1
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Le T. Increased impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on global vegetation under future warming environment. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14459. [PMID: 37660230 PMCID: PMC10475042 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41590-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023] Open
Abstract
There are broad effects of vegetation changes on regional climate, carbon budget, the water cycle, and ecosystems' productivity. Therefore, further knowledge of the drivers of future vegetation changes is critical to mitigate the influences of global warming. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major mode of interannual climate variability and is likely to affect vegetation on the global scale. Nonetheless, little is known about the causal impacts of ENSO on future vegetation cover with changes in land use and a warming environment. Here, we examined the connections between ENSO and vegetation using leaf area index (LAI) data over the period 2015-2100 from Coupled Modeling Intercomparison Project Phase 6. Our findings indicate that, compared with the historical period 1915-2000, the vegetated areas influenced by ENSO are projected to rise by approximately 55.2% and 20.7% during the twenty-first century of the scenarios SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, respectively. Though uncertainty for the causal link between ENSO and vegetation changes remains in several regions (i.e., parts of North America, southern Australia, and western Asia), ENSO signature on LAI variations is robust over northern Australia, Amazonia, and parts of Southeast Asia. These results indicate that the influences of ENSO on global vegetation may strengthen in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh Le
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea.
- School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
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2
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Scerri EML. One species, many roots? Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:975-976. [PMID: 37198291 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02080-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany.
- Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
- Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
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3
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Niang K, Blinkhorn J, Bateman MD, Kiahtipes CA. Longstanding behavioural stability in West Africa extends to the Middle Pleistocene at Bargny, coastal Senegal. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1141-1151. [PMID: 37142742 PMCID: PMC10333124 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02046-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Middle Stone Age (MSA) technologies first appear in the archaeological records of northern, eastern and southern Africa during the Middle Pleistocene epoch. The absence of MSA sites from West Africa limits evaluation of shared behaviours across the continent during the late Middle Pleistocene and the diversity of subsequent regionalized trajectories. Here we present evidence for the late Middle Pleistocene MSA occupation of the West African littoral at Bargny, Senegal, dating to 150 thousand years ago. Palaeoecological evidence suggests that Bargny was a hydrological refugium during the MSA occupation, supporting estuarine conditions during Middle Pleistocene arid phases. The stone tool technology at Bargny presents characteristics widely shared across Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene but which remain uniquely stable in West Africa to the onset of the Holocene. We explore how the persistent habitability of West African environments, including mangroves, contributes to distinctly West African trajectories of behavioural stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khady Niang
- Département d'Histoire, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
- Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
| | - Mark D Bateman
- Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Christopher A Kiahtipes
- Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
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4
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Casas-Gallego M, Hahn K, Neumann K, Demissew S, Schmidt M, Bodin SC, Bruch AA. Cooling-induced expansions of Afromontane forests in the Horn of Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum. Sci Rep 2023; 13:10323. [PMID: 37365263 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37135-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the changing plant ecosystems that existed in East Africa over the past millennia is crucial for identifying links between habitats and past human adaptation and dispersal across the region. In the Horn of Africa, this task is hampered by the scarcity of fossil botanical data. Here we present modelled past vegetation distributions in Ethiopia from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to present at high spatial and temporal resolution. The simulations show that, contrary to long-standing hypotheses, the area covered by Afromontane forests during the Late Glacial was significantly larger than at present. The combined effect of low temperatures and the relative rainfall contribution sourced from the Congo Basin and Indian Ocean, emerges as the mechanism that controlled the migration of Afromontane forests to lower elevations. This process may have enabled the development of continuous forest corridors connecting populations that are currently isolated in mountainous areas over the African continent. Starting with the Holocene, the expansion of forests began to reverse. This decline intensified over the second half of the Holocene leading to a retreat of the forests to higher elevations where they are restricted today. The simulations are consistent with proxy data derived from regional pollen records and provide a key environmental and conceptual framework for human environmental adaptation research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Casas-Gallego
- Institute of Ecology, Diversity and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Karen Hahn
- Institute of Ecology, Diversity and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Katharina Neumann
- Department of Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sebsebe Demissew
