Potential hominin plant foods in northern Tanzania: semi-arid savannas versus savanna chimpanzee sites

Copeland, Sandi R.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.06.007

Cited by 35 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Today, water availability shapes primate behaviors through its influence on vegetation and resource distributions (4,61). For example, regions with MAP <700 mm do not support chimpanzee populations (62). Water likely shaped behavioral adaptations in the genus Homo (63).…”

Section: Interpretations and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

Magill

Ashley

Freeman

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Water and its influence on plants likely exerted strong adaptive pressures in human evolution. Understanding relationships among water, plants, and early humans is limited both by incomplete terrestrial records of environmental change and by indirect proxy data for water availability. Here we present a continuous record of stable hydrogen-isotope compositions (expressed as δD values) for lipid biomarkers preserved in lake sediments from an early Pleistocene archaeological site in eastern Africa-Olduvai Gorge. We convert sedimentary leaf-and algal-lipid δD values into estimates for ancient source-water δD values by accounting for biochemical, physiological, and environmental influences on isotopic fractionation via published water-lipid enrichment factors for living plants, algae, and recent sediments. Reconstructed precipitation and lakewater δD values, respectively, are consistent with modern isotopic hydrology and reveal that dramatic fluctuations in water availability accompanied ecosystem changes. Drier conditions, indicated by less negative δD values, occur in association with stable carbon-isotopic evidence for open, C 4 -dominated grassland ecosystems. Wetter conditions, indicated by lower δD values, are associated with expanded woody cover across the ancient landscape. Estimates for ancient precipitation amounts, based on reconstructed precipitation δD values, range between approximately 250 and 700 mm·y −1 and are consistent with modern precipitation data for eastern Africa. We conclude that freshwater availability exerted a substantial influence on eastern African ecosystems and, by extension, was central to early human proliferation during periods of rapid climate change.paleohydrology | plant waxes | carbon isotopes

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Section: Interpretations and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

Magill

Ashley

Freeman

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The long rains (Masika) occur between February and May. The dry season from June to October is consistent through the years and lengthens when the short rains fail [27,28]. Daily average air temperatures at the lake range from 14 °C to 30 °C, with peaks from December to February (Figure 3).…”

Section: Climatementioning

confidence: 95%

Water Balance Modeling in a Semi-Arid Environment with Limited in situ Data Using Remote Sensing in Lake Manyara, East African Rift, Tanzania

2013

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Abstract:The purpose of this paper is to estimate the water balance in a semi-arid environment with limited in situ data using a remote sensing approach. We focus on the Lake Manyara catchment, located within the East African Rift of northern Tanzania. We use a distributed conceptual hydrological model driven by remote sensing data to study the spatial and temporal variability of water balance parameters within the catchment. Satellite gravimetry GRACE data is used to verify the trends of the inferred lake level changes. The results show that the lake undergoes high spatial and temporal variations, characteristic of a semi-arid climate with high evaporation and low rainfall. We observe that the Lake Manyara water balance and GRACE equivalent water depth show comparable trends; a 1652Despite the small size of Lake Manyara, GRACE data showed great potential for hydrological research on smaller un-gauged lakes and catchments in similar semi-arid environments worldwide. The water balance information can be used for further analysis of lake variations in relation to soil erosion, climate and land cover/land use change as well as different lake management and conservation scenarios.

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“…The rainy season lasts from November to May with a short and a long rainy season. The dry season ranges from June to October and extends when the short rainy season fails [20,21]. Annual mean air temperature at the lake ranges between 15 °C and 25 °C (Figure 2).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing Analysis of Lake Dynamics in Semi-Arid Regions: Implication for Water Resource Management. Lake Manyara, East African Rift, Northern Tanzania

Deus

Gloaguen

2013

Water

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Abstract:We show here that a remote sensing (RS) approach is a cost-efficient and accurate method to study water resource dynamics in semi-arid areas. We use a MODIS surface reflectance dataset and a Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to map the variability of Lake Manyara's water surface area using a histogram segmentation technique. The results indicate that Lake Manyara's water surface coverage has been decreasing from 520.25 km 2 to 30.5 km 2 in 2000 and 2011 respectively. We observe that the lake water surface and the lake water balance displayed a similar pattern from 2006 to 2009, probably initiated by heavy rainfall and low temperature in 2006. Lake water surface area appears to have an inverse relationship with MODIS evapotranspiration (ET) and MODIS land surface temperature (LST). We imply that recent fluctuations of Lake Manyara's surface water area are a direct consequence of global and regional climate fluctuations. We therefore conclude that, by means of RS it is possible to provide timely and up-to-date water resource information to managers and hence enable optimized and operational decisions for sustainable management and conservation. We suggest that the OPEN ACCESS

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Potential hominin plant foods in northern Tanzania: semi-arid savannas versus savanna chimpanzee sites

Cited by 35 publications

References 58 publications

Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

Water, plants, and early human habitats in eastern Africa

Water Balance Modeling in a Semi-Arid Environment with Limited in situ Data Using Remote Sensing in Lake Manyara, East African Rift, Tanzania

Remote Sensing Analysis of Lake Dynamics in Semi-Arid Regions: Implication for Water Resource Management. Lake Manyara, East African Rift, Northern Tanzania

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