Sleep

Why do we sleep? It can be dangerous to lose

awareness of the external world. If nothing else, sleep
might seem to take away from time that could be spent on
productive, or even necessary, activities. But people
cannot override indefinitely the desire to sleep; the body
shuts down whether we like it or not. There are three
general explanations that describe the adaptiveness of
sleep: restoration, circadian cycles, and facilitation of
learning.

The restoration theory of sleep emphasizes that the

brain and body need to rest and that sleep allows the body
to repair itself. Indeed, growth hormone is released during
deep sleep, and one of its functions if to facilitate repair of
damaged tissue. Additional evidence that sleep is a time
of restoration is that people who have engaged in vigorous
physical activity, such as running marathons, seem to
sleep longer. But people sleep even if they spend the day
being physically inactive. In addition, it appears that sleep
allows the brain to strengthen the body’s ability to fight
disease.
 Numerous laboratory studies have examined the
effects of sleep deprivation on physical and cognitive
performance. Surprisingly, most studies find that two or
three days of deprivation have little effect on strength,
athletic ability, or cognitive performance on complex tasks.
Performing boring or ordinary tasks when sleep deprived,
however, is nearly impossible. A brain-imaging study of
sleep-deprived people found increased activation of the
prefrontal cortex, suggesting that some brain regions may
compensate for the effects of deprivation. Over long
periods, however, sleep deprivation eventually causes
problems with mood and cognitive performance. Indeed,
studies using rats have found that extended sleep
deprivation compromises the immune system and leads to
death. Interestingly, sleep deprivation might serve one
very useful purpose, which is helping people overcome
depression. Consistent evidence has emerged over the
past decade demonstrating that depriving depressed
people of sleep sometimes alleviates their depression.
This effect appears to occur because sleep deprivation
leads to increased activation of serotonin receptors, which
combat depression.
 The circadian rhythm theory of sleep proposes that
sleep has evolved to keep animals quiet and inactive
during times of the day when there is greatest danger,
which for most is when it is dark. Physiological and brain
processes are regulated into regular patterns known as
circadian rhythms (“circadian” roughly translates to “about
a day”). Body temperature, hormone levels, and sleep-
wake cycles are all examples of circadian rhythms, which

operate like biological clocks. ⬛ These circadian rhythms

are themselves controlled by cycles of light and dark,
although animals continue to show these rhythms when
light cues are removed.

⬛ According to the circadian rhythm theory, animals

need only so much time in the day to accomplish the
necessities of survival, and it is adaptive to spend the

remainder of the time inactive, preferably hidden away. ⬛

Accordingly, the amount an animal sleeps depends on
how much time it needs to obtain food, how easily it can
hide, and how vulnerable it is to attack. Small animals
sleep a great deal, whereas large animals vulnerable to

attack, such as cows and deer, sleep little. ⬛ Large

animals that are not vulnerable, such as lions, also sleep a
great deal.

It has been proposed that sleep may be important

because it is involved in the strengthening of nerve cell
connections that serve as the basis of learning. The
general idea is that circuits that have been wired together
during the waking period are consolidated, or
strengthened, during sleep. Robert Stickgold and
colleagues conducted a study in which they required
participants to learn a complex visual-discrimination task.
They found that participants improved at the task only if
they had slept for at least six hours following training.
Periods of sleep with increased brain activity as well as
periods of sleep with reduced brain activity appeared to be
important for learning to take place. The researchers
argued that learning the task required nerve cell changes
that normally occur only during sleep. Although learning
certainly can take place in the absence of sleep, sleep
seems to be an efficient time for the consolidation of
learning. Infants and the very young, who learn an
incredible amount in a few short years, sleep the most and
also spend the most time in periods of sleep with higher
brain activity.

The Classic Mayan Collapse

The Classic Mayan civilization, located in the lowlands
of present-day southern Mexico and Central America,
began a precipitous decline around A.D. 900. The majority
of the people abandoned their great urban centers,
buildings were no longer kept up, and carved monuments
– a hallmark of the civilization – were no longer created.
Various theories about this collapse have been explored,
such as invasion from foreigners, natural disaster, disease,
failure of agricultural techniques, and internal revolt,
although it is a combination of factors that probably
constitutes the ultimate explanation.

When one looks at the remains of a city, it is difficult to

determine why a building collapsed. Whether caused by
natural disaster, natural decay, or structural weakness, the
rubble and remains can look very similar. There is no
historical record of earthquakes in the central Mayan
lowland area at the end of the Classic period, although
some evidence suggests that Mayan centers in the
southern lowlands experienced earthquakes. Hurricanes
can destroy significant quantities of crops and are
therefore another possibility; however, the effects of both
hurricanes and earthquakes are generally local and not so
widespread as to cause the abandonment of the entire
lowlands. An ill-timed natural disaster certainly could have
compounded other problems brewing in Mayan civilization.

The possibility of drought throughout the area has also

been considered and to date stands as likely contributor to
the collapse. Lake Chichancanab, located in the central
Yucatan Peninsula, is the largest closed-basin lake in the
Yucatan. Studies of lake-bottom sediment revealed that
between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1000, the lake experienced its
driest period in the past 8,000 years, with aridity peaking
in A.D. 922. These are useful findings indeed; however,
Lake Chichancanab represents only one area in the
Mayan region and evidence for drought in other regions
needs to be examined.