- National Herbarium of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Marco Schmidt
- Palmengarten der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Stéphanie C Bodin
- Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Angela A Bruch
- Research Centre "The role of culture in early expansions of humans" of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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5
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Carr AS, Chase BM, Birkinshaw SJ, Holmes PJ, Rabumbulu M, Stewart BA. Paleolakes and socioecological implications of last glacial "greening" of the South African interior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2221082120. [PMID: 37186818 PMCID: PMC10214169 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221082120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Determining the timing and drivers of Pleistocene hydrological change in the interior of South Africa is critical for testing hypotheses regarding the presence, dynamics, and resilience of human populations. Combining geological data and physically based distributed hydrological modeling, we demonstrate the presence of large paleolakes in South Africa's central interior during the last glacial period, and infer a regional-scale invigoration of hydrological networks, particularly during marine isotope stages 3 and 2, most notably 55 to 39 ka and 34 to 31 ka. The resulting hydrological reconstructions further permit investigation of regional floral and fauna responses using a modern analog approach. These suggest that the climate change required to sustain these water bodies would have replaced xeric shrubland with more productive, eutrophic grassland or higher grass-cover vegetation, capable of supporting a substantial increase in ungulate diversity and biomass. The existence of such resource-rich landscapes for protracted phases within the last glacial period likely exerted a recurrent draw on human societies, evidenced by extensive pan-side artifact assemblages. Thus, rather than representing a perennially uninhabited hinterland, the central interior's underrepresentation in late Pleistocene archeological narratives likely reflects taphonomic biases stemming from a dearth of rockshelters and regional geomorphic controls. These findings suggest that South Africa's central interior experienced greater climatic, ecological, and cultural dynamism than previously appreciated and potential to host human populations whose archaeological signatures deserve systematic investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Carr
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, LeicesterLE1 7RH, United Kingdom
| | - Brian M. Chase
- Institut des Sciences de L'Evolution-Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement,34095Montpellier, France
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch7701, South Africa
| | - Stephen J. Birkinshaw
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J. Holmes
- Department of Geography, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein9300, South Africa
| | - Mulalo Rabumbulu
- Department of Geography Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg2006, South Africa
| | - Brian A. Stewart
- Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109
- Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 2050Wits, South Africa
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6
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Boeckx C. What made us "hunter-gatherers of words". Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1080861. [PMID: 36845441 PMCID: PMC9947416 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1080861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper makes three interconnected claims: (i) the "human condition" cannot be captured by evolutionary narratives that reduce it to a recent 'cognitive modernity', nor by narratives that eliminates all cognitive differences between us and out closest extinct relatives, (ii) signals from paleogenomics, especially coming from deserts of introgression but also from signatures of positive selection, point to the importance of mutations that impact neurodevelopment, plausibly leading to temperamental differences, which may impact cultural evolutionary trajectories in specific ways, and (iii) these trajectories are expected to affect the language phenotypes, modifying what is being learned and how it is put to use. In particular, I hypothesize that these different trajectories influence the development of symbolic systems, the flexible ways in which symbols combine, and the size and configurations of the communities in which these systems are put to use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cedric Boeckx
- Section of General Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Complex Systems, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
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7
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Technological and functional analysis of 80-60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). Sci Rep 2022; 12:16270. [PMID: 36175454 PMCID: PMC9523071 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20680-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Fully shaped, morphologically standardized bone tools are generally considered reliable indicators of the emergence of modern behavior. We report the discovery of 23 double-beveled bone tools from ~ 80,000-60,000-year-old archaeological layers at Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We analyzed the texture of use-wear on the archaeological bone tools, and on bone tool replicas experimentally used in debarking trees, processing rabbit pelts with and without an ochre compound, digging in sediment in and outside a cave, and on ethnographic artefacts. Debarking trees and digging in humus-rich soil produce use-wear patterns closely matching those observed on most Sibudu tools. This tool type is associated with three different Middle Stone Age cultural traditions at Sibudu that span 20,000 years, yet they are absent at contemporaneous sites. Our results support a scenario in which some southern African early modern human groups developed and locally maintained specific, highly standardized cultural traits while sharing others at a sub-continental scale. We demonstrate that technological and texture analyses are effective means by which to infer past behaviors and assess the significance of prehistoric cultural innovations.
