Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:13:40.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pleistocene changes in the flora of the high tropical Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Beryl B. Simpson
Beryl B. Simpson*
Affiliation:
Dept. Botany, Smithsonian Inst., Washington, D. C. 20560
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geological data show that high Andean habitats have been available for plant colonization only since the end of the Tertiary. The manner in which plant species moved into these habitats, the times during which, and the methods by which they differentiated during the Pleistocene varied altitudinally and latitudinally along the tropical Andes. The process of speciation in all areas, however, was the same as that in temperate environments, namely, geographic isolation and subsequent divergence. Except on the Altiplano, most plant species expanded their ranges during glacial periods when vegetation zones were lowered. In the northern paramos at elevations above treeline, colonization was greatest during glacial periods but has always occurred in a manner similar to that of oceanic islands. At lower elevations in the northern Andes, and along the Eastern Cordillera, direct migration was possible in glacial times because of increased contiguity of upper montane forest habitats. On the upper slopes of the west coast of Perú, glacial-age plant migrations were fostered more by changes in precipitation than by the lowering of vegetation belts. In all of these areas, interglacial periods were, and are, times of isolation and differentiation. Across the Altiplano in contrast, glacial periods were times of population fragmentation accompanied by differentiation and/or speciation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , Summer 1975 , pp. 273 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Ahlfeld, F. 1970. Zur Tektonik des andinen Bolivien. Geol. Rundsch. 59:1124–1140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahlfeld, F., and Braniša, L. 1960. Geología de Bolivia. 246 pp. Inst. Bol. Pet.; La Paz, Bolivia.Google Scholar
Aristeguieta, L. 1964. Compositae. Part 1. pp. 1–486. In: Lasser, T., ed. Flora de Venezuela. Vol. 10. Publication of the Instituto Botanico, Caracas. Special Publication.Google Scholar
Arrhenius, G. O. S. 1959. Climatic records on the ocean floor. pp. 121–129. In: Bolin, B., ed. The Atmosphere and the Sea in Motion. Rossby Memorial Volume. 509 pp. Rockefeller Inst. Press; New York, N.Y.Google Scholar
Ashton, P. S. 1969. Speciation among tropical forest trees: some deductions in the light of recent evidence. pp. 155–196. In: Lowe-McConnel, R. H., ed. Speciation in Tropical Environments. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 1:1–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bermúdez, P. J. 1969. Cuaternario y reciente en Venezuela. Mem. Soc. Cienc. Nat. La Salle. 24:43–59.Google Scholar
Bjerknes, J. 1961. “El Niño” study based on analysis of ocean surface temperatures 1935–57. Inter-Am. Trop. Tuna Comm. 5:217–272.Google Scholar
Bowman, I. 1916. The Andes of Southern Perú. 336 pp. Henry Holt & Co.; New York, N.Y.Google Scholar
Brown, J. H. 1971. Mammals on mountaintops: nonequilibrium insular biogeography. Am. Nat. 105:467–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brüggen, J. 1950. Fundamentos de la Geología de Chile. 374 pp. Inst. Geogr. Mil.; Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Cabrera, A. L. 1945. Sinopsis del género Lepidophyllum (Compositae). Bull. Soc. Argent. Bot. 1:48–58.Google Scholar
Cabrera, A. L. 1965. Revisión del género Mutisia (Compositae). Opera Lilloana. 13:1–227.Google Scholar
Chapman, F. M. 1917. The distribution of bird-life in Colombia; a contribution to a biological survey of South America. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 36:1–730.Google Scholar
Chardon, C. E. 1938. Apuntaciones sobre el origen de la vida en los Andes. Bol. Soc. Cienc. Nat. (Caracas, Venezuela). 5:1–47.Google Scholar
Childs, O. E., and Beebe, B. W., eds. 1963. Backbone of the Americas. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:1–320.Google Scholar
Clapperton, C. M. 1972. The Pleistocene moraine stages of west-central Perú. J. Glaciol. 11:255–263.Google Scholar
Colinvaux, P. A. 1972. Climate and the Galapagos Islands. Nature. 240:17–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constance, L. 1949. The South American species of Arracacia (Umbelliferae) and some related genera. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 76:39–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, R. E. 1974. Origin of the highland avifauna of southern Venezuela. Syst. Zool. 23:257–265.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1954. Synopsis der Gattung Loricaria Wedd. Feddes Rep. 56:149–173.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1957. A sketch of the vegetation of the north-andean province. Proc. 8th Pac. Sci. Congr. 9:167–173.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1958. Aspectos de la vegetacion natural de Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físcicas y Naturales; Bogotá. 10:221–268.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1967. Revisión de las especies colombianas del género Baccharis. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físcicas y Naturales; Bogotá. 13:5–102.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1968. Notas adicionales, taxonomicas y corologicas, sobre Baccharis. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físcicas y Naturales; Bogotá. 13:201–226.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1969. Prima Flora Colombiana. 3. Compositae—Astereae. Webbia. 24:1–335.Google Scholar
Cuatrecasas, J. 1970. Reinstatement of the genus Llerasia (Compositae). Biotropica. 2:39–45.Google Scholar
Dixon, W. J., ed. 1973. BMD. Biomedical Computer Programs. 773 pp. Univ. Calif. Press; Berkeley, Calif.Google Scholar
Emiliani, C. 1966. Paleotemperature analysis of Caribbean cores P6304-8 and P6304-9 and a generalized temperature curve for the past 425,000 years. J. Geol. 74:109–124.Google Scholar
Epling, C. 1942. The American species of Scutellaria. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 20:1–146.Google Scholar
Epling, C. 1948. A synopsis of the tribe Lepechinieae (Labiatae). Brittonia. 6:352–364.Google Scholar
Federov, An. A. 1966. The structure of the tropical rain forest and speciation in the humid tropics. J. Ecol. 54:1–11.Google Scholar
Gansser, A. 1955. Ein Beitrag zur Geologie und Petrographie der Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Kolumbien, Südamerika). Schweiz. Min. Pet. Mitt. 35:209–279.Google Scholar
Garner, H. F. 1959. Stratigraphic-sedimentary significance of contemporary climate and relief in four regions of the Andes mountains. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 70:1327–1368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geel, B. van, and van der Hammen, T. 1973. Upper Quaternary vegetation and climatic sequence of the Fuquene area (Eastern Cordillera, Colombia). Palaeogeogr., Paleoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 14:9–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodall, D., ed. 1975. Evolution of Desert Biota. (in press) Univ. Tex. Press; Austin, Tex.Google Scholar
Haffer, J. 1970a. Entstehung und Ausbreitung nord-Andiner Bergvögel. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 97:301–337.Google Scholar
Haffer, J. 1970b. Geologic-climatic history and zoogeographic significance of the Uraba region in northwestern Colombia. Caldasia. 10:603–636.Google Scholar
Haffer, J. 1974. Avian speciation in tropical South America. Publ. Nuttall Ornithol. Club. 14:1–390.Google Scholar
Ham, C. K., and Herrera, L. J. 1963. Role of the subandean fault system in tectonics of eastern Perú and Ecuador. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:47–61.Google Scholar
Hammen, Th. van der 1961. Late Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphy and tectogenesis of the Colombian Andes. Geol. Mijnbouwkd. 40:181–188.Google Scholar
Hammen, Th. van der 1972a. História de la vegetacion y el medio ambiente del norte sudamericano. pp. 119–134. Mem. de Symp. I. Congr. Lat. Am. Mex. Bot. 3–9 December, Mexico, D. F., Mex.Google Scholar
Hammen, Th. van der 1972b. Changes in vegetation and climate in the Amazon Basin and surrounding areas during the Pleistocene. Geol. Mijnbouwkd. 51:641–643.Google Scholar
Hammen, Th. van der, and Gonzales, E. 1960. Upper Pleistocene and Holocene climate and vegetation of the “Sabana de Bogota” (Colombia, South America). Leidse Geol. Meded. 25:261–315.Google Scholar
Harrington, H. J. 1956. An explanation of the geologic map of South America. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 65:xii–xviii.Google Scholar
Hastenrath, S. 1971a. On snowline depression and atmospheric circulation in the tropical Americas during the Pleistocene. S. Afr. Geogr. J. 53:53–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastenrath, S. 1971b. On the Pleistocene snowline depression in the arid regions of the South American Andes. J. Glaciol. 10:255–267.Google Scholar
Hastenrath, S. 1972. A note on recent and Pleistocene altitudinal zonation in southern Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 68:96–102.Google Scholar
Heiser, C. B. Jr. 1945. A revision of the genus Schkuhria. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 32:265–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrero-Ducloux, A. 1963. The Andes of western Argentina. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:16–28.Google Scholar
Hitchcock, L. C. 1945. The south American species of Lepidium. Lilloa. 11:75–134.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G. E. 1950. Survey of existing knowledge of biogeochemistry. 3. The biogeochemistry of vertebrate excretion. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 96:1–554.Google Scholar
Jacobs, C., Bürgl, H., and Conley, D. L. 1963. Backbone of Colombia. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:62–72.Google Scholar
James, D. E. 1971. Plate tectonic model for the evolution of the Central Andes. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 82:3325–3346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenks, W. F., ed. 1956a. Handbook of South American Geology. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 65:1–378.Google Scholar
Jenks, W. F. 1956b. Perú. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 65:213–247.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. P., and Raven, P. H. 1970. Natural regulation of plant species diversity. Evol. Biol. 4:127–162.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. P., and Raven, P. H. 1973. Species number and endemism: the Galapagos Archipelago revisited. Science. 179:893–895.Google Scholar
Kessler, A. 1963. Über Klima und Wasserhaushalt des Altiplano (Bolivien, Perú) während des Hochstandes der letzten Vereisung. Erdkd. 17:165–173.Google Scholar
Khanna, K. R., and Rollins, R. C. 1965. A taxonomic revision of Cremolobus (Cruciferae). Contrib. Gray Herb. 195:135–157.Google Scholar
Koepcke, H.-W. 1961. Synökologische Studien an der Westseite der peruanischen Anden. Bonn. Geogr. Abh. 29:1–320.Google Scholar
Koepcke, M. 1958. Die Vogel des Waldes von Zárate. Bonn. Zool. Beitr. 2/4. 130–193.Google Scholar
Lohmann, H. H. 1970. Outline of tectonic history of Bolivian Andes. Bull. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 54:735–757.Google Scholar
Luz, B. 1973. Stratigraphic and paleoclimatic analysis of late Pleistocene tropical southeast Pacific cores. Quaternary Res. 3:56–72.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. A., and Wilson, E. O. 1967. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Monographs in Population Biology 1. 204 pp. Princeton Univ. Press; Princeton, N.J.Google Scholar
Mathias, M., and Constance, L. 1951. A revision of the Andean genus Niphogeton (Umbelliferae). Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 23:405–426.Google Scholar
Mathias, M., and Constance, L. 1962a. The Andean genus Niphogeton (Umbelliferae) revisited. Brittonia. 14:148–155.Google Scholar
Mathias, M., and Constance, L. 1962b. A revision of Asteriscium and some related hydrocotyloid Umbelliferae. Univ. of Calif. Publ. Bot. 33:99–184.Google Scholar
Mauriello, D., and Roskoski, J. P. 1974. A re-analysis of Vuilleumier's data. Am. Nat. 108:711–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mencher, E. 1963. Tectonic history of Venezuela. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:73–87.Google Scholar
Murillo, L. M. 1951. Colombia. Un archipielago biológico. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físcicas y Naturales; Bogotá. 8:168–202.Google Scholar
Paynter, R. A. Jr. 1972. Biology and evolution of the Atlapetes schistaceus species group (Aves: Emberizinae). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 143:297–320.Google Scholar
Petersen, U. 1958. Structure and uplift of the Andes of Perú, Bolivia, Chile and adjacent Argentina. Bol. Soc. Geol. Perú. 33:57–129.Google Scholar
Sarmiento, G. 1975. Evolution of arid vegetation in tropical America. In: Goodall, D., ed. Evolution of Desert Biota. (in press) Univ. Texas Press; Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Sauer, W. 1971. Geologie von Ecuador. 316 pp. Borntraeger; Berlin, Germany.Google Scholar
Simpson, B. B. 1974. Glacial migrations of plants: island biographical evidence. Science. 185:698–700.Google Scholar
Simpson, B. B. 1975. Glacial climates in the eastern tropical South Pacific. Nature. 253:34–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. C., and Koch, M. F. 1935. The genus Espeletia: a study in phylogenetic taxonomy. Brittonia. 1:479–543.Google Scholar
Smith, L. B. 1957. The Bromeliaceae of Colombia. Contrib. U. S. Natl. Herb. 33:1–312.Google Scholar
Smith, L. B. 1971. Bromeliaceae. pp. 1–362. In: Lasser, T., ed. Flora de Venezuela. Vol. 12. Publication of the Instituto Botanico. Caracas. Special Publication.Google Scholar
Solbrig, O. 1960. The South American sections of Erigeron and their relation to Celmisia. Contrib. Gray Herb. 88:65–86.Google Scholar
Solbrig, O. 1975. The origin and floristic affinities of the South American temperate desert and semiarid regions. In: Goodall, D., ed. Evolution of Desert Biota. (in press) Univ. Tex. Press; Austin, Tex.Google Scholar
Sonnenberg, F. P. 1963. Bolivia and the Andes. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2:36–46.Google Scholar
Tricart, J. 1963. Oscillations et modifications de caractère de la zone aride en Afrique et en Amerique Latine lors des périodes glaciaires de hautes latitudes. pp. 415–419. In: Changes in Climate with Special Reference to Arid Zones. Proc. Rome Symp. Organized by U.N.E.S.C.O. and the World Meteorol. Organ. 1961. Arid Zone Res. Ser. U.N.E.S.C.O. 20.Google Scholar
Tricart, J., Dollfus, O., and Cloots-Hirsch, A. R. 1969. Les études françaises du Quaternaire Sud-Americain. Études françaises sur le Quaternaire présentées à l'occasion du VIII Congrès I International de I.N.Q.U.A. pp. 215–234. Suppl. Bull. Assoc. française pour l'étude du quaternaire.Google Scholar
Troll, C. 1968. The cordilleras of the tropical Americas. Aspects of climate, phytogeographical and agrarian ecology. pp. 15–56. In: Troll, C., ed. Geo-ecology of the Mountainous Regions of the Tropical Americas. 224 pp. Proc. U.N.E.S.C.O. Mexico Symp. Colloq. Geogr., Geogr. Inst. Univ. Bonn. 9.Google Scholar
Tryon, A. F. 1962. A monograph of the fern genus Jamesonia. Contrib. Gray Herb. 191:109–203.Google Scholar
Turner, J. C. M. 1970. The Andes of northwestern Argentina. Geol. Rund. 59:1028–1063.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, B. S. 1969. The systematics and evolution of Perezia sect. Perezia (Compositae). Contrib. Gray Herb. 199:1–163.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, B. S. 1971. Pleistocene changes in the fauna and flora of South America. Science. 173:771–780.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, F. 1968. Population structure of the Astenes flammulata superspecies (Aves: Furnariidae). Breviora. 297:1–21.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, F. 1969. Systematics and evolution in Diglossa (Aves: Coerebidae). Am. Mus. Novit. 2381:1–44.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, F. 1970. Insular biogeography in continental regions. I. The northern Andes of South America. Am. Nat. 104:373–388.Google Scholar
Vuilleumier, F. 1971. Generic relationships and speciation patterns in Ochthoeca, Myiotheretes, Xolmis, Neoxolmis, Agriornis, and Muscisaxicola. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 141:181–232.Google Scholar