛开展,然而对于泥炭地本身演化的研究却很少涉及,尤其是对于大兴安岭北部多年冻土泥炭地演化及其影响因素仍不清晰,阻碍了人们对这一特殊类型泥炭地历史动态和未来发展趋势的认知。为此基于大兴安岭北部多年冻土泥炭岩芯孢粉证据,利用AMS¹⁴C测年技术,重建了区域3500 cal a BP以来植被与气候历史,并与其他古气候指标进行对比,从而揭示区域泥炭地演化及其影响因素。结果表明:3500-2900 cal a BP植被以松属、喜暖乔木及水龙骨科为主,气候温暖湿润成为泥炭孕育期;2900-2250 cal a BP植被以松属、喜暖乔木及蒿属为主,气候温暖潮湿成为泥炭发育启动期;2250-1650 cal a BP植被以松属、桦属及水龙骨科为主,气候寒冷湿润成为泥炭发育旺盛期;1650-1150 cal a BP植被以松属和蒿属为主,气候寒冷干燥成为泥炭发育减缓和停滞期;1150-750 cal a BP 阔叶林和湿地植被扩张,气候温暖湿润成为泥炭发育再次启动期,完成由富营养沼泽到中营养沼泽类型的转变;750 cal a BP至今植被以松属、桤木属及莎草科为主,气候寒冷湿润成为泥炭发育再次旺盛期,中营养沼泽开始向贫营养沼泽类型过渡。造成多年冻土泥炭地演化的主导因素并不是地质地貌变动和人类活动,而是来自气候变化及其驱动下多年冻土环境的改变,因此气候变化才是影响多年冻土泥炭地演化的主动力,未来多年冻土泥炭地变化取决于全球气候的发展。     

广西弄拉几种适生药材叶片对岩溶环境的生态适应

目的:探讨植物微形态结构与岩溶生态环境的关系.方法:利用光学显微镜对常规石蜡切片法处理的生长于广西弄拉适生药材忍冬(Lonicera Japonica Thunb)、华南忍冬(Lonicera confuse)、瓜子金(Polygala japonica Houtt)、黄花草(Solidago decurrensLour)的解剖结构进行了观察,并利用扫描电镜技术对四种灌木叶片表皮形态进行研究.结果:(1)忍冬、华南忍冬、黄花草下表皮均分布浓密的表皮毛,忍冬上表面中脉有少量表皮毛,黄花草上表皮分布有稀疏的星状表皮毛,忍冬、华南忍冬和黄花草的气孔位于下表皮毛间隙,这种结构可反射阳光和阻止水分蒸发,从而适应强光和水分不足的环境;(2)瓜子金叶片为肉质叶,上下表面均有气孔分布,并出现明显的下陷.气孔主要分布在叶片表面凹陷处,这种局部微环境有利于水分的保持;(3)四种植物叶片表面均出现表皮细胞外壁加厚或角质化,这种结构有利于减少水分蒸腾.结论:几种植物叶片结构特征是其长期在岩溶区干旱环境条件下形成的适应性变化,适应方式有一定的趋同.     

Reservation food sharing among the Ache of Paraguay

We describe food transfer patterns among Ache Indians living on a permanent reservation. The social atmosphere at the reservation is characterized by a larger group size, a more predictable diet, and more privacy than the Ache typically experience in the forest while on temporary foraging treks. Although sharing patterns vary by resource type and package size, much of the food available at the reservation is given to members of just a few other families. We find significant positive correlations between amounts transferred among pairs of families, a measure of the "contingency" component required of reciprocal altruism models. These preferred sharing partners are usually close kin. We explore implications of these results in light of predictions from current sharing models. This research was supported by an L.S.B. Leakey Foundation grant and an NSF Graduate Fellowship to M. Gurven, and NSF Grant #9617692 to K. Hill and A. M. Hurtado. Michael Gurven recently obtained his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico and is now an assistant professor at UC-Santa Barbara. His current interests include exploring ways in which socioecology influences variation in cooperation within and across human groups, and how cultural norms of fairness co-evolve with systems of resource production and distribution. Wesley Allen-Arave is pursuing his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of New Mexico. His primary research interests focus on exploring variations across time and space in nonreciprocated altruistic acts, cooperation within social networks, and concerns over social approval. Kim Hill is a professor of anthropology in the Human Evolutionary Ecology (HEE) program at the University of New Mexico. His primary research interests include hunter-gatherer behavioral ecology, life history theory, food acquisition strategies, food sharing, cooperation, and biodiversity conservation in lowland South America. He has done fieldwork with Nahautl, Ache, Guarani, Hiwi, Mashco Piro, Matsiguenga, and Yora indigenous peoples of Central and South America. A. Magdalena Hurtado is associate professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. Her research interests include the evolution of cooperation between the sexes, infectious disease and immune system adaptations, the epidemiology of hunter-gatherer societies in transition, and the effects of health on economic productivity. During the past 20 years she has conducted fieldwork among several South American native populations but now works primarily among the Ache of eastern Paraguay.     

Why do good hunters have higher reproductive success?

Anecdotal evidence from many hunter-gatherer societies suggests that successful hunters experience higher prestige and greater reproductive success. Detailed quantitative data on these patterns are now available for five widely dispersed cases (Ache, Hadza, !Kung, Lamalera, and Meriam) and indicate that better hunters exhibit higher age-corrected reproductive success than other men in their social group. Leading explanations to account for this pattern are: (1) direct provisioning of hunters’ wives and offspring, (2) dyadic reciprocity, (3) indirect reciprocity, (4) costly signaling, and (5) phenotypic correlation. I examine the qualitative and quantitative evidence bearing on these explanations and conclude that although none can be definitively rejected, extensive and apparently unconditional sharing of large game somewhat weakens the first three explanations. The costly signaling explanation has support in some cases, although the exact nature of the benefits gained from mating or allying with or deferring to better hunters needs further study. For comments on earlier drafts, I thank Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Mike Gurven, Ray Hames, Kristen Hawkes, Kim Hill, Robert Kelly, Frank Marlowe, John Patton, and Polly Wiessner. Rebecca Bliege Bird and Douglas W. Bird invited me to collaborate in the Meriam research and (along with Del Passi of Mer) collected the data on Meriam demography. Geoff Kushnick and Matt Wimmer ably assisted with coding and statistical analysis of these data. Eric Alden Smith (PhD 1980, Cornell University) is a professor of anthropology at the University of Washington, Seattle. His research interests include the links between production and reproduction, the ecology and evolution of collective action, and politics in small-scale societies. He has conducted fieldwork among Inuit on Hudson Bay, Meriam in Torres Strait, and Mardu Aborigines in the Australian Western Desert.     

How do ecologists select and use indicator species to monitor ecological change? Insights from 14 years of publication in Ecological Indicators

Indicator species (IS) are used to monitor environmental changes, assess the efficacy of management, and provide warning signals for impending ecological shifts. Though widely adopted in recent years by ecologists, conservation biologists, and environmental practitioners, the use of IS has been criticized for several reasons, notably the lack of justification behind the choice of any given indicator. In this review, we assess how ecologists have selected, used, and evaluated the performance of the indicator species. We reviewed all articles published in Ecological Indicators (EI) between January 2001 and December 2014, focusing on the number of indicators used (one or more); common taxa employed; terminology, application, and rationale behind selection criteria; and performance assessment methods. Over the last 14 years, 1914 scientific papers were published in EI, describing studies conducted in 53 countries on six continents; of these, 817 (43%) used biological organisms as indicators. Terms used to describe organisms in IS research included “ecological index”, “environmental index”, “indicator species”, “bioindicator”, and “biomonitor,” but these and other terms often were not clearly defined. Twenty percent of IS publications used only a single species as an indicator; the remainder used groups of species as indicators. Nearly 50% of the taxa used as indicators were animals, 70% of which were invertebrates. The most common applications behind the use of IS were to: monitor ecosystem or environmental health and integrity (42%); assess habitat restoration (18%); and assess effects of pollution and contamination (18%). Indicators were chosen most frequently based on previously cited research (40%), local abundance (5%), ecological significance and/or conservation status (13%), or a combination of two or more of these reasons (25%). Surprisingly, 17% of the reviewed papers cited no clear justification for their choice of indicator. The vast majority (99%) of publications used statistical methods to assess the performance of the selected indicators. This review not only improves our understanding of the current uses and applications of IS, but will also inform practitioners about how to better select and evaluate ecological indicators when conducting future IS research.     