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8
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Foerster V, Asrat A, Bronk Ramsey C, Brown ET, Chapot MS, Deino A, Duesing W, Grove M, Hahn A, Junginger A, Kaboth-Bahr S, Lane CS, Opitz S, Noren A, Roberts HM, Stockhecke M, Tiedemann R, Vidal CM, Vogelsang R, Cohen AS, Lamb HF, Schaebitz F, Trauth MH. Pleistocene climate variability in eastern Africa influenced hominin evolution. NATURE GEOSCIENCE 2022; 15:805-811. [PMID: 36254302 PMCID: PMC9560894 DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-01032-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite more than half a century of hominin fossil discoveries in eastern Africa, the regional environmental context of hominin evolution and dispersal is not well established due to the lack of continuous palaeoenvironmental records from one of the proven habitats of early human populations, particularly for the Pleistocene epoch. Here we present a 620,000-year environmental record from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia, which is proximal to key fossil sites. Our record documents the potential influence of different episodes of climatic variability on hominin biological and cultural transformation. The appearance of high anatomical diversity in hominin groups coincides with long-lasting and relatively stable humid conditions from ~620,000 to 275,000 years bp (episodes 1-6), interrupted by several abrupt and extreme hydroclimate perturbations. A pattern of pronounced climatic cyclicity transformed habitats during episodes 7-9 (~275,000-60,000 years bp), a crucial phase encompassing the gradual transition from Acheulean to Middle Stone Age technologies, the emergence of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa and key human social and cultural innovations. Those accumulative innovations plus the alignment of humid pulses between northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean during high-frequency climate oscillations of episodes 10-12 (~60,000-10,000 years bp) could have facilitated the global dispersal of H. sapiens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena Foerster
- Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Asfawossen Asrat
- Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Erik T. Brown
- Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Melissa S. Chapot
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Alan Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Walter Duesing
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Matthew Grove
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Annette Hahn
- MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Annett Junginger
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | | | - Stephan Opitz
- Institute for Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Anders Noren
- LacCore/CSDCO, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA
| | - Helen M. Roberts
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Mona Stockhecke
- Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Ralph Tiedemann
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Céline M. Vidal
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ralf Vogelsang
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Andrew S. Cohen
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ USA
| | - Henry F. Lamb
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Frank Schaebitz
- Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin H. Trauth
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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9
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von der Meden J, Pickering R, Schoville BJ, Green H, Weij R, Hellstrom J, Greig A, Woodhead J, Khumalo W, Wilkins J. Tufas indicate prolonged periods of water availability linked to human occupation in the southern Kalahari. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270104. [PMID: 35857764 PMCID: PMC9299332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Detailed, well-dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records are critical for understanding the impact of environmental change on human evolution. Ga-Mohana Hill, in the southern Kalahari, South Africa, preserves a Pleistocene archaeological sequence. Relict tufas at the site are evidence of past flowing streams, waterfalls, and shallow pools. Here, we use laser ablation screening to target material suitable for uranium-thorium dating. We obtained 33 ages covering the last 110 thousand years (ka) and identify five tufa formation episodes at 114–100 ka, 73–48 ka, 44–32 ka, 15–6 ka, and ~3 ka. Three tufa episodes are coincident with the archaeological units at Ga-Mohana Hill dating to ~105 ka, ~31 ka, and ~15 ka. Based on our data and the coincidence of dated layers from other local records, we argue that in the southern Kalahari, from ~240 ka to ~71 ka wet phases and human occupation are coupled, but by ~20 ka during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), they are decoupled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica von der Meden
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Robyn Pickering
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Benjamin J. Schoville
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Helen Green
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Rieneke Weij
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - John Hellstrom
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alan Greig
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jon Woodhead
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Wendy Khumalo
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
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10
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Gosling WD, Miller CS, Shanahan TM, Holden PB, Overpeck JT, van Langevelde F. A stronger role for long-term moisture change than for CO 2 in determining tropical woody vegetation change. Science 2022; 376:653-656. [PMID: 35511966 DOI: 10.1126/science.abg4618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenically elevated CO2 (eCO2) concentrations have been suggested to increase woody cover within tropical ecosystems through fertilization. The effect of eCO2 is built into Earth system models, although testing the relationship over long periods remains challenging. Here, we explore the relative importance of six drivers of vegetation change in western Africa over the past ~500,000 years (moisture availability, fire activity, mammalian herbivore density, temperature, temperature seasonality, CO2) by coupling past environmental change data from Lake Bosumtwi (Ghana) with global data. We found that moisture availability and fire activity were the most important factors in determining woody cover, whereas the effect of CO2 was small. Our findings suggest that the role of eCO2 effects on tropical vegetation in predictive models must be reconsidered.
