Ancient DNA in Archaeologically Charred Zea Mays L: Prospects and Limitations

Plant remains are an integral part of any archaeological investigation given the large role they play in ancient subsistence economies, medicinal practices, technologies and folklore. However, despite new developments in ancient genetics, research in plant ancient DNA (aDNA) is a relatively young and untouched discipline accounting for less than 7% of all aDNA analyses published in academic literature. As a result, paleoethnobotanists, archaeologists and geneticists have not understood the feasibility and limitations of each other’s field. Few are aware that DNA extraction from charred plant remains is rare and without any kind of standard or working protocol. The possibilities of retrieving aDNA from charred Zea mays L. is considered in this study using modern maize for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) optimization and combining purification methods on ancient samples (1150-1250 AD), resolving the question of whether or not archaeologically charred plants are a viable source for genetic material. The confirmed positive results generate questions about the added-value of maize and how knowledge of genetic attributes can contribute to the growing field of archaeology and ethnobiology while demonstrating the value of these findings as they pertain to the treatment of charred floral remains by archaeologists and First Nation communities

Pop-up restoration in colonial contexts: applying an indigenous food systems lens to ecological restoration

As environmental injustices and their disproportionate harms to Indigenous communities are increasingly acknowledged, restoration strategies are being deployed widely by environmental NGOs, resource extraction industries, and government agencies. The inclusion of Indigenous communities and their knowledges in restoration efforts are often considered progress in the pursuit of ecological reconciliation. However, in some cases we have observed a lack of meaningful progress as settler colonial prescriptions for land-healing can eschew efforts to decolonize ecological restoration — what we have labeled “pop-up restoration.” We consider two restoration efforts underway in St’at’imc and Quw’utsun territories (Canada) and contrast them with what we are learning alongside the communities’ own values and efforts to reclaim and revitalize food systems throughout forest, wetland, and grassland systems. Utilizing culturally appropriate pathways, we then evaluate how applying an Indigenous Food Systems lens to ecological restoration may provide a framework to remedy pop-up restoration, confronting settler colonial aspirations to transform Indigenous homelands while asserting justice in ecological restoration contexts

Historical Indigenous Land-Use Explains Plant Functional Trait Diversity

Human land-use legacies have long-term effects on plant community composition and ecosystem function. While ancient and historical land use is known to affect biodiversity patterns, it is unknown whether such legacies affect other plant community properties such as the diversity of functional traits. Functional traits are a critical tool for understanding ecological communities because they give insights into community assembly processes as well as potential species interactions and other ecosystem functions. Here, we present the first systematic study evaluating how plant functional trait distributions and functional diversity are affected by ancient and historical Indigenous forest management in the Pacific Northwest. We compare forest garden ecosystems - managed perennial fruit and nut communities associated exclusively with archaeological village sites - with surrounding periphery conifer forests. We find that forest gardens have substantially greater plant and functional trait diversity than periphery forests even more than 150 years after management ceased. Forests managed by Indigenous peoples in the past now provide diverse resources and habitat for animals and other pollinators and are more rich than naturally forested ecosystems. Although ecological studies rarely incorporate Indigenous land-use legacies, the positive effects of Indigenous land use on contemporary functional and taxonomic diversity that we observe provide some of the strongest evidence yet that Indigenous management practices are tied to ecosystem health and resilience.&nbsp

Anthropological Contributions to Historical Ecology: 50 Questions, Infinite Prospects

This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key questions for historical ecology from anthropological and archaeological perspectives. The aim of this research is to showcase the variety of questions that reflect the broad scope for historical-ecological research trajectories across scientific disciplines. Historical ecology encompasses research concerned with decadal, centennial, and millennial human-environmental interactions, and the consequences that those relationships have in the formation of contemporary landscapes. Six interrelated themes arose from our consensus-building workshop model: (1) climate and environmental change and variability; (2) multi-scalar, multi-disciplinary; (3) biodiversity and community ecology; (4) resource and environmental management and governance; (5) methods and applications; and (6) communication and policy. The 50 questions represented by these themes highlight meaningful trends in historical ecology that distill the field down to three explicit findings. First, historical ecology is fundamentally an applied research program. Second, this program seeks to understand long-term human-environment interactions with a focus on avoiding, mitigating, and reversing adverse ecological effects. Third, historical ecology is part of convergent trends toward transdisciplinary research science, which erodes scientific boundaries between the cultural and natural

Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects.

This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key questions for historical ecology from anthropological and archaeological perspectives. The aim of this research is to showcase the variety of questions that reflect the broad scope for historical-ecological research trajectories across scientific disciplines. Historical ecology encompasses research concerned with decadal, centennial, and millennial human-environmental interactions, and the consequences that those relationships have in the formation of contemporary landscapes. Six interrelated themes arose from our consensus-building workshop model: (1) climate and environmental change and variability; (2) multi-scalar, multi-disciplinary; (3) biodiversity and community ecology; (4) resource and environmental management and governance; (5) methods and applications; and (6) communication and policy. The 50 questions represented by these themes highlight meaningful trends in historical ecology that distill the field down to three explicit findings. First, historical ecology is fundamentally an applied research program. Second, this program seeks to understand long-term human-environment interactions with a focus on avoiding, mitigating, and reversing adverse ecological effects. Third, historical ecology is part of convergent trends toward transdisciplinary research science, which erodes scientific boundaries between the cultural and natural

Scientists' Warning to Humanity on Threats to Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems

The knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities play critical roles in safeguarding the biological and cultural diversity of our planet. Globalization, government policies, capitalism, colonialism, and other rapid social-ecological changes threaten the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their environments, thereby challenging the continuity and dynamism of Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). In this article, we contribute to the “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity,” issued by the Alliance of World Scientists, by exploring opportunities for sustaining ILK systems on behalf of the future stewardship of our planet. Our warning raises the alarm about the pervasive and ubiquitous erosion of knowledge and practice and the social and ecological consequences of this erosion. While ILK systems can be adaptable and resilient, the foundations of these knowledge systems are compromised by ongoing suppression, misrepresentation, appropriation, assimilation, disconnection, and destruction of biocultural heritage. Three case studies illustrate these processes and how protecting ILK is central to biocultural conservation. We conclude with 15 recommendations that call for the recognition and support of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their knowledge systems. Enacting these recommendations will entail a transformative and sustained shift in how ILK systems, their knowledge holders, and their multiple expressions in lands and waters are recognized, affirmed, and valued. We appeal for urgent action to support the efforts of Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world to maintain their knowledge systems, languages, stewardship rights, ties to lands and waters, and the biocultural integrity of their territories—on which we all depend.Peer reviewe

Historical Ecology of Cultural Landscapes in the Pacific Northwest

Historical ecology is a research program dedicated to uncovering the complex interactions between humans, their lived landscapes, and the repercussions of those relationships on contemporary social-ecological ecosystems. Cultural landscapes can exhibit multifaceted and complex elements that require a creative and novel scientific approach to be understood. A historical-ecological approach iteratively fuses scientific methods in archaeology, biology, paleoecology, and environmental history, with Indigenous research methodologies. Using the Pacific Northwest as a focus, this dissertation addresses the applicative future of historical-ecological research. Four interrelated research contributions are compiled to represent both the broad theoretical applications of historical ecology in a global context, as well as more regionally focused and explicit methodological contributions. In two papers, results from a consensus-driven, priority-setting exercise and literature review, suggest that the future of historical ecology will have implications for policy, stewardship, and decolonizing attitudes towards resource management and climate change research. In a third paper, ethnographic interviews are used to navigate a nexus of federated knowledge surrounding the management of perennial species like hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) and Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) in British Columbia (BC). This work shows that, while the legacy of colonialism has disorganizing effects on Indigenous communities, Indigenous people have distinct traditional ecological knowledge relating to the management of their ancestral homelands. The fourth paper builds on this work by applying a functional ecological approach to analyze anthropogenic forests from archaeological village sites in BC. This analysis illustrates how Indigenous land-use legacies lead to distinct biodiverse ecosystem functions and services. The wide range of co-authors from various fields, institutions, and Indigenous communities in all these papers exemplifies the multidisciplinary and versatile nature of the historical-ecological approach. This dissertation shows that environmental research requires the equitable consilience of multiple voices and disciplines for a future that is socially and environmentally just

Historical Ecology and Ethnobiology: Applied Research for Environmental Conservation and Social Justice

Historical ecology provides a research program and toolkit for applied interdisciplinary research in ethnobiology. With a focus on long-term changes in built environments and cultural landscapes, historical ecology emphasizes the need for scientific collaboration between disciplines for more relevant and applied academic research—particularly in service to environmental conservation and social justice.</p

The practice of historical ecology: What, when, where, how and what for.

In recent decades, there has been a growing number of studies exploring the historical dimensions of the interconnectedness of human societies and the environment. A core approach in this field is historical ecology. We analyzed 544 historical-ecological papers to assess patterns and trends in the field. We found a high degree of interdisciplinarity with a focus on local case studies, of periods of fewer than 500 years, analyzing archival sources through quantitative approaches. The proportion of papers containing management recommendations has increased over time. To make historical ecology globally relevant, more effort should be made to utilize studies across languages, borders and worldviews. We call for high standards regarding the use of social scientific methodologies. Lastly, we argue that fostering longer-term studies and assessing the real-life impact of policy recommendations emerging from historical ecology can help the discipline better contribute solutions to the challenges facing humanity in an uncertain future