Human Niche Construction and the Rural Environment

Eriksson, Ove

doi:10.16993/rl.aa

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Niche construction has been argued to include a wide range of human activities, for which it has drawn criticism for being amorphous or a catch-all phrase. However, we see niche construction as helpful in understanding human land use, as land-based activities leave a long-lasting footprint that feeds into how future society can construct niches [11][12][13][14][15]. We argue that niche construction responds to resource risk with land use activities, and these leave a residual mark on the land in the form of both features and spatial organization.…”

Section: Understanding Risk and Human Niche Constructionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Coping with Risk. A Deep-Time Perspective on Societal Responses to Ecological Uncertainty in the River Dalälven Catchment Area in Sweden

Hatlestad

Wehlin

Lindholm

2021

Land

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In addressing the current climate crisis, research into how past societies have coped with risk and ecological uncertainty can provide old solutions to new problems. Here, we examine how human niche construction can be seen as risk management in the face of uncertainty by exploring the spatial patterning of land-use activities over time. Dalarna county, an agriculturally marginal boreal forest environment, provides the opportunity for addressing change in terms of agricultural responses and other activities. C14 archaeological records complied by Dalarna Museum were the base of this analysis. The spatial and temporal components of these Boreal Forest records were analyzed in the open-source software QGIS, guided by a historical ecology framework. Human niches diversified and intensified during specific periods in the Boreal forest environment; our focus has been on how humans managed resource risk related to the ecological uncertainty within this forest environment characterized by long winters and short growing seasons. We conclude that constructed niches shaped the Boreal Forest, spanning its environmentally unique upland and lowland regions, into a more predictable environment. Tracking the diversity, multi-functionality, and intensity of these past land-use activities can provide insights for best practices in land management, not only for the Boreal Forest area, but also for elsewhere. These insights will assist in policy-making decisions, as the methodology is adaptable and replicable for various landscapes.

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Section: Understanding Risk and Human Niche Constructionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Coping with Risk. A Deep-Time Perspective on Societal Responses to Ecological Uncertainty in the River Dalälven Catchment Area in Sweden

Hatlestad

Wehlin

Lindholm

2021

Land

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“…We may have no direct evidence of how farmers up till the 19th century felt about their landscapes, but it seems unlikely that beauty was an important driver behind management practices. In fact, existing documentation from the early 20th century [93] suggests that historical hay-meadow harvesting was so exhausting physically that it seems more likely that the farmers considered hay-meadows as awkward. Thus, although the physical location of a semi-natural grassland where old cadastral maps confirm a long uninterrupted management confers "authenticity of place", old cultural landscapes are obviously not authentic socio-ecologically.…”

Section: New Landscapes Mimicking Features Of Old Cultural Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and Current Niche Construction in an Anthropogenic Biome: Old Cultural Landscapes in Southern Scandinavia

Eriksson

2016

Land

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Conceptual advances in niche construction theory provide new perspectives and a tool-box for studies of human-environment interactions mediating what is termed anthropogenic biomes. This theory is useful also for studies on how anthropogenic biomes are perceived and valued. This paper addresses these topics using an example: "old cultural landscapes" in Scandinavia, i.e., landscapes formed by a long, dynamic and continuously changing history of management. Today, remnant habitats of this management history, such as wooded pastures and meadows, are the focus of conservation programs, due to their rich biodiversity and cultural and aesthetic values. After a review of historical niche construction processes, the paper examines current niche construction affecting these old cultural landscapes. Features produced by historical niche construction, e.g., landscape composition and species richness, are in the modern society reinterpreted to become values associated with beauty and heritage and species' intrinsic values. These non-utilitarian motivators now become drivers of new niche construction dynamics, manifested as conservation programs. The paper also examines the possibility to maintain and create new habitats, potentially associated with values emanating from historical landscapes, but in transformed and urbanized landscapes.

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Versatility as a cultural niche: palynological evidence on Iron Age and medieval land use on the Åland Islands

Larsson,

Alenius,

Ilves

2023

Acta Borealia

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Human Niche Construction and the Rural Environment

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Coping with Risk. A Deep-Time Perspective on Societal Responses to Ecological Uncertainty in the River Dalälven Catchment Area in Sweden

Coping with Risk. A Deep-Time Perspective on Societal Responses to Ecological Uncertainty in the River Dalälven Catchment Area in Sweden

Historical and Current Niche Construction in an Anthropogenic Biome: Old Cultural Landscapes in Southern Scandinavia

Versatility as a cultural niche: palynological evidence on Iron Age and medieval land use on the Åland Islands

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