Agricultural collapse is most likely to have been

another important factor. ⬛ Research done in 1985

shows an accumulation of silt in the lakes of the Peten

region at the end of the tenth century. ⬛ An increase in

sediment signifies an erosion of soil brought on by

deforestation. ⬛ Slash-and-burn agriculture – a style of

farming that requires clearing new plots of forest land
every two years – was probably the Maya’s primary
means of subsistence. ⬛ It is a system of agriculture
requiring large amounts of land and resulting in
deforestation. It is possible that the Maya simply tapped
their natural resources until none that were accessible
were left.

As populations in the lowlands grew, additional

methods of farming were developed, but the number of
people may have outweighed the capacity of the land,
resulting in a food shortage. Population studies of the
Mayan area continue, but current general consensus puts
the numbers well into the millions. Some scientists say
there was a conversion from diverse agricultural
management to the exclusive cultivation of maize, which
concluded with the end of the Classic period. The shift
reflects the change in Mayan culture and in how the
people were managing their land, although it does not
explain why the change came about. Once the culture’s
resources were stressed, people were more vulnerable to
the hardships of natural disaster, poor health, and social
chaos.

In addition, pottery, architecture, and sculpture in some

Mayan centers changed significantly at the end of the
Classic period, suggesting a takeover by an outside or
surrounding group. Clear evidence of this kind of invasion
has been found at Altar de Sacrificios and Seibal,
although few other sites show such blatant signs. It is not
understood exactly where the invaders came from, but
most likely they were from the surrounding Mexican states.
Also supporting this theory is the fact that the seafaring
Putun Maya of Tabasco, Mexico, were in power in the
Yucatan peninsula by the post-classic period. Lowland
centers whose success depended on internal trade routes
were no longer in the heart of the economic and political
action; as the Putun gained power, the focus of trade
seems to have moved toward the coasts. This could have
pushed people to abandon their homeland, following the
center of commerce.
 The Qualities of a Good Trout
Stream
There are a number of streams in the United States in
which trout (a species of fish) flourish. Such streams as
the Gunnison River, the Battenskill River, Silver Creek,
and numerous others throughout the country are famed
for the abundance of trout that live in them. Yet look at the
range of geographical locations in which these streams
occur: from deciduous eastern forests to coniferous
forests to sagebrush steppe-desert regions. Obviously,
they must have something in common if all support robust
populations of these fish. What are the common
conditions that produce a productive and viable trout
habitat?

Trout streams are generally cool- to cold-water

streams, and most trout species prefer cold water. Brown
trout, however, generally tolerate warmer temperatures
than other trout do, and they can be found at lower
elevations or in warmer stream sections. Preferred
temperatures range from 10C to 16C. As water
temperatures approach about 21C, trout are less able to
compete with other fish species for food and other
resources. Lethal temperatures for trout range from 23C to
26C, depending on the species. Each life stage and
function (e.g. swimming) has optimal temperatures, and
these optima vary with species.

Cover is also vital to trout survival, so good trout

streams contain an adequate amount and diversity of
cover to provide shelter from predators and strong
currents. This cover can be quite diverse and includes
vegetation, boulders in the streambed, overhanging banks,
logs, root wads, undercut areas in the bank of the stream,
and even shade from overhanging objects. Trout are
territorial; that is, each trout tends to remain in a relatively
small area of the stream, however, the area of a stream
that a trout prefers varies with both its age and species.
Thus, adequate cover that provides suitable trout habitats
must be present throughout the stream or river, not just
here and there.

One of the most important and characteristic features

of good trout stream is the alternation of riffles (shallow
areas where the surface is somewhat turbulent) with pools
of slow, smooth-flowing water. This configuration is
especially well developed in gravel-bed streams and
allows trout the luxury of having both productive riffle
areas in which to feed and deeper pools in which to rest
and take cover. Trout have been found to hold a “station”
behind a rock or other obstruction in a rapidly flowing
section of the stream. This permits the fish to expend little
energy in the calm area behind the obstruction while
waiting to make a foray into the rapid flow to capture
drifting prey.
 Trout frequently capture dislodged insects floating
downstream in the water column or on the surface of the
water. They will also actively pick insects from the stream
bottom. Thus, a good trout stream must support an
abundant population of insects, crustaceans, and other
aquatic invertebrates sufficient to feed a large trout
population. Terrestrial insects become food items when
they are blown into the stream, and, of course, larger trout
feed extensively on small fishes – minnows, small trout, or
other species.

Successful, reproducing trout populations require

streams or rivers that provide suitable spawning areas for
the fishes to construct their nests (redds) and lay their

eggs. ⬛ Good spawning sites are gravel-bottom areas

that are largely free of silt so that the water will flow

around the eggs once they are buried by the fishes. ⬛

This water must also be high in dissolved oxygen in order

to adequately aerate the developing eggs. ⬛ Thus

spawning areas are usually in cooler reaches because
cold water holds more dissolved oxygen. ⬛

Typically trout habitat is composed of a combination of

large rocks, rubble, and smaller amounts of sand and
gravel. This does not mean that successful trout
populations are never found in streams with predominantly
sand and silt bottoms. However, trout inhabiting such
areas must have access to stream sections with gravel
bottoms to construct their redds and lay their eggs. The
typical rocky substratum provides many factors that are
conducive to successful trout populations. These include
cover from predators, resting places from the current,
abundant niches for invertebrate food items, and the
enhanced aeration that results from water tumbling over
and among the rocks.