The implications of stakeholders' perceptions of land for sustainable land use management in NE Ghana

There are negative implications of changes in stakeholders traditional land perceptions for sustainable land use and management in north-east Ghana. In African tenurial systems, land use was based on a local mystical view of the environment and stakeholders broad-based knowledge of the local environments. These led to sustainable resource use and management. However, in the context of current political ecology of north-east Ghana as induced by increased population growth, urbanisation, the market economy, changes in religious beliefs, and government land policies, stakeholders understandings of land have acquired even greater importance in issues of sustainable land resource use and management. A mixed methodological approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative data gathering techniques for information on stakeholders land perceptions, was used to analyse their implications for sustainable land use and management. Changes in the dynamics of stakeholders perceptions of land are partly responsible for the current state of land and environmental degradation in north-east Ghana. Policies aimed at ensuring sustainable land use and environmental management must focus on those traditional land perceptions, which encourage environmental sustainabilit

Terminal Pleistocene fish remains from Homestead Cave, Utah, and implications for fish biogeography in the Bonneville Basin

Journal ArticleEleven fish species were identified from Homestead Cave, Utah. The remains, concentrated in the lowest stratum of the deposit, were accumulated by owls between approximately 11,200 and 10,100 14C yr B.P. and likely represent fish associated with the final die-off of the Lake Bonneville fauna. Four of the species (Salvelinus confluentus, Prosopium abyssicola, Catostomus discobolus, Richardsonius balteatus) represent their first records for Lake Bonneville. The S. confluentus premaxilla is the first Quaternary specimen record for the genus in the Great Basin and suggests a southern range extension during the Pleistocene. The C. discobolus specimens represent the first fossil records for the subgenus Pantosteus in the Great Basin; their presence in Lake Bonneville documents a Pleistocene connection between two presently disjunct populations. The hyomandibulars of Prosopium gemmifer are different from Recent specimens in a pattern suggesting Holocene introgression with Prosopium spilonotus. The lack of Cottus echinatus and the presence of both Cottus bairdi and Cottus extensus may suggest the former species evolved in Utah Lake over the last approximately 10,000 yr B.P. The abundance of Catostomus ardens and the absence of Chasmistes liorus may reflect a restricted spatial distribution of the latter in Lake Bonneville

Pristine benchmarks and indigenous conservation? Implications from California zooarchaeology

pre-printThe superabundance of tame wildlife during the early historic period in California astonished European explorers. And the historic accounts of incredible animal densities, most notably artiodactyls, have influenced a long-held perception that California Indians lived in harmony with nature. However, analyses of archaeological faunal materials from sites covering a wide range of ecological contexts provide evidence for substantial impacts on a variety of large vertebrate taxa as human population densities expanded over the last c. 3000 years. The evidence suggests that many large vertebrate species, including sturgeon (Acipenser spp.), geese (Anser, Chen, Branta), tule elk (Cervus elpahus nannodes). mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn (Antilocapra americans), were driven to extremely low numbers by human hunting by late prehistoric times. The early historic accounts of large game superabundances almost surely reflect irruptions of those populations after preceding waves of European-based disease dramatically reduced their chief predators - the California Indians. These results have implications for conservation policies that are founded on early historic period landscape benchmarks and proposals involving the management of wilderness areas through the use of