Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vegetation–Climate–Megafauna Interactions During the Late Glacial in Pilauco Site, Northwestern Patagonia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Pilauco: A Late Pleistocene Archaeo-paleontological Site

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

Abstract

We present a vegetation reconstruction based on high-resolution analysis of two pollen, seeds, and charcoal records between ∼16,000 and 12,800 cal yr BP. Pollen records show the dominance of non-arboreal and aquatic pollen types, mainly Poaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, and Sagittaria. At ∼16,000 cal yr, BP recorded high percentages of the aquatic fern Isoetes sp., characteristic of shallow and oligotrophic water. The arboreal component of the pollen assemblages is represented by north Patagonian taxa. Pollen and seeds of Prumnopitys andina are recorded between ∼14,000 and 12,800 cal yr BP, representing mild summers and very cold winters. Among the non-arboreal assemblage, taxa like Gunnera, Acaena, and Amaranthaceae could indicate some seasonality in water availability. A second detailed record was made only below and above of an erosional unconformity dated on ∼12,800 cal yr BP. The sediments on top of the unconformity show the decline of pollen concentration, extremely high fire activity, and elevated sedimentation rates, probably related to intense colluvial erosion/transport. The high abundance of pioneer species and open-forest taxa during the complete record is not comparable to other pollen records from the region and can be interpreted as a high disturbance regime induced by megafauna and human activities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abarzúa AM, Moreno PI (2008) Changing fire regimes in the temperate rainforest region of southern Chile over the last 16,000 yr. Quat Res 69:62–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abarzúa AM, Villagrán C, Moreno PI (2004) Deglacial and postglacial climate history in east-central Isla Grande de Chiloé, southern Chile (43°S). Quat Res 62:49–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abarzúa AM, Lobos V, Martel-Cea A (2016) ¡Pequeño testigo de grandes cambios!: Polen, semillas y carbón escondidos bajo tierra, In: Pino M (ed) El Sitio Pilauco. Osorno, Patagonia Noroccidental de Chile. Universidad Austral de Chile-TAQUACH, Valdivia, pp 49–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Abarzúa AM, Pinchicura GA, Jarpa L, Martel-Cea A, Sterken M, Vega R, Pino M (2014) Environmental responses to climatic and cultural changes. In: Dillehay TD (ed) The teleoscopic polity: Andean patriarchy and materiality. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 123–136

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Amigo J, Rodríguez-Guitián MA, Ramírez C (2011) The lleuque forests of south central Chile: a phytosociological study and syntaxonomical classification within South American temperate forests. Lazaroa 31:85–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ariztegui D, Bianchi MM, Masaferro J, Lafargue E, Niessen F (1997) Interhemispheric synchrony of late-glacial climatic instability as recorded in proglacial Lake Mascardi, Argentina. J Quat Sci 12:333–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnosky AD, Lindsey EL, Villavicencio NA, Bostelmann E, Hadly EA, Wanket J, Marshall CR (2016) Variable impact of late-quaternary megafaunal extinction in causing ecological state shifts in North and South America. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:856–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaauw M, Christen JA (2013) Bacon manual-v2.2, p 11. http://chrono.qub.ac.uk/blaauw/manualBacon_2.2.pdf

  • Blunier T, Brook EJ (2001) Timing of millennial-scale climate change in Antarctica and Greenland during the last glacial period. Science 291:109–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blunier T, Schwander J, Stauffer B, Stocker T, Dällenbach A, Indermühle A, Tschumi J, Chappellaz J, Raynaud D, Barnola JM (1997) Timing of the Antarctic cold reversal and the atmospheric CO2 increase with respect to the Younger Dryas event. Geophys Res Lett 24:2683–2686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charles CD, Lynch-Stieglitz J, Ninnemann US, Fairbanks RG (1996) Climate connections between the hemisphere revealed by deep sea sediment core/ice core correlations. Earth Planet Sci Lett 142:19–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark PU, Shakun JD, Baker PA, Bartlein PJ, Brewer S, Brook E, Carlson AE, Cheng H, Kaufman DS, Liu Z, Marchitto TM, Mix AC, Morrill C, Otto-Bliesner BL, Pahnke K, Russell JM, Whitlock C, Adkins JF, Blois JL, Clark J, Colman SM, Curry WB, Flower BP, He F, Johnson TC, Lynch-Stieglitz J, Markgraf V, McManus J, Mitrovica JX, Moreno PI, Williams JW (2012) Global climate evolution during the last deglaciation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:E1134–E1142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cosgrove R, Field J, Garvey J, Brenner-Coltrain J, Goede A, Charles B, Wroe S, Pike-Tay A, Grün R, Aubert M, Lees W, O’Connell J (2010) Overdone overkill—the archaeological perspective on Tasmanian megafaunal extinctions. J Archaeol Sci 37:2486–2503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denton GH, Heusser CJ, Lowel TV, Moreno PI, Andersen BG, Heusser LE, Schlühter C, Marchant DR (1999) Interhemispheric linkage of paleoclimate during the last glaciation. Geogr Ann A 81:107–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillehay TD, Pino M (1989) Stratigraphy and chronology. In: Dillehay TD (ed) Monte Verde: a late pleistocene settlement in Chile. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 133–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Faegri K, Iversen J (1989) Textbook of pollen analysis. Wiley, London

