Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America

Resource depression and garden hunting are major topics of archaeological interest, with important implications for understanding cultural and environmental change. Garden hunting is difficult to study using traditional zooarchaeological approaches, but isotopic analyses of animals may provide a marker for where and when people exploited nondomesticated animals that fed on agricultural resources. To realize the full potential of isotopic approaches for reconstructing garden hunting practices—and the impacts of agriculture on past nondomesticated animal populations more broadly—a wider range of species, encompassing many “ecological perspectives,” is needed. We use bone-collagen isotopic compositions of animals (n = 643, 23 taxa, 39 sites) associated with the Late Woodland (~AD 900−1650) in what is now southern Ontario to test hypotheses about the extent to which animals used maize, an isotopically distinctive plant central to subsistence practices of Iroquoian-speaking peoples across the region. Results show that although some taxa—particularly those that may have been hard to control—had substantial access to maize, most did not, regardless of the animal resource requirements of local populations. Our findings suggest that this isotopic approach to detecting garden hunting will be more successful when applied to smaller-scale societies.Le déclin des ressources et la chasse en milieux cultivés sont des sujets d'un grand intérêt archéologique, avec des implications importantes pour la compréhension des changements culturels et environnementaux. La chasse en milieux cultivés est difficile à étudier en utilisant des approches zooarchéologiques traditionnelles, mais les analyses isotopiques des animaux peuvent fournir un marqueur pour savoir où et quand les gens exploitaient des animaux non-domestiqués qui se nourrissaient de produits agricoles. Pour entrevoir le plein potentiel des approches isotopiques pour reconstruire les pratiques de chasse dans les milieux cultivés — et les impacts de l'agriculture sur les populations animales non-domestiquées du passé de manière plus large — un plus large éventail d'espèces, englobant de nombreuses « perspectives écologiques », est nécessaire. Nous utilisons les compositions isotopiques du collagène des ossements d'animaux (n = 643, 23 taxons, 39 sites) associés à la période du Sylvicole supérieur (v. 900−1650 après J.-C.) dans ce qui est maintenant le sud de l'Ontario, afin de tester des hypothèses quant à l'ampleur avec laquelle les animaux ont utilisé le maïs, une plante isotopiquement distincte au cœur des pratiques de subsistance des peuples de langue iroquoienne de la région. Les résultats montrent que bien que certains taxons — en particulier ceux qui peuvent avoir été difficiles à contrôler — avaient un accès substantiel au maïs, la plupart n'en avaient pas, quels que soient les besoins en ressources animales des populations locales. Nos résultats suggèrent que cette approche isotopique de la détection de la chasse dans les milieux cultivés sera plus efficace lorsqu'elle sera appliquée à des sociétés à plus petite échelle.</div

Dietary plasticity and the extinction of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)

The decline of passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) during the late nineteenth century continues to draw substantial public and scientific attention as perhaps the most (in-)famous extinction event in North America's recent history. While humans undeniably caused the extinction, the relative importance of indirect (habitat destruction) versus direct (overhunting) impacts has remained a mystery, in part, due to a lack of scientific evidence for critical aspects of the species’ dietary ecology. One key factor in explaining why passenger pigeons went extinct is that their highly specialized diet and foraging strategy, focusing on mast (tree nuts), were no longer feasible as the forested habitats that they depended on became depleted by deforestation. We used stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N, n = 94) and ancient DNA (n = 9) analyses of archaeological specimens to demonstrate that, during the later Holocene, passenger pigeons had a substantial degree of dietary plasticity (including some individuals specializing in consumption of agricultural crops) that could have allowed them to take advantage of other food opportunities when mast became scarce. Dietary variation is not linked with either biological age (juveniles versus adults) or haplogroup. These results suggest that habitat destruction was less important for the passenger pigeon's extinction than the impacts of hunting and trapping and highlight the tremendous potential of the archaeological record for exploring the factors that led to this species’ extinction

Investigating the sex-selectivity of a middle Ontario Iroquoian Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) fishery through ancient DNA analysis