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Affiliation(s)
- William D Gosling
- Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Timothy M Shanahan
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Philip B Holden
- School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Jonathan T Overpeck
- School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Frank van Langevelde
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands.,School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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11
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Scerri EML, Roberts P, Yoshi Maezumi S, Malhi Y. Tropical forests in the deep human past. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200500. [PMID: 35249383 PMCID: PMC8899628 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Darwin, studies of human evolution have tended to give primacy to open 'savannah' environments as the ecological cradle of our lineage, with dense tropical forests cast as hostile, unfavourable frontiers. These perceptions continue to shape both the geographical context of fieldwork as well as dominant narratives concerning hominin evolution. This paradigm persists despite new, ground-breaking research highlighting the role of tropical forests in the human story. For example, novel research in Africa's rainforests has uncovered archaeological sites dating back into the Pleistocene; genetic studies have revealed very deep human roots in Central and West Africa and in the tropics of Asia and the Pacific; an unprecedented number of coexistent hominin species have now been documented, including Homo erectus, the 'Hobbit' (Homo floresiensis), Homo luzonensis, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest members of our own species to reach South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and the tropical Americas have shown an unexpected rapidity in their adaptation to even some of the more 'extreme' tropical settings. This includes the early human manipulation of species and even habitats. This volume builds on these currently disparate threads and, for the first time, draws together a group of interdisciplinary, agenda-setting papers that firmly places a broader spectrum of tropical environments at the heart of the deep human past. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.,Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - S Yoshi Maezumi
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
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12
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Gosling WD, Scerri EML, Kaboth-Bahr S. The climate and vegetation backdrop to hominin evolution in Africa. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200483. [PMID: 35249389 PMCID: PMC8899624 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The most profound shift in the African hydroclimate of the last 1 million years occurred around 300 thousand years (ka) ago. This change in African hydroclimate is manifest as an east-west change in moisture balance that cannot be fully explained through linkages to high latitude climate systems. The east-west shift is, instead, probably driven by a shift in the tropical Walker Circulation related to sea surface temperature change driven by orbital forcing. Comparing records of past vegetation change, and hominin evolution and development, with this breakpoint in the climate system is challenging owing to the paucity of study sites available and uncertainties regarding the dating of records. Notwithstanding these uncertainties we find that, broadly speaking, both vegetation and hominins change around 300 ka. The vegetative backdrop suggests that relative abundance of vegetative resources shifted from western to eastern Africa, although resources would have persisted across the continent. The climatic and vegetation changes probably provided challenges for hominins and are broadly coincident with the appearance of Homo sapiens (ca 315 ka) and the emergence of Middle Stone Age technology. The concomitant changes in climate, vegetation and hominin evolution suggest that these factors are closely intertwined. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- William D Gosling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eleanor M L Scerri
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.,Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.,Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
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13
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Blinkhorn J, Timbrell L, Grove M, Scerri EML. Evaluating refugia in recent human evolution in Africa. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200485. [PMID: 35249393 PMCID: PMC8899617 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Homo sapiens have adapted to an incredible diversity of habitats around the globe. This capacity to adapt to different landscapes is clearly expressed within Africa, with Late Pleistocene Homo sapiens populations occupying savannahs, woodlands, coastlines and mountainous terrain. As the only area of the world where Homo sapiens have clearly persisted through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, Africa is the only continent where classic refugia models can be formulated and tested to examine and describe changing patterns of past distributions and human phylogeographies. The potential role of refugia has frequently been acknowledged in the Late Pleistocene palaeoanthropological literature, yet explicit identification of potential refugia has been limited by the patchy nature of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records, and the low temporal resolution of climate or ecological models. Here, we apply potential climatic thresholds on human habitation, rooted in ethnographic studies, in combination with high-resolution model datasets for precipitation and biome distributions to identify persistent refugia spanning the Late Pleistocene (130-10 ka). We present two alternate models suggesting that between 27% and 66% of Africa may have provided refugia to Late Pleistocene human populations, and examine variability in precipitation, biome and ecotone distributions within these refugial zones. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Blinkhorn
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Lucy Timbrell
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Matt Grove
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Eleanor M. L. Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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14
