The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource

Burch, Ernest S.

doi:10.2307/278435

Cited by 143 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This may be a consequence of the grouping behavior of this species (Burch 1972, Skarin et al 2008. Indeed, we found calves with up to 6 kg difference in body mass (i.e., with approximately 15% difference in mass) moving together in the same group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Animals often face the trade-off of optimizing foraging while limiting predation. In variable and seasonal environments the availability of resources changes spatially and temporally, forcing animals to adapt their spatial foraging patterns over time and, thus, to modify their exposure to predation. Previous research has mostly dealt with the causes and consequences of animal spatial patterns separately, with studies either examining how changes in the environment influence habitat selection, or determining the effects of habitat use on vulnerability to predation. Here we combine these aspects through an examination of how weather conditions affect predation risk by modifying the spatial behavior of the prey. We used reindeer calves (Rangifer tarandus) in Norway to investigate (1) the environmental causes and (2) the survival consequences of habitat use. We further examined how those relationships varied temporally and according to the body mass of calves. We found that deep snow and ice conditions led reindeer to shift from their usually preferred high-elevation pastures to lowland forested areas. This increase in forest use was associated with lower calf survival, mostly due to elevated lynx (Lynx lynx) predation rates. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) and wolverines (Gulo gulo) also preyed on calves but their effect was much smaller and not associated with a specific habitat type. The link between climatic conditions, habitat use, and predation changed over the winter season and depended on the body weights of the calves. The effect of harsh weather conditions on reindeer use of forested habitats was stronger towards the end of the winter, which coincides with more deteriorated body conditions and lower food availability on high-elevation pastures, and predation probabilities were higher for smaller individuals. Our study demonstrates that environmental variation importantly affects predator-prey interactions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

et al. 2014

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“…Population densities at the end of the Pleistocene were probably much lower than in 1840 because systematic hunting of marine mammals in arctic Alaska only began ca 5 cal ka BP (Ackerman, 1998). Ethnographic records from arctic Alaska and Canada suggest caribou-dependent, inland groups had significantly lower population densities of <0.01 persons/km 2 (<1 person/100 km 2 ) (Burch, 1972), which is similar to the densities of wolves and bears on the landscape today (Table 1). Human ecology in northern Alaska during the PleistoceneeHolocene transition was probably much more like the caribou-reliant, inland Iñupiat lifestyle than it was like the coastal one ca 1840, and, judging from the scarcity of archaeological sites dating to the PleistoceneeHolocene transition and early Holocene, it is likely that the North Slope lay near the northern range limit of humans at this time.…”

Section: A Role For Humans?mentioning

confidence: 65%

“…The second is on the Kivalina River at the western end of the Brooks Range where Paleoindian artifacts and associated caribou bones date between 13.1 and 11.1 cal ka BP (Hedman and Rasic, unpublished data). At the time of European contact, caribou were a staple food for people in the interior of northern Alaska, and human population sizes closely tracked caribou abundance (Burch, 1972(Burch, , 1980Lent, 1988).…”

Section: A Role For Humans?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival

Mann

Groves

Kunz

et al. 2013

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Groves, Pamela; Kunz, Michael L.; Reanier, Richard E.; and Gaglioti, Benjamin V., "Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival" (2013 a b s t r a c tRadical restructuring of the terrestrial, large mammal fauna living in arctic Alaska occurred between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Steppe bison, horse, and woolly mammoth became extinct, moose and humans invaded, while muskox and caribou persisted. The ice age megafauna was more diverse in species and possibly contained 6Â more individual animals than live in the region today. Megafaunal biomass during the last ice age may have been 30Â greater than present. Horse was the dominant species in terms of number of individuals. Lions, short-faced bears, wolves, and possibly grizzly bears comprised the predator/scavenger guild. The youngest mammoth so far discovered lived ca 13,800 years ago, while horses and bison persisted on the North Slope until at least 12,500 years ago during the Younger Dryas cold interval. The first people arrived on the North Slope ca 13,500 years ago. Bone-isotope measurements and foot-loading characteristics suggest megafaunal niches were segregated along a moisture gradient, with the surviving species (muskox and caribou) utilizing the warmer and moister portions of the vegetation mosaic. As the ice age ended, the moisture gradient shifted and eliminated habitats utilized by the dryland, grazing species (bison, horse, mammoth). The proximate cause for this change was regional paludification, the spread of organic soil horizons and peat. End-Pleistocene extinctions in arctic Alaska represent local, not global extinctions since the megafaunal species lost there persisted to later times elsewhere. Hunting seems unlikely as the cause of these extinctions, but it cannot be ruled out as the final blow to megafaunal populations that were already functionally extinct by the time humans arrived in the region.

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“…Arrow 1 (N species  11) marks the Holocene species diversity in Ireland (Woodman et al 1997) networks (Figure 2). High mobility comes at a substantial social and reproductive cost, resulting in low population densities and high demographic instability (Burch 1972;Mandryk 1993;Odess 1998).…”

Section: Hunter-gatherer Demography and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, no physical storage of resources is documented for this technocomplex, nor is there evidence for the use of dogs or watercraft to aid in covering long distances. Although the debate about reindeer herd following as a viable hunter-gatherer adaptation is fi erce (Burch 1972(Burch , 1991Gordon 1990aGordon , 1990b, a case can be made for the Hamburgian technocomplex to represent an attempt at practicing just that, an unaided pedestrian herd-following economy (Riede 2007b(Riede , 2009a.…”

Section: Case Study 3: Demography Social Relations and Biosocial Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies

Riede

2009

Human Biology

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Although difficult to estimate for prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations, demographic variables-population size, density, and the connectedness of demes-are critical for a better understanding of the processes of material culture change, especially in deep prehistory. Demography is the middle-range link between climatic changes and both biological and cultural evolutionary trajectories of human populations. Much of human material culture functions as a buffer against climatic changes, and the study of prehistoric population dynamics, estimated through changing frequencies of calibrated radiocarbon dates, therefore affords insights into how effectively such buffers operated and when they failed. In reviewing a number of case studies (Mesolithic Ireland, the origin of the Bromme culture, and the earliest late glacial human recolonization of southern Scandinavia), I suggest that a greater awareness of demographic processes, and in particular of demographic declines, provides many fresh insights into what structured the archaeological record. I argue that we cannot sideline climatic and environmental factors or extreme geophysical events in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture change. The implications of accepting demographic variability as a departure point for evaluating the archaeological record are discussed. Abstract Although diffi cult to estimate for prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations, demographic variables-population size, density, and the connectedness of demes-are critical for a better understanding of the processes of material culture change, especially in deep prehistory. Demography is the middle-range link between climatic changes and both biological and cultural evolutionary trajectories of human populations. Much of human material culture functions as a buffer against climatic changes, and the study of prehistoric population dynamics, estimated through changing frequencies of calibrated radiocarbon dates, therefore affords insights into how effectively such buffers operated and when they failed. In reviewing a number of case studies (Mesolithic Ireland, the origin of the Bromme culture, and the earliest late glacial human recolonization of southern Scandinavia), I suggest that a greater awareness of demographic processes, and in particular of demographic declines, provides many fresh insights into what structured the archaeological record. I argue that we cannot sideline climatic and environmental factors or extreme geophysical events in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture change. The implications of accepting demographic variability as a departure point for evaluating the archaeological record are discussed.Culture can usefully be conceptualized as a system of information transmission across generations that takes on Darwinian properties, because it displays features of variation between individuals, heritability of traits, and differential representation of these traits between generations (e.g., Boyd and Richerson 1985;Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman 1981;Eerkens and Lipo 200...

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The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource

Cited by 143 publications

References 10 publications

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies

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The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource

Cited by 143 publications

References 10 publications

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

Environmental variation as a driver of predator‐prey interactions

Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated14C Dates as Population Proxies

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Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies