DIETARY CHANGE OF NORTH PATAGONIAN GUANACOS: A HISTORICAL ECOLOGY PERSPECTIVE THROUGH THE STUDY OF STABLE ISOTOPES

ADOLFO GIL; CLARA OTAOLA; JONATHAN DOMBROSKY; MARTÍN LUNA; GISELA QUIROGA; ARMANDO DAUVERNÉ; STEVEN WOLVERTON; ROBERTO PEREYRA LOBOS; GUSTAVO NEME

HOLOCENE (SEVENOAKS)

SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD

Lugar: London; Año: 2023

0959-6836

This paper presents the results of a study on the isotopic ecology of guanacos in central western Argentina. We examine the historical population ecology of guanacos using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from pre-Hispanic and modern guanaco populations (n = 129), considering variability in two ecoregions: the Monte hot desert and the Andean-Patagonian cold desert. Our study addresses the consistency of guanaco diets over time, evaluating paleoecology to provide information for conservation of this taxon. We found significant differences in isotopic niche size between modern and archaeological guanacos. When analyzed by ecoregion, there were significant differences in niche size through time, indicating that guanacos had distinctive dietary habits and occupied different ecological niches across the ecoregions. Comparing Standard Ellypse Areas (SEA) through time and across space, we observed that the archaeological SEA for guanacos is smaller than its modern counterpart in the Andean-Patagonia ecoregion. Conversely, in Monte, the archaeological SEA is larger than the one established for modern samples. The contrast between pre-Hispanic and modernpopulations highlight the impact of human activity and conservation efforts on the distribution and ecology of guanacos. These findings have important implications for understanding guanaco ecology with consequences for conservation policies.