Documenting ancient plant management in the northwest of North AmericaThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical Garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association.

Lepofsky, Dana; Lertzman, Ken

doi:10.1139/b07-094

Cited by 62 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Although much of this work has focused on terrestrial management systems, the clam gardens documented in this study add to a growing literature documenting Ecology and Society 21(4): 20 http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss4/art20/ traditional marine management systems and the long-term effects these practices can have on species and ecosystems (e.g., CostaPierce 1987, Hunn et al 2003, Langdon 2006, Lepofsky and Caldwell 2013, Lepofsky et al 2015, Thornton 2015. Although evidence for past resource management can be somewhat elusive (Lepofsky and Lertzman 2008), many management practices do leave an imprint on the landscape, resulting in a mix of archaeological site types. The abundance and diversity of sites within Kwakshua Channel is reflective of the range of past landscape modifications as well as the natural diversity of ecosystems in the area.…”

Section: Larval Clam Delivery and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 86%

Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems

Jackley¹,

Gardner²,

Djunaedi³

et al. 2016

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Indigenous communities have actively managed their environments for millennia using a diversity of resource use and conservation strategies. Clam gardens, ancient rock-walled intertidal beach terraces, represent one example of an early mariculture technology that may have been used to improve food security and confer resilience to coupled human-ocean systems. We surveyed a coastal landscape for evidence of past resource use and management to gain insight into ancient resource stewardship practices on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada. We found that clam gardens are embedded within a diverse portfolio of resource use and management strategies and were likely one component of a larger, complex resource management system. We compared clam diversity, density, recruitment, and biomass in three clam gardens and three unmodified nonwalled beaches. Evidence suggests that butter clams (Saxidomus gigantea) had 1.96 times the biomass and 2.44 times the density in clam gardens relative to unmodified beaches. This was due to a reduction in beach slope and thus an increase in the optimal tidal range where clams grow and survive best. The most pronounced differences in butter clam density between nonwalled beaches and clam gardens were found at high tidal elevations at the top of the beach. Finally, clam recruits (0.5-2 mm in length) tended to be greater in clam gardens compared to nonwalled beaches and may be attributed to the addition of shell hash by ancient people, which remains on the landscape today. As part of a broader social-ecological system, clam garden sites were among several modifications made by humans that collectively may have conferred resilience to past communities by providing reliable and diverse access to food resources.

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Section: Larval Clam Delivery and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 86%

Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems

Jackley¹,

Gardner²,

Djunaedi³

et al. 2016

E&S

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“…A growing body of evidence indicates that Pacific Northwest peoples were active stewards of local landscapes and resources, including plant management systems 74–77 , anthropogenic burning and forest management 32 , and aquatic resource management 78 . Those practices were developed over millennia in adaptive response to seasonal and annual fluctuations in resource availability typical of the Canadian Plateau northern temperate region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunter-Gatherers Harvested and Heated Microbial Biogenic Iron Oxides to Produce Rock Art Pigment

MacDonald

Stalla

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Red mineral pigment use is recognized as a fundamental component of a series of traits associated with human evolutionary development, social interaction, and behavioral complexity. Iron-enriched mineral deposits have been collected and prepared as pigment for use in rock art, personal adornment, and mortuary practices for millennia, yet little is known about early developments in mineral processing techniques in North America. Microanalysis of rock art pigments from the North American Pacific Northwest reveals a sophisticated use of iron oxide produced by the biomineralizing bacterium Leptothrix ochracea; a keystone species of chemolithotroph recognized in recent advances in the development of thermostable, colorfast biomaterial pigments. Here we show evidence for human engagement with this bacterium, including nanostructural and magnetic properties evident of thermal enhancement, indicating that controlled use of pyrotechnology was a key feature of how biogenic iron oxides were prepared into paint. Our results demonstrate that hunter-gatherers in this area of study prepared pigments by harvesting aquatic microbial iron mats dominated by iron-oxidizing bacteria, which were subsequently heated in large open hearths at a controlled range of 750 °C to 850 °C. This technical gesture was performed to enhance color properties, and increase colorfastness and resistance to degradation. This skilled production of highly thermostable and long-lasting rock art paint represents a specialized technological innovation. Our results contribute to a growing body of knowledge on historical-ecological resource use practices in the Pacific Northwest during the Late Holocene.Figshare link to figures: https://figshare.com/s/9392a0081632c20e9484.

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“…These communities support animals, including deer (Odocoileus spp. ), elk, porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), and many migratory birds, that are used for food and regalia (Wray andAnderson 2003, Lepofsky andLertzman 2008). Promoting the variety of ecocultural resources desired by tribes depends upon maintaining a diversity of fire effects within large landscape areas that are suitable for harvesting over extended periods.…”

Section: Active Management Integrated With Conservation Of Old Foresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Escaping social-ecological traps through tribal stewardship on national forest lands in the Pacific Northwest, United States of America

Long¹,

Lake²

2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America (USA) have long-standing relationships to ancestral lands now managed by federal land management agencies. In recent decades, federal and state governments have increasingly recognized tribal rights to resources on public lands and to participate in their management. In support of a new planning initiative to promote sustainable land management, we reviewed scientific publications to examine relationships between tribal social-ecological systems and public lands in the region. We identified key ecocultural resources, impacts to those resources, and associated forest ecosystems, and strategies that have been piloted to redress those impacts. We found that many factors stemming from colonization by Euro-Americans have engendered social-ecological traps that have inhibited tribes from continuing traditional land stewardship activities that supported their well-being and maintained ecological integrity. These long-standing factors include legal and political constraints on tribal access and management; declining quality and abundance of forest resources due to inhibition of both natural disturbance and indigenous tending regimes; competition with nontribal users; species extirpations and introductions of invasive species; and erosion of tribal traditional ecological knowledge and relationships that are important for revitalizing resource use. As a consequence, both supply and demand for these forest resources have been reduced, as have the resilience and diversity of these ecosystems. Simply permitting resource harvest by tribal members does not sufficiently address the underlying constraints in ways that will promote tribal well-being. Escaping these traps will require addressing a gamut of ecological and social constraints through cooperative restoration efforts between land management agencies and tribes, several of which we highlight as examples. Because tribally focused restoration strategies generally align with broader strategies suggested to restore national forests in the region, they can foster both tribal well-being and ecological sustainability.

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Cited by 62 publications

References 45 publications

Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems

Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems

Hunter-Gatherers Harvested and Heated Microbial Biogenic Iron Oxides to Produce Rock Art Pigment

Escaping social-ecological traps through tribal stewardship on national forest lands in the Pacific Northwest, United States of America

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