Record Details

Campbell, K. E. Jr.;Frailey, D.
Holocene flooding and species diversity in southwestern Amazonia, South America
Quaternary Research
1984
Journal Article
21
3
369-375
geology soils paleoecology diversity speciation seasonality flooding hydrology rivers Madre de Dios Bibliography
A thick blanket of Holocene alluvium lies over southwestern lowland Amazonia, and may possibly occur throughout much of the Amazon Basin. These deposits resulted from massive, seasonal flooding from apprx. 11,000 to apprx. 5000 yr B.P. that was followed by two cycles of erosion and deposition. Southwestern lowland Amazonia probably is ecologically an island in a state of supersaturated disequilibrium as a result of colonization from Pleistocene refugia on its perimeter. Habitats of highest diversity may be the most recent in origin. Conservation efforts and studies of Amazonian biogeography, soils and paleoethnography should be reevaluated in light of the geologic data.
English
DIALOG(R)File 5:(c) 1996 BIOSIS. All rts. reserv.