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Boyette AH, Lew-Levy S, Jang H, Kandza V. Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200490. [PMID: 35249385 PMCID: PMC8899623 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigating past and present human adaptation to the Congo Basin tropical forest can shed light on how climate and ecosystem variability have shaped human evolution. Here, we first review and synthesize genetic, palaeoclimatological, linguistic and historical data on the peopling of the Congo Basin. While forest fragmentation led to the increased genetic and geographical divergence of forest foragers, these groups maintained long-distance connectivity. The eventual expansion of Bantu speakers into the Congo Basin provided new opportunities for forging inter-group links, as evidenced by linguistic shifts and historical accounts. Building from our ethnographic work in the northern Republic of the Congo, we show how these inter-group links between forest forager communities as well as trade relationships with neighbouring farmers facilitate adaptation to ecoregions through knowledge exchange. While researchers tend to emphasize forager-farmer interactions that began in the Iron Age, we argue that foragers' cultivation of relational wealth with groups across the region played a major role in the initial occupation of the Congo Basin and, consequently, in cultural evolution among the ancestors of contemporary peoples. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam H. Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Haneul Jang
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vidrige Kandza
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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15
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Plio-Pleistocene environmental variability in Africa and its implications for mammalian evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2107393119. [PMID: 35412903 PMCID: PMC9169865 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2107393119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We have developed an Africa-wide synthesis of paleoenvironmental variability over the Plio-Pleistocene. We show that there is strong evidence for orbital forcing of variability during this time that is superimposed on a longer trend of increasing environmental variability, supporting a combination of both low- and high-latitude drivers of variability. We combine these results with robust estimates of mammalian speciation and extinction rates and find that variability is not significantly correlated with these rates. These findings do not currently support a link between environmental variability and turnover and thus fail to corroborate predictions derived from the variability selection hypothesis. Understanding the climatic drivers of environmental variability (EV) during the Plio-Pleistocene and EV’s influence on mammalian macroevolution are two outstanding foci of research in African paleoclimatology and evolutionary biology. The potential effects of EV are especially relevant for testing the variability selection hypothesis, which predicts a positive relationship between EV and speciation and extinction rates in fossil mammals. Addressing these questions is stymied, however, by 1) a lack of multiple comparable EV records of sufficient temporal resolution and duration, and 2) the incompleteness of the mammalian fossil record. Here, we first compile a composite history of Pan-African EV spanning the Plio-Pleistocene, which allows us to explore which climatic variables influenced EV. We find that EV exhibits 1) a long-term trend of increasing variability since ∼3.7 Ma, coincident with rising variability in global ice volume and sea surface temperatures around Africa, and 2) a 400-ky frequency correlated with seasonal insolation variability. We then estimate speciation and extinction rates for fossil mammals from eastern Africa using a method that accounts for sampling variation. We find no statistically significant relationship between EV and estimated speciation or extinction rates across multiple spatial scales. These findings are inconsistent with the variability selection hypothesis as applied to macroevolutionary processes.
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16
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Timmermann A, Yun KS, Raia P, Ruan J, Mondanaro A, Zeller E, Zollikofer C, Ponce de León M, Lemmon D, Willeit M, Ganopolski A. Climate effects on archaic human habitats and species successions. Nature 2022; 604:495-501. [PMID: 35418680 PMCID: PMC9021022 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04600-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
It has long been believed that climate shifts during the last 2 million years had a pivotal role in the evolution of our genus Homo1–3. However, given the limited number of representative palaeo-climate datasets from regions of anthropological interest, it has remained challenging to quantify this linkage. Here, we use an unprecedented transient Pleistocene coupled general circulation model simulation in combination with an extensive compilation of fossil and archaeological records to study the spatiotemporal habitat suitability for five hominin species over the past 2 million years. We show that astronomically forced changes in temperature, rainfall and terrestrial net primary production had a major impact on the observed distributions of these species. During the Early Pleistocene, hominins settled primarily in environments with weak orbital-scale climate variability. This behaviour changed substantially after the mid-Pleistocene transition, when archaic humans became global wanderers who adapted to a wide range of spatial climatic gradients. Analysis of the simulated hominin habitat overlap from approximately 300–400 thousand years ago further suggests that antiphased climate disruptions in southern Africa and Eurasia contributed to the evolutionary transformation of Homo heidelbergensis populations into Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, respectively. Our robust numerical simulations of climate-induced habitat changes provide a framework to test hypotheses on our human origin. A new model simulation of climate change during the past 2 million years indicates that the appearances and disappearances of hominin species correlate with long-term climatic anomalies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axel Timmermann
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea. .,Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea.