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Guarda E, Petermann-Pichincura A, Tornero C, Domingo L, Agustí J, Pino M, Abarzúa AM, Capriles JM, Villavicencio NA, Labarca R, Tolorza V, Sevilla P, Rivals F (2018) Multiproxy evidence for leaf-browsing and closed habitats in extinct proboscideans (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from Central Chile. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:9258–9263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm EC (1987) CONISS: a Fortran 77 program for stratigraphically constraint cluster analysis by the method of incremental squares. Comp Geosci 13:13–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm EC (2011) Tilia software 1.7.16. Illinois State museum, research and collections center. Springfield, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajdas I, Bonani G, Moreno PI, Ariztegui D (2003) Precise radiocarbon dating of late-glacial cooling in mid-latitude south America. Quat Res 59:70–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hechenleitner P, Gardner MF, Thomas PI, Echeverría C, Escobar B, Brownless P, Martínez, C (2005) Plantas amenazas del Centro-Sur de Chile: Distribución, Conservación y Propagación. Universidad Austral de Chile-Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Valdivia

    Google Scholar 

  • Heusser CJ (1966) Late-Pleistocene pollen diagrams from the Province of Llanquihue, southern Chile. Proc Am Philos Soc 110:269–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Heusser CJ (1971) Pollen and spores of Chile: modern types of the Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae, and Angiospermae. University of Arizona Press, Tucson

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Heusser CJ (1983) Quaternary pollen record from Laguna de Tagua Tagua, Chile. Science 219:1429–1432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heusser CJ (1984) Late-glacial-Holocene climate of the lake district of Chile. Quat Res 22:77–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickey RJ, Macluf C, Taylor WC (2003) A re-evaluation of Isoetes savatieri Franchet in Argentina and Chile. Am Fern J 93:126–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoek WZ (2008) The last glacial-interglacial transition. Episodes 31:226–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogg AG, Hua Q, Blackwell PG, Niu M, Buck CE, Guilderson TP, Heaton TJ, Palmer JG, Reimer PJ, Reimer RW, Turney CSM, Zimmerman SRH (2013) SHCal13 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55:1889–1903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jara IA, Moreno PI (2014) Climatic and disturbance influences on the temperate rainforests of northwestern Patagonia (40° S) since ∼14,500 cal yr BP. Quat Sci Rev 90:217–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson CN (2009) Ecological consequences of late quaternary extinctions of megafauna. Proc R Soc B276:2509–2519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jouzel J, Vaikmae R, Petit JR, Martin M, Duclos Y, Stievenard M, Lorius C, Toots M, Mélières MA, Burckle LH, Barkov NI, Kotlyakov VM (1995) The two-step shape and timing of the last deglaciation in Antarctica. Clim Dynam 11:151–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobos V (2013) Analisis paleovegetacional basado en semillas y frutos fósiles del sitio Paleontológico Pilauco, Pleistoceno Tardío, Osorno, centro-sur de Chile. Undergraduate Dissertation, Universidad Austral de Chile

    Google Scholar 

  • Macluf CC, Morbelli MA, Giudice GE (2003) Morphology and ultrastructure of megaspores and microspores of Isoetes savatieri Franchet (Lycophyta). Rev Palaeobot Palyno 126:197–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi Y, Doughty CE, Galetti M, Smith FA, Svenning JC, Terborgh JW (2016) Megafauna and ecosystem function from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:838–846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massaferro J, Larocque-Tobler I, Brooks SJ, Vandergoes M, Dieffenbacher-Krall A, Moreno P (2014) Quantifying climate change in Huelmo mire (Chile, Northwestern Patagonia) during the last glacial termination using a newly developed chironomid-based temperature model. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 399:214–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller GH, Fogel ML, Magee JW, Gagan MK, Clarke SJ, Johnson BJ (2005) Ecosystem collapse in Pleistocene Australia and a human role in megafaunal extinction. Science 309:287–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monnin E, Indermühle A, Dällenbach A, Flückiger J, Stauffer B, Stocker TF, Raynaud D, Barnola JM (2001) Atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last glacial termination. Science 291:112–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montade V, Peyron O, Favier C, Francois JP, Haberle SG (2019) A pollen–climate calibration from western Patagonia for palaeoclimatic reconstructions. J Quat Sci 34:76–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PI (1997) Vegetation and climate near Lago Llanquihue in the Chilean Lake District between 20200 and 9500 14C yr BP. J Quat Sci 12:485–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PI (2000) Climate, fire, and vegetation between about 13,000 and 9200 14C yr B.P. in the Chilean Lake District. Quat Res 54:81–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PI, Villa-Martínez R, Cárdenas ML, Sagredo EA (2012) Deglacial changes of the southern margin of the southern westerly winds revealed by terrestrial records from SW Patagonia (52° S). Quat Sci Rev 41:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PI, Denton GH, Moreno H, Lowell TV, Putnam AE, Kaplan MR (2015) Radiocarbon chronology of the last glacial maximum and its termination in northwestern Patagonia. Quat Sci Rev 122:233–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno PI, Videla J, Valero-Garcés B, Alloway BV, Heusser LE (2018) A continuous record of vegetation, fire-regime and climatic changes in northwestern Patagonia spanning the last 25,000 years. Quat Sci Rev 198:15–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno K, Bostelmann E, Macías C, Navarro-Harris X, De Pol-Holz R, Pino M (2019) A late Pleistocene human footprint from the Pilauco archaeological site, northern Patagonia, Chile. PLoS One 14(4):e0213572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz A, González G, Díaz-Hormazabal I, Riquelme N (2014) Aristotelia chilensis (Mol) Stuntz. In: Donoso C (ed) Las espécies arbóreas de los bosques templados de Chile y Argentina. Autoecología, María Cuneo Ediciones, Valdivia, pp 166–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro-Harris X, Pino M, Guzmán-Marín P, Lira MP, Labarca R, Corgne A (2019). The procurement and use of knappable glassy volcanic raw material from the late Pleistocene Pilauco site, Chilean Northwestern Patagonia. Geoarchaeology 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21736

