Ecological Change on California's Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Rick, Torben C.; Sillett, T. Scott; Ghalambor, Cameron K.; Hofman, Courtney A.; Ralls, Katherine; Anderson, R. Scott; Boser, Christina L.; Braje, Todd J.; Cayan, Daniel R.; Chesser, R. Terry; Collins, Paul W.; Erlandson, Jon M.; Faulkner, Kate R.; Fleischer, Robert C.; Funk, W. Chris; Galipeau, Russell; Huston, Ann; King, Julie L.; Laughrin, Lyndal; Maldonado, Jesús E.; McEachern, Kathryn; Muhs, Daniel R.; Newsome, Seth D.; Reeder-Myers, Leslie; Still, Christopher J.; Morrison, Scott

doi:10.1093/biosci/biu094

Cited by 54 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Specific research agendas include: colonisation sequences and timing, maritime technologies, concepts of 'isolation' and associated cultural responses, long-term anthropogenic and ecological impacts to marine ecosystems, spatial and temporal variation in resource procurement and subsistence strategies employed, and the role of historical ecology in conservation biology and ecosystem management Rick et al 2014). …”

Section: Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The conceptual framework used here is historical ecology, a multidisciplinary approach for understanding long-term human-environment interactions, with proven utility for investigating prehistoric and historic alterations to marine ecosystems, and considered fundamental for producing culturally informed resource management strategies (e.g., Armstrong et al 2017;Barrett et al 2004;Erlandson et al 2011;Rick et al 2014;Thornton et al 2010). Over the last two decades, ecological frameworks, particularly historical ecology, have been increasingly utilised in Pacific zooarchaeology and specifically ichthyoarchaeology, due to its emphasis on drawing together disparate datasets across multiple disciplines for understanding the historical processes which have shaped and will continue to shape marine ecosystem productivity, reef health, and resource availability (e.g., Jones and Quinn 2009;Kirch and Hunt 1997;Walter 1991).…”

Section: Thesis Research Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Humans are not genetically presupposed to operate according to expected trajectories that manifest in predictable environmental outcomes. Historical ecology is a multidisciplinary approach that does not consider one dataset to be more valid than another-it is a ''holistic engagement of knowledge'' (e.g., Balée 1998Balée , 2006Kirch and Hunt 1997;Rick et al 2014;Walter 1991). Archaeologists have noted the potential of historical ecology to provide unique and inclusive interpretations of human-environment interactions across broad temporal and spatial scales (Fitzpatrick and Intoh 2009: 463).…”

Section: Historical Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Just as modern fisheries studies inform prehistoric reconstructions of Pacific fishing (e.g., Edwards et al 2014), so too can the archaeology of fishing contribute to globally relevant questions of resource sustainability and the effects of climate change through the establishment of ecological baseline data (e.g., Carder et al 2007;Gobalet 2012;Kittinger et al 2014;Rick et al 2014;Schmölcke and Ritchie 2010;Wolverton and Lyman 2012). Given the diverse environments that comprise the Pacific Islands, archaeologists conducting zooarchaeological research have a unique opportunity to provide an unmatched record of the relationship between humans and marine/terrestrial fauna distributions over variable temporal and spatial scales (Butler 2010: 150) and thus provide a unique perspective on current debates about biological conservation.…”

Section: Fisheries Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The archaeology of this region is uniquely positioned to contribute key datasets relevant to globally pertinent issues of food security, sustainable exploitation of fisheries, and the role of changing climates in marine ecosystem stability. The utility of applied zooarchaeology and specifically ichthyoarchaeology have been increasingly demonstrated over the last decade (Broughton et al 2015;Butler and Delacorte 2004;Jackson et al 2001;Kittinger et al 2014;Rick et al 2014;Wolverton and Lyman 2012). A key directive for these research objectives has been the use of historical ecology to integrate ecological and archaeological datasets that vary on temporal and spatial scales (Armstrong et al 2017), thereby providing a unique contribution to the contemporary resource conservation discourse .…”

Section: Chapter 1: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Lambrides¹

