Settlement Ecology: The Social and Spatial Organization of Kofyar Agriculture

Settlement Ecology: The Social and Spatial Organization of Kofyar Agriculture. Glenn Davis Stone. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996. 256 pp.     

Recent geologic development of Lake Michigan (U.S.A.)

The stresses placed on Lake Michigan since the advent of industrialization require knowledge of the sedimentology of the whole lake in order to make informed decisions for environmental planning. Sediment accumulation rates are low: areas of the lake receiving the most sediment average only 1 mm a^?1; deep-water basins average 0.1 to 0.5 mm a^?1; and large areas are not receiving any sediment. Sediment was deposited rapidly (typically 5 mm a^?1), in the form of rock flour, during the deglaciation of both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior Basins. Then the rate of accumulation decreased by 80–90% and has remained relatively constant since final deglaciation. Because active sedimentation occurs mostly in the deep water areas of the lake, the sediment remains undisturbed and contains a record of the chemical history of the lake.     

Ceramics From the Highwalker Site: a Study of Late Prehistoric Period Cultural Systematics on the Northwestern Plains

Abstract

The Highwalker site is a two component prehistoric encampment located in the Pine Parklands region of southeastern Montana. The Late Prehistoric period occupation represents a briefly used, special purpose site occupied by a Native American group primarily engaged in the final butchering of bison and the processing of its by-products. Two radiocarbon samples date the Late Prehistoric period occupation between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1100. Ceramics recovered from this component shed some light on the debate concerning “Crow Pottery” and Late Prehistoric period cultural systematics. The ceramics represent the earliest known representatives of a localized Powder River Basin pottery tradition which appears to be related to Extended Middle Missouri Tradition ceramics. These nomadic Powder River Basin ceramic-using groups maintained contact with the Middle Missouri village farmers and were influenced by their pottery technology. Later when the ethnographically known Crow moved into the area, the Powder River Basin hunting groups either were amalgamated into Crow society or were driven from the area.     

Ecology and Evolution of Social Organization in Arctic Sandpipers

A comparative analysis of sandpiper social systems on arcticand subarctic breeding grounds (24 species in the family Scolopacidae,subfamily Calidridinae) shows four major patterns. In a majorityof the species (15), populations are dispersed through a stronglydeveloped territorial system, with strong monogamous pair bondsand only minor yearly fluctuations in numbers. The second patternis seen in three species in which the female of a pair may laytwo sets of eggs in quick succession, one for each member ofthe pair to incubate. This opens opportunities for facultativepolygyny or polyandry (‘serial polygamy’) and forthe evolutionary weakening of the strong pair bond seen in thefirst pattern. The third and fourth patterns are those of polygyny(three species) and promiscuity (three species). These six speciesshow clumped dispersions; their year-to-year fluctuations tendto be strong; the males defend compressible, often small, territories;and high densities can occur locally. It is suggested that thepattern of overdispersion and monogamy represents a conservativemode of adapting to high-latitude environments, while the patternof clumped dispersion with polygyny or promiscuity representsan opportunistic mode in that the birds are concentrated intobreeding areas where and when weather, food, and/or some otherenvironmental factors are particularly favorable. Apparentlyfalling evolutionarily between these two basic patterns areseveral species conservative in their life-styles, but polygamousat least occasionally and showing some features of opportunism.There is thus a striking diversity of social systems in calidridinesandpipers, that is, in the styles of habitat exploitation theyhave evolved in the arctic and subarctic habitats to which theirbreeding is confined. A graphic model suggesting paths of evolutionarydevelopment and of interplay among factors considered criticalin the evolution of these systems is proposed.     

The Ecology and Evolution of Social Organization in the Kangaroo Family (Macropodidae)

Approximately 45 species of kangaroos and their smaller relativesoccupy virtually every terrestrial habitat in Australia. Themost social macropod is the whiptail wallaby, which lives inpermanent, discrete mobs of up to 50 individuals of mixed ageand sex. Group formation is facilitated by their grazing habits,open forest and pasture habitat, partly diurnal activity, andlow level of intraspecific aggressiveness. Pressure from cursorialpredators, plus the whiptail's non-seasonal breeding and briefestrus, make group living adaptive. Ancestral macropods arebelieved to have been rabbit-sized inhabitants of dense forest,omnivorous, nocturnal, and essentially solitary. The major evolutionarytrends in the family have been toward larger size and grazinghabits; the trends toward diurnality and group living have hadmore modest results. Progressive stages in macropod social evolutionmay be represented by the present-day musk rat-kangaroo, thequokka, and the whiptail wallaby.     

Suitability Modeling of Lake Sturgeon Habitat in Five Northern Lake Michigan Tributaries: Implications for Population Rehabilitation

The availability of lotic spawning, staging, and nursery habitats is considered a major factor limiting the recovery of Lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) in Lake Michigan. Despite efforts to better understand the population biology and habitat use of remnant Lake sturgeon stocks, little information exists on the quantity, quality, and spatial distribution of habitats for riverine life stages. We applied georeferenced habitat information on substrate, water depth, and stream gradient to a Lake sturgeon habitat suitability index in a geographic information system to produce spatially explicit models of life stage–specific habitat characteristics in the Menominee River, Michigan–Wisconsin; the Peshtigo, Oconto, and lower Fox rivers, Wisconsin; and the Manistique River, Michigan. High-quality Lake sturgeon spawning habitat associated with coarse substrates (≥2.1 mm) and moderate- to high-stream gradients (≥0.6 m/km) comprised 1–6% of the available habitat in each system. Staging habitat characterized by water depths greater that 2 m located near potential spawning habitat comprised an additional 17–41%. However, access to a majority of these habitat types (range 30–100%) by Lake sturgeon from Lake Michigan is currently impeded by dams. High-quality juvenile Lake sturgeon habitat associated with finer substrates, lower stream gradients, and a broad range of water depths (i.e., 0.5–8 m) was relatively ubiquitous throughout each system and comprised 69–100% of the available habitat. Our study suggests that efforts to rehabilitate Lake sturgeon populations should consider providing fish passage and creating supplemental spawning habitat to increase reproductive and recruitment potential.