Did Modern Precipitation Drivers Influence Centennial Trends in the Highlands of the Atacama Desert During the Most Recent Millennium?

Jara, Ignacio; Maldonado, Antonio; Porras, María Eugenia de

doi:10.1029/2021gl095927

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Our findings complement previously published climate and vegetation reconstructions from fossil rodent middens along the northern Atacama Desert and provide a picture of vegetation dynamics during the last 12 centuries (de Porras et al, 2017;Gayo et al, 2012a;González-Pinilla et al, 2021;Jara et al, 2022;Olson et al, 2020). This new information in combination with other paleoclimatological reconstructions allows us to assess vegetation dynamics and the role of climatic variability and human disturbance during the last millennia.…”

Section: Late-holocene Vegetation and Hydroclimatesupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The LRO pollen record shows some similarities with the precipitation reconstruction derived from fossil rodent middens at Toconce (~ 22°S ), that signals dry conditions between 930-550 and wet conditions between 200 and 90 cal yr BP (Jara et al, 2022). Wet conditions were also documented between 855–840 and 520–450 cal yrs BP in fossil rodent middens from Cuesta Chita (~22°S; Figure 4d) (de Porras et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Rio Loa (Tully et al, 2019), 10. Toconce (Jara et al, 2022), 11. Cuesta Chita (de Porras et al, 2021), 12.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precipitation variability, vegetation turnover, and anthropogenic disturbance over the last millennium in the Atacama highlands of northern Chile (19°S)

et al. 2023

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The Late-Holocene history of hydroclimatic variability in the Atacama Desert offers insights into the effects of precipitation and humans on ecosystems in one of the most extremely arid regions of the world. However, understanding the effects of regional precipitation variability in relation to local ecological stressors remains to be fully resolved. Here, we present a pollen-based qualitative precipitation reconstruction derived from fossil rodent middens recovered from two sites near Laguna Roja (LRO; n = 25) and Isluga (ISL; n = 15) in the Atacama highlands (19°S) of northern Chile. At LRO, the fossil pollen record shows multi-centennial hydroclimatic anomalies during the last millennium, with wetter than present phases at 1155–1130, 865–670, and 215–80 cal yrs BP, and similar to present conditions between 1005 and 880 cal yrs BP. In contrast, the ISL record shows a wet phase during 1115–840 cal yrs BP, suggesting that meso-ecological processes were as important in vegetation turnover as regional hydroclimate anomalies. Wetter conditions derived from LRO partially overlap with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (865–670 cal yrs BP) and with the latest part of the Little Ice Age (215–80 cal yrs BP). Furthermore, no strong anthropogenic signal was identified possibly related to the remote location of the records. Palynological diversity analyses evidence increasing diversification of plant communities during wet events at both sites. In correlation to existing regional hydroclimatic records from the Western Andes, our precipitation reconstruction verifies that centennial-scale changes in the strength of the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM) and partial influence of El Niño-like (ENSO) conditions drove vegetation turnover in the Atacama Desert during the last millennium.

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Section: Late-holocene Vegetation and Hydroclimatesupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

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Precipitation variability, vegetation turnover, and anthropogenic disturbance over the last millennium in the Atacama highlands of northern Chile (19°S)

et al. 2023

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“…In the past there were strong interannual oscillations in rainfall, but at a different scale than they are currently (Squeo et al., 2006 ). However, they were multiannual patterns causing strong contrasts in productivity between very dry years and others that were very rainy, with a lower degree of predictability (Jara et al., 2022 ). The needs for calendars were essential, especially with agriculture, and the shamans played a fundamental role.…”

Section: Aymara Biocultural Calendar In Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 99%

Biocultural Calendars Across Four Ethnolinguistic Communities in Southwestern South America

et al. 2023

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Since the mid‐20th century, the so‐called Great Acceleration ( sensu Steffen et al., 2007, https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[614:TAAHNO]2.0.CO;2 ) has amplified processes of ecosystem degradation, extinction of biological species, displacement of local peoples, losses of languages, and cultural diversity. These losses are still underperceived by the academic community, and by a global society that is disconnected from biocultural diversity. To reconnect society with biocultural diversity, we integrate temporal and spatial dimensions of seasonal cycles, by combining two conceptual frameworks: ecological calendars and the “3Hs” model of the biocultural ethic ( sensu Rozzi, 2012, https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics20123414 ). The latter values the vital links between human and other‐than‐human co‐inhabitants , their life habits (e.g., cultural practices of humans or life cycles of other‐than‐human species), and the structure and processes of their shared habitats . This integration enhances an understanding of links between cultural practices and the life cycles of biocultural keystone species. As a synthesis, we use the term biocultural calendars to emphasize their co‐constitutive nature that result from interactions between dynamic biophysical and cultural processes embedded in specific ecosystems and cultures. These calendars link astronomical, biological, and cultural seasonal cycles that sustain life and enhance the integration of Indigenous and scientific knowledge to confront challenges of climate change faced from local to global scales. To illustrate this integration, we examine cultural practices and socio‐environmental changes across four contrasting ethnolinguistic communities in southwestern South America, from southern to northern Chile along a marked climatic gradient to show the broad application of the concept of biocultural calendars.

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Late Pleistocene to modern precipitation changes at the Paranal clay pan, central Atacama Desert

Wennrich,

Böhm,

Brill

et al. 2024

Global and Planetary Change

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Did Modern Precipitation Drivers Influence Centennial Trends in the Highlands of the Atacama Desert During the Most Recent Millennium?

Abstract: A growing body of literature indicates that anthropogenically forced global warming is influencing hydrological availability in the southern Altiplano and bordering Andean flanks (15-25°S), with a negative trend observed in the last decades (

Cited by 6 publications

References 112 publications

Precipitation variability, vegetation turnover, and anthropogenic disturbance over the last millennium in the Atacama highlands of northern Chile (19°S)

Precipitation variability, vegetation turnover, and anthropogenic disturbance over the last millennium in the Atacama highlands of northern Chile (19°S)

Biocultural Calendars Across Four Ethnolinguistic Communities in Southwestern South America

Late Pleistocene to modern precipitation changes at the Paranal clay pan, central Atacama Desert

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