Water is a fundamental resource, yet its spatiotemporal availability in East Africa is poorly understood. This is the area where most hominin first occurrences are located, and consequently the potential role of water in hominin evolution and dispersal remains unresolved. Here, we show that hundreds of springs currently distributed across East Africa could function as persistent groundwater hydro-refugia through orbital-scale climate cycles. Groundwater buffers climate variability according to spatially variable groundwater response times determined by geology and topography. Using an agent-based model, grounded on the present day landscape, we show that groundwater availability would have been critical to supporting isolated networks of hydro-refugia during dry periods when potable surface water was scarce. This may have facilitated unexpected variations in isolation and dispersal of hominin populations in the past. Our results therefore provide a new environmental framework in which to understand how patterns of taxonomic diversity in hominins may have developed. Water is a fundamental resource, but its role in hominin evolution is not well explored. Here, the authors use a combination of groundwater, climate and agent-based models to show that groundwater availability may be critical to past patterns of taxonomic diversity in hominin development in East Africa.
Modelling the role of groundwater hydro-refugia in East African hominin evolution and dispersal
M. Cuthbert,T. Gleeson,S. Reynolds,M. Bennett,A. Newton,C. McCormack,G. Ashley
Published 2017 in Nature Communications
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2017
- Venue
Nature Communications
- Publication date
2017-05-30
- Fields of study
Geology, Medicine, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- agent-based model
A simulation framework that represents interacting agents moving and behaving across a landscape.
- climate variability
Fluctuations in climate conditions that alter water availability over time.
- geology and topography
Landscape properties that influence groundwater storage, flow, and emergence.
- groundwater availability
The amount of usable groundwater accessible in a given area.
- groundwater hydro-refugia
Groundwater-fed refugial areas in East Africa that can maintain water access across dry intervals.
- groundwater response times
The timescale on which groundwater systems react to changes in climate forcing.
- hominin populations
Populations of early human relatives considered in the evolutionary interpretation of the model.
- hydro-refugia networks
Connected or isolated sets of refugial locations that can sustain water availability through dry phases.
- orbital-scale climate cycles
Long-term climate oscillations paced by Earth's orbital variations.
- potable surface water
Drinkable water available from surface sources such as rivers, lakes, or ponds.
- present-day landscape
The modern East African landscape used as the spatial basis for the simulation.
- springs
Natural groundwater discharge points that provide surface water in the landscape.
- taxonomic diversity
Variation in the number and distribution of hominin taxa considered in the broader evolutionary framework.
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