Prior to European settlement, Indigenous peoples sustainably harvested Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from Lake Ontario for centuries. Previous studies have suggested Indigenous peoples were able to maintain the productivity of Atlantic salmon and lake trout fisheries in the Great Lakes region through the use of resource management strategies. Since males tend to be the surplus sex among salmonids, one way in which Indigenous peoples could have managed Atlantic salmon and lake trout stocks was through the preferential harvesting of males. Here, we sought to investigate whether Indigenous peoples traditionally used sex-selective fishing to manage Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon and lake trout stocks. To address this question, we modified a DNA-based sex identification method developed for ancient Pacific salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) remains to make it applicable to archaeological Atlantic salmonid (Salmo spp.) and char (Salvelinus spp.) remains. This method assigns sex identities to samples through two PCR assays that co-amplify a fragment of the Y-specific salmonid master sex-determining gene (sexually dimorphic on the Y-chromosome gene) and an internal positive control, consisting of a fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop or nuclear clock1b gene. We applied this method to 61 Atlantic salmon and lake trout remains from the Antrex site (AjGv-38), a Middle Ontario Iroquoian (ca. CE 1250 to 1300) village located in the Lake Ontario watershed. Using this method, we successfully assigned sex identities to 51 of these remains (83.61% success rate), highlighting our method’s sensitivity and efficacy. Statistical analyses indicate neither the aggregate sex ratio nor the sex ratios obtained for the individual species were male-biased. This suggests Antrex’s Middle Ontario Iroquoian inhabitants probably did not practice male-selective fishing for Atlantic salmon or lake trout

Evidence for freshwater residency among Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) spawning in New York

Prior to their extirpation around 1900 CE, Lake Ontario hosted the world's largest freshwater Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fishery. Due to their early disappearance, questions remained about fundamental aspects of the species’ biology, such as whether they belonged to sea-run (anadromous) or freshwater resident (potamodromous) ecotypes. Recent isotopic analyses have demonstrated that the complex of Atlantic salmon populations spawning in tributaries emptying along Lake Ontario's northern shores were potamodromous. However, no evidence has yet been gathered for Atlantic salmon migratory behaviour from Lake Ontario's southeastern region, where historical observations suggest both anadromous and potamodromous populations may have spawned. Here, we provide the first results for isotopic analyses of bone collagen from seven fish bones from archaeological sites (c. 1427 to 1600 CE) identified as Atlantic salmon through ancient DNA and zooarchaeological analyses. The results of the isotopic analyses confirm that at least some of the salmon spawning in tributaries emptying into Lake Ontario's southeastern shores were also potamodromous. Although further analyses are needed, this suggests anadromy may have been completely absent in Lake Ontario's complex of Atlantic salmon populations in recent centuries

Aspects of Multicomponent Integrated Care Promote Sustained Improvement in Surrogate Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE The implementation of the Chronic Care Model (CCM) improves health care quality. We examined the sustained effectiveness of multicomponent integrated care in type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We searched PubMed and OvidMEDLINE (January 2000-August 2016) and identified randomized controlled trials comprising two or more quality improvement strategies from two or more domains (health system, health care providers, or patients) lasting ≥12 months with one or more clinical outcomes. Two reviewers extracted data and appraised the reporting quality. RESULTS In a meta-analysis of 181 trials (N = 135,112), random-effects modeling revealed pooledmean differences in HbA1c of20.28%(95%CI20.35 to20.21) (23.1mmol/mol [23.9 to 22.3]), in systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 22.3 mmHg (23.1 to 21.4), in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 21.1 mmHg (21.5 to 20.6), and in LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of 20.14 mmol/L (20.21 to 20.07), with greater effects in patients with LDL-C ≥3.4 mmol/L (20.31 vs. 20.10 mmol/L for 12 months (SBP 23.4 vs. 21.4 mmHg, Pdifference = 0.034; DBP 21.7 vs. 20.7 mmHg, Pdifference = 0.047; LDL-C 20.21 vs. 20.07 mmol/L for 12-month studies, Pdifference = 0.049). Patients with median age <60 years had greater HbA1c reduction (20.35% vs. 20.18% for ≥60 years [23.8 vs. 22.0 mmol/mol]; Pdifference = 0.029). Team change, patient education/self-management, and improved patient-provider communication had the largest effect sizes (0.28-0.36% [3.0-3.9 mmol/mol]). CONCLUSIONS Despite the small effect size of multicomponent integrated care (in part attenuated by good background care), team-based care with better information flow may improve patient-provider communication and self-management in patients who are young, with suboptimal control, and in low-resource settings