Pollen evidence of localized impact on the vegetation of northernmost Finland by hunter-gatherers

Pollen data are presented for the pine forest region around Lake Inari in eastern Finnish Lapland. The region has traditionally been the home of the Saami people who, until the 19th century, followed a seasonally nomadic way of life with an economy based on hunting, fishing and gathering. Although the Saami had no permanent centres of settlement, they did gather together at specific sites every winter, revisiting them year after year over several decades. A pollen diagram is presented from a peat area adjacent to one such winter village, Einehlammet. This shows a clear interference phase characterized by a peak in Ericales followed by a small but distinct peak in Poaceae and the slight, sporadic occurrence of pollen types that can be shown to be connected with human presence. At the same time Pinus values fall and, at the end of the phase, there is a strong increase in Betula pollen. This evidence is compared with that from actually within a dwelling (kota) at another winter village, Nukkumajoki, and is seen to follow exactly the same pattern. Such changes in forest composition in this situation could not be attributed to climatic change. The results demonstrate that, peoples pursuing a purely hunting and gathering economy and moving in the forests in a manner designed to preserve rather than destroy their environment can, nevertheless, cause vegetation changes that are discernable by pollen analysis within a distance of 50 m.     

Diabetes, the ice free corridor, and the Paleoindian settlement of North America

Since the 1940s, many Amerindian populations, including some with mixed Amerindian ancestry, have experienced an epidemic of obesity and adult-onset diabetes (NIDDM). Obesity and NIDDM were apparently rare among Amerindian populations prior to that time. Though the evidence is equivocal, obesity and NIDDM seem to be rare today among Athapaskan Amerindians of the North American Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Southwest. It is hypothesized that the Amerindian genotype(s) susceptible to obesity and NIDDM arose from selection favoring thrifty genes during the peopling of North America south of the continental glaciers. Thrifty genes (Neel: Am. J. Hum. Genet. 14:353-362, 1962) allowed a more efficient food metabolism as hunter-gatherers from an unusually harsh mid-latitude tundra environment (the ice free corridor) adapted to more typical mid-latitude environments to the south. The early Paleoindian settlement pattern from Wyoming to Arizona and Texas indicates a relatively brief period of reliance on unpredictable big game resources in lower elevations and smaller game and gathered resources in higher elevations. This unusual specialist settlement pattern may have resulted from the early Paleoindian's unfamiliarity with gathered foods and small game in lower elevations. Athapaskan populations evidently moved south from Beringia sometime after the Paleoindian migration when the ice free corridor had widened and contained environments and resources more typical of subarctic latitudes. Thus, Athapaskan hunter-gatherers could gradually adapt to the resources of lower latitudes such that thrifty genes would not have been as advantageous. The interaction of recently introduced western diets and thrifty genes have evidently led to today's epidemic of obesity and NIDDM among Amerindians of Paleoindian ancestry.     

湖南洞庭湖区水稻生产的环境成本评估

我国是一个农业大国.探讨水稻生产的环境成本,对于农业可持续发展和绿色GDP核算体系的建立具有重要意义.以我国主要产粮区之一的洞庭湖区为研究对象,从农药污染、化肥污染、温室气体排放、地膜残留、稻田潜育化和围湖造田等6个方面估算了该区1999年水稻生产的环境成本.结果表明,1999年洞庭湖区水稻生产的环境成本为41.91×10⁸元,约为1999年该区域农业生产总值的26.8%,相当于1999年该区域种植总产值的28.5%.为了水稻可持续生产,提出了环境成本内在化的策略.研究认为,水稻生产在给人类带来巨大福利的同时,对环境带来的损害也是不容忽视的,今后应加强水稻生产对环境影响机制的基础研究和水稻生产环境成本评估的理论和方法研究.     

武汉东湖桡足类的生态学演变

根据１９６２－１９６３,１９７４－１９７５,１９７９－１９９１年在武汉东湖进行的调查资料,考察了过去三十年内在东湖两个代表性采样站桡足类的种类组成及现存量的变化。结果表明：桡足类种类数由６０年代的１４种减少为９０年代的７种,Ｉ、Ⅱ站在种类组成的差别趋于消失。统计结果表明,东湖桡足类现存量以８０年代初、中期较高。但在水平分布格局上却发生了根本变化,由１９８７年前的Ｉ站现存量高于Ⅱ站,至１９８７年后Ⅱ站高于Ｉ站。本文还就影响东湖桡足类演变的生态因子进行了讨论。