  • Pahnke K, Zahn R, Elderfield H, Schulz M (2003) 340,000-year centennial-scale marine record of southern hemisphere climatic oscillation. Science 301:948–952

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peel MC, Finlayson BL, McMahon TA (2007) Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss 4:439–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pesce OH, Moreno PI (2014) Vegetation, fire and climate change in central-east Isla Grande de Chiloé (43° S) since the Last Glacial Maximum, northwestern Patagonia. Quat Sci Rev 90:143–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petit JR, Jouzel J, Raynaud D, Barkov NI, Barnola JM, Basile I, Bender M, Chappellaz J, Davis M, Delaygue G, Delmotte M, Kotlyakov VM, Legrand M, Lipenkov VY, Lorius C, Pepin L, Ritz C, Saltzman E, Stievenard M (1999) Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399:429–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pino M, Chávez-Hoffmeister M, Navarro-Harris X, Labarca R (2013) The late Pleistocene Pilauco site, Osorno, south-central Chile. Quat Int 299:3–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pino M, Martel-Cea A, Astorga G, Abarzúa AM, Cossio N, Navarro X, Lira MP, Labarca R, Lecompte MA, Adedeji V, Moore CR, Bunch TE, Mooney C, Wolbach WS, West A, Kennett JP (2019) Sedimentary record from Patagonia, southern Chile supports cosmic-impact triggering of biomass burning, climate change, and megafaunal extinctions at 12.8 Ka. Sci Rep 9:4413

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott GW, Williams DR, Balmford A, Green RE, Manica A (2012) Quantitative global analysis of the role of climate and people in explaining late quaternary megafaunal extinctions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:4527–4531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter NW, Weaver AJ, Rokosh D, Fanning AF, Wright DG (2000) Data-model comparison of the Younger Dryas event. Can J Earth Sci 37:811–830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • San Martin C, Ramírez C, Figueroa H, Ojeda N (1991) Estudio sinecológico del bosque de roble-laurel-lingue del centro-sur de Chile. Bosque (Valdivia) 12:11–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stockmarr J (1971) Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen Spores 13:615–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Villagrán C (1985) Análisis palinológico de los cambios vegetacionales durante el Tardiglacial y Post-glacial en Chiloé, Chile. Rev Chil Hist Nat 58:57–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Villagrán C (2001) Un modelo de la historia de la vegetación de la Cordillera de La Costa de Chile central-sur: la hipótesis glacial de Darwin. Rev Chil Hist Nat 74:793–803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villavicencio NA, Lindsey EL, Martin FM, Borrero LA, Moreno PI, Marshall CR Barnosky AD (2016) Combination of humans, climate, and vegetation change triggered late quaternary megafauna extinction in the Última Esperanza region, southern Patagonia, Chile. Ecography 39:125–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitlock C, Larsen C (2001) Charcoal as a proxy fire. In: Smol JP, Birks HJB, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments: terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 75–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Wroe S, Field J, Fullagar R, Jermin LS (2004) Megafaunal extinction in the late quaternary and the global overkill hypothesis. Alcheringa 28:291–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra and Transdisciplinary Center for Quaternary Research in the South of Chile, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Ana M. Abarzúa, Alejandra Martel-Cea & Viviana Lobos

  2. Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Alejandra Martel-Cea

Authors
  1. Ana M. Abarzúa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alejandra Martel-Cea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Viviana Lobos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana M. Abarzúa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Mario Pino

  2. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Giselle A. Astorga

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Abarzúa, A.M., Martel-Cea, A., Lobos, V. (2020). Vegetation–Climate–Megafauna Interactions During the Late Glacial in Pilauco Site, Northwestern Patagonia. In: Pino , M., Astorga, G. (eds) Pilauco: A Late Pleistocene Archaeo-paleontological Site. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23918-3_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation