Latin American Youth in Phytolith Research – 2nd edition
- Post by: Admin
- October 3, 2024
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Following our last post, this publication showcases more information about young Latin America scientists across the field of phytolith research, highlighting their ongoing work.
Argentina
Álvaro José Alavar – Universidad Nacional de Jujuy
Research title: “Combustion technologies and assembled culinary practices. Archaeobotanical studies in the foothills of Jujuy at the beginning of the first millennium (2000-1500 BP.)”
Doctorate in Archaeology
Supervisors: Gabriela Ortiz and Alejandra Korstanje – Proyecto Arqueológico Interdisciplinario de las Yungas Argentino Jujeñas
Founding: CONICET
The focus of this study is the analysis of plant micro-rests in combustion residues (fire pits and ovens). Our interest is to know how human groups interacted with plant resources, and to understand the assemblages or networks in which this type of technology is articulated within specific areas of activity. We hope to know the range of plant resources to which the populations of Jujuy’ piedmont was related and what kind of practices were associated with culinary technologies.
Celia Frayssinet – Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
Research title: “Effect of silicon content and dynamics with heavy metals associated with silicophytoliths on mineralogeochemical and biogeochemical processes in late Quaternary pedosedimentary sequences in the southeastern Buenos Aires region”
Post doctorate – CONICET
Supervisor: Claudia Elizabeth Domini – Geoecología de Suelos y Ambientes Sedimentarios
Founding: UNMdP, CONICET and Agencia Nacional de Promocioón Científica
The study evaluates the role of added silicon and silicophytolites in the quality of the most important winter cereal (Trigo pan) in southeastern Buenos Aires, as well as in the chemical properties (macronutrients, micronutrients and heavy metals) of associated soils. Si can promote sustainable development practices in agroecosystems, having particularly evaluated bread wheat, applying field trials with techniques not used so far, to understand the role of Si in the final quality of the grain, in the promotion of phytoremediation processes as well as in the transfer to the aquatic system and the trophic network, including man.
Lisandro Verneri – Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
Research title: “The Use of Plants Among Pre-Hispanic and Colonial Populations of the Santiago del Estero Plain (Argentina). Life Trajectories and Variability in Time, Space, and Contexts of Use”
Supervisor: Mariana Fernandez Honaine – Grupo Geoecologia de Suelos y Ambientes Sedimentários
Founding: CONICET
The research is focused on the analysis of consumption patterns, conformation and use of domestic, community and funerary space, installation and subsistence strategies, anthropic management of the environment, socio-political, ritual and economic practices, manufacture, use and circulation of goods and resources. The study of plants involves their use patterns in different social spheres and contexts (domestic, discard and funerary) and in relation to their use in technofactures (textiles, various artifacts, etc.). Specific problems of archaeobotany for the region are investigated, linked to the species used anthropically and their management practices.
María Laura Benvenuto – Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas – Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata)
Research title: “Phytolith analysis in plant communities, current feaces and coprolites of herbivores from Patagonia and Puna, and its application to paleoecological studies”
Doctorate in Biology
Supervisor: Margarita Luisa Osterrieth
Founding: CONICET, UNMdP and FONCyT
This study focuses on the study of the paleoecology of Quaternary mammals, such as camelids and extinct megafauna, through the analysis of coprolite phytoliths and pedosedimentary sequences from arid zones (Northwest and Patagonia, Argentina). In addition to its ecological relevance, this project integrates the complex interactions between climate, vegetation, fauna and human activities through time.
Micaela Paolicchi – Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
Research title: “Silicophytoliths in native coastal communities of southeastern buenos aires and their relationship with bioecological vharscteristics and environmental variables”
Post-Doctorate – CONICET
Supervisor: Mariana Fernandez Honaine – Grupo Geoecologia de Suelos y Ambientes Sedimentários
Founding: CONICET – UNMdP
This research is centered in the analysis of the qualitative and quantitative production of silicophytolites from native plants of coastal communities of southeastern Buenos Aires and their relationship with environmental variables and bioecological characteristics.
Sofía Valentina Ferreyra – Instituto Regional de Estudios Socio-culturales (IRES) CONICET-UNCa
Research title: “Storage, processing and consumption in domestic contexts in Las Sierras de El Alto-Ancasti, during the first millennium of the Era”
Doctorate in Anthropological Sciences
Supervisor: Marcos Quesada – Equipo Interdisciplinarios El Alto-Ancasti (Catamarca, Argentina)
Founding: CONICET (PIP 2021-2023 GI 11220200100358CO) and Universidad Nacional de Catamarca (PID 02/M287)
This research aims to understand the storage, preparation, and consumption of plant foods carried out by village societies in the Sierra del El Alto-Ancasti during the first millennium A.D. Specifically, we focus on identifying the utensils and containers found in different cooking contexts of five archaeological homes from El Alto-Ancasti, recognizing the strategies for processing and consuming food through the analysis of micro-remains of plants found in artifacts and structures. We expect to create a catalog of the plant products and transformation practices carried out to prepare different meals, determining patterns of types of products and processes. Also, we seek to evaluate the presence and distribution of domestic and wild plant taxa and identify differences and similarities between taxa and methods of storage and preparation.
Brazil
Caline Patrícia da Silva Menezes – Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM)
Research title: Phytolith Assemblages in Pleistocene savanna palm swamps (veredas) in central Brazil
Doctorate in Plant Production
Supervisors: Ingrid Horák Terra (Laboratório de Pedologia – UFVJM) and Marcia Regina Calegari (Laboratório Multiusuário de Estudos da Dinâmica Ambiental – Unioeste)
Founding: Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (Universal 001/2022 – APQ-00458-22).
The savanna palm swamps (veredas) are tropical wetlands of the Cerrado Biome and are easily recognized by the occurrence of buriti palms. Despite their high importance as archives of past changes, especially for containing organic soils of Pleistocene age, there is no research published with phytoliths. In this sense, this research focuses the reconstruction of the veredas vegetation in a multi proxy approach. We expect to organize a reference collection of the phytoliths preserved in the studied veredas, as well as obtaining information on vegetation changes over the last 34 thousand years in Central Brazil.
Eduardo Trein Salgado – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Research title: “Environmental and Climatic Evolution Since the Last Glacial Maximum in Coastal Regions of Southern South America and Its Impacts on Native Ecosystems – A Case Study of Butia Palm Groves”
PhD student in Geosciences
Supervisors: Ana Maria Pimentel Mizusaki and Heloisa Helena Gomes Coe (NEPaleo)
Founding: Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
The Butia Palm Grove (BPG) is a South American palm-dominated ecosystem that is under threat despite its ecological, cultural, and archaeological importance. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions were carried out in BPGs in coastal Brazil and Uruguay, utilizing phytoliths, stable isotopes, geophysical methods, and fire regime analysis. In this region, mosaics of grasslands, forest patches, and BPGs are shaped by factors such as climate, sea-level changes, and fire regimes. The findings offer valuable insights into the ecosystem’s resilience and environmental dynamics.
Karina Chueng – Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
Research title: “Environmental Changes and Anthropogenic Transformations in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro: a Multiproxy Analysis”
Post Doctorate in Geosciences
Supervisors: Heloisa Coe (NEPaleo) and Maria Virgínia Alves Martins (MIAP)
Founding: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)
This research project aims to contribute to the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Guanabara Bay – RJ, analyzing silica biomineralizations and foraminifera. This is a pioneering work, as it is the first time that phytoliths have been analyzed in marine sediments from the bottom of the Bay in Brazil. This study is very important for environmental biomonitoring and will be a reference for future studies.
Luan Maler de Oliveira – Universidade Estadual de Maringá
Research title: “Biogenic Silica in the Digestive Tract of Bottom-Fishing Fishes from the Alluvial Plain of the Upper Paraná River, Brazil”
Doctorate in Comparative Biology
Supervisors: Evanilde Benedito and Mauro Parolin – Laboratório de Estudos Paleoambientais da Fecilcam (Lepafe)
Founding: CAPES.
This study aims to identify the quantity and diversity of biogenic silica (spicules, phytoliths and frustules) in the digestive tract of fish in the floodplain of the upper Paraná River. By analyzing the spicules of freshwater sponges preserved in the digestive tracts of fish, it will be possible to identify the occurrence of sponges in these environments. The analysis of waste containing sediment and mud ingested by the fish may contain phytoliths, which may allow us to infer the plant ingested by the animal. Therefore, analyzing the presence of phytoliths ingested by ichthyofauna could enable future studies into the diet, food preference and nutrition of freshwater fish.
Thaís Ribeiro Costa – Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT)
Research title: Evolutionary history of vegetation in the Savanna – Forest ecotone: perspectives on climate fluctuations and variations
PhD In Forest Science
Supervisor: Anne Priscila Dias Gonzaga – Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM) – GEEBE (Grupo de estudos em Ecologia e Biogeografia do Espinhaço)
Founding: CNPQ and CAPES
In this investigation, multiproxy analyses (phytoliths and carbon isotopes – 14C and δ13C) were carried out to identify vegetation fluctuations during the Quaternary in the Parque Nacional das Sempre Vivas – Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve. The results indicate that there were no changes in the boundaries between Savannah and Forest during the Holocene, only changes in vegetation cover in response to a colder and drier climate in the past.
Thamyres Sabrina Gonçalves – Museu Nacional / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Research title: What can microcharcoal tell us about the origin and phytogeographic evolution of the Cadeia do Espinhaço?
Post Doctorate – Instituto Serrapilheira
Founding: Instituto Serrapilheira and FAPERJ
This investigation is centered on the phytogeographic evolution of Serra do Espinhaço Meridional ecosystems. Forest islands, known as capões de mata, occur isolated in the middle of grassland formations associated with drainage lines of the rivers that cut through the Cerrado. Phytolith data revealed that these capões underwent processes of expansion and retraction throughout the Quaternary period and the reference collection was revealed specific morphotypes of little studied species. By analyzing phytoliths and microcharcoals extracted from soil accumulated over thousands of years, we can unravel more of the forest’s past and understand human occupation aspects.