| | - Kyung-Sook Yun
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea.,Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Pasquale Raia
- DiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Monte Sant'Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Jiaoyang Ruan
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea.,Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | | | - Elke Zeller
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea.,Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | | | | | - Danielle Lemmon
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea.,Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Matteo Willeit
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany
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17
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Bretzke K, Preusser F, Jasim S, Miller C, Preston G, Raith K, Underdown SJ, Parton A, Parker AG. Multiple phases of human occupation in Southeast Arabia between 210,000 and 120,000 years ago. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1600. [PMID: 35102262 PMCID: PMC8803878 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05617-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Changing climatic conditions are thought to be a major control of human presence in Arabia during the Paleolithic. Whilst the Pleistocene archaeological record shows that periods of increased monsoon rainfall attracted human occupation and led to increased population densities, the impact of arid conditions on human populations in Arabia remains largely speculative. Here, we present data from Jebel Faya in Southeast (SE) Arabia, which document four periods of human occupation between c. 210,000 and 120,000 years ago. The Jebel Faya record indicates that human occupation of SE Arabia was more regular and not exclusively linked to major humid periods. Our data show that brief phases of increased rainfall additionally enabled human settlement in the Faya region. These results imply that the mosaic environments in SE Arabia have likely formed a population refugia at the end of the Middle and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene.
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18
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A Phytolith Supported Biosphere-Hydrosphere Predictive Model for Southern Ethiopia: Insights into Paleoenvironmental Changes and Human Landscape Preferences since the Last Glacial Maximum. GEOSCIENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/geosciences11100418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
During the past 25 ka, southern Ethiopia has undergone tremendous climatic changes, from dry and relatively cold during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 25–18 ka) to the African Humid Period (AHP, 15–5 ka), and back to present-day dry conditions. As a contribution to better understand the effects of climate change on vegetation and lakes, we here present a new Predictive Vegetation Model that is linked with a Lake Balance Model and available vegetation-proxy records from southern Ethiopia including a new phytolith record from the Chew Bahir basin. We constructed a detailed paleo-landcover map of southern Ethiopia during the LGM, AHP (with and without influence of the Congo Air Boundary) and the modern-day potential natural landcover. Compared to today, we observe a 15–20% reduction in moisture availability during the LGM with widespread open landscapes and only few remaining forest refugia. We identify 25–40% increased moisture availability during the AHP with prevailing forests in the mid-altitudes and indications that modern anthropogenic landcover change has affected the water balance. In comparison with existing archaeological records, we find that human occupations tend to correspond with open landscapes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in southern Ethiopia.
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19
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van der Lubbe HJL, Hall IR, Barker S, Hemming SR, Baars TF, Starr A, Just J, Backeberg BC, Joordens JCA. Indo-Pacific Walker circulation drove Pleistocene African aridification. Nature 2021; 598:618-623. [PMID: 34707316 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03896-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Today, the eastern African hydroclimate is tightly linked to fluctuations in the zonal atmospheric Walker circulation1,2. A growing body of evidence indicates that this circulation shaped hydroclimatic conditions in the Indian Ocean region also on much longer, glacial-interglacial timescales3-5, following the development of Pacific Walker circulation around 2.2-2.0 million years ago (Ma)6,7. However, continuous long-term records to determine the timing and mechanisms of Pacific-influenced climate transitions in the Indian Ocean have been unavailable. Here we present a seven-million-year-long record of wind-driven circulation of the tropical Indian Ocean, as recorded in Mozambique Channel Throughflow (MCT) flow-speed variations. We show that the MCT flow speed was relatively weak and steady until 2.1 ± 0.1 Ma, when it began to increase, coincident with the intensification of the Pacific Walker circulation6,7. Strong increases during glacial periods, which reached maxima after the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (0.9-0.64 Ma; ref. 8), were punctuated by weak flow speeds during interglacial periods. We provide a mechanism explaining that increasing MCT flow speeds reflect synchronous development of the Indo-Pacific Walker cells that promote aridification in Africa. Our results suggest that after about 2.1 Ma, the increasing aridification is punctuated by pronounced humid interglacial periods. This record will facilitate testing of hypotheses of climate-environmental drivers for hominin evolution and dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- H J L van der Lubbe
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. .,Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - I R Hall
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
| | - S Barker
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - S R Hemming
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, USA
| | - T F Baars
- Department of Geosciences and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, TU Delft, the Netherlands
| | - A Starr
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - J Just
- Department of Geosciences, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - B C Backeberg
- Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands.,Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway.,Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - J C A Joordens
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.,Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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