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Atolls are often characterised in terms of the environmental constraints and challenges these landscapes impose on sustained habitation, including: nutrient-poor soils and salt laden winds that impede plant growth, lack of perennial surface fresh water, limited terrestrial biodiversity, and vulnerability to extreme weather events and inundation since most atolls are only 2-3 m above sea level. Yet, on Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands in eastern Micronesia, the oceanside and lagoonside intertidal marine environments are expansive, with the reef area four times larger than the land area, supporting a diverse range of taxa. Given the importance of finfish resources in the Pacific, and specifically Ebon, this provided an ideal context for evaluating methods and methodological approaches for conducting Pacific ichthyoarchaeological analyses, and based on this assessment, implement high resolution and globally recognised approaches to investigate the spatial and temporal variation in the Ebon marine fishery. Variability in landscape use, alterations in the range of taxa captured, archaeological proxies of past climate stability, and the comparability of archaeological and ecological datasets were considered. Utilising a historical ecology approach, this thesis provides an analysis of the exploitation of the Ebon marine fishery from initial settlement to the historic period-two millennia of continuous occupation.The thesis demonstrated the importance of implementing high resolution methods and methodologies when considering long-term human interactions with marine fisheries. Improving methods and data quality of Pacific fishing studies included using vertebral morphometrics for fish size reconstructions and the utilisation of all cranial and postcranial remains for taxonomic identifications. Spatial analysis of habitation sites spread across three islets representing the windward-leeward gradient indicated that marine environments local to each site were not influencing taxonomic composition, but the variability in richness and evenness identified is likely a reflection of fishing technology and site function. There was no indication of significant human impact to the inshore reef taxa, which may be a reflection of the flexible foraging strategies implemented and the resilience and structure of these marine environments. As such, the shifts in the relative abundance of skipjack (K. pelamis) in the archaeological sites were attributed to the potential influence of ENSO variability over the last two millennia.With the implementation of these comprehensive methods and the use of historical ecology as a conceptual framework the range of research questions that could be explored was expanded.Consequently, this thesis was able to address some of these questions, including: the identification of variability in foraging practices across small spatial scales, the usefulness of ichthyoarchaeological data for tracking environmental stability, and distinguishing between changes ii in resource availability and s...

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Section: Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thesis Research Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Historical Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fisheries Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chapter 1: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Lambrides¹

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Leaving more than footprints: Anthropogenic nutrient subsidies to a protected area

et al. 2022

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Mobile animals that traverse ecosystem boundaries can fundamentally reshape environments by providing critical nutrient and energy inputs to the ecosystems they inhabit. In particular, aggregations of seabirds often transform coastal and island ecosystems through large amounts of nutrient‐rich guano deposition. Anthropogenically driven losses of these subsidies can occur through changes in abundance of mobile species, including seabirds, and have been shown to drive whole‐scale ecosystem state change on islands. However, even though many species that forage on anthropogenic food sources are highly mobile and may thus play important roles in moving nutrients from urban systems to otherwise conserved ecosystems, the impacts of anthropogenic supplements on spatial subsidies have been largely ignored. Here we examine the effects of large nesting colonies of Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis), a generalist carnivore known to forage on human refuse, on the Channel Islands of California. Specifically, we explore how their foraging on human subsidies may change nutrient deposition patterns at their relatively remote and protected breeding islands. We equipped gulls with GPS loggers to assess the frequency of urban foraging, and we partnered this tracking data with bird density data to estimate the rate of wild and urban‐derived guano deposition on two different islands. Consistent with research on other gull species, we found high (up to 40%) but island‐specific rates of urban foraging, resulting between 66 and 93 kg ha−1 of guano in these two sites during the breeding season, a level greater than half the amount of fertilizer applied annually in typical commercial agricultural settings and likely the primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to this system. Specifically, we estimate that 27 kg ha−1 year−1 of nutrient‐rich guano is shuttled to these otherwise isolated islands from anthropogenic sources. This research highlights the large shadow (i.e., footprint) that human activity can cast on even remote ecosystems by driving significant nutrient enrichment through impacts on animal behavior and connectivity.

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Interpreting palaeofire evidence from fluvial sediments: a case study from Santa Rosa Island, California, with implications for the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

Scott

Hardiman

Pinter

et al. 2016

J Quaternary Science

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International audienceFluvial sequences from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene are exposed in Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, Northern Channel Islands, California, USA, including one outcrop that features centrally in the controversial hypothesis of an extra-terrestrial impact at the onset of the Younger Dryas. The fluvial sequence in Arlington Canyon contains a significant quantity and range of organic material, much of which has been charred. The purpose of this study was to systematically describe the key outcrop of the Arlington sequence, provide new radiocarbon age control and analyse organic material in the Arlington sediments within a rigorous palaeobotanical and palaeo-charcoal context. These analyses provide a test of previous claims for catastrophic impact-induced fire in Arlington Canyon. Carbonaceous spherular materials were identified as predominantly fungal sclerotia; ‘carbon elongates’ are predominantly arthropod coprolites, including termite frass. ‘Glassy carbon’ formed from the precipitation of tars during charcoalification. None of these materials indicate high-temperature formation or combustion. Charcoal and other materials in Arlington Canyon document widespread and frequent fires both before and after the onset of the Younger Dryas, recording predominantly low-temperature surface fires. In summary, we find no evidence in Arlington Canyon for an extra-terrestrial impact or catastrophic impact-induced fire

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Ecological Change on California's Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

Cited by 54 publications

References 45 publications

Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Leaving more than footprints: Anthropogenic nutrient subsidies to a protected area

Interpreting palaeofire evidence from fluvial sediments: a case study from Santa Rosa Island, California, with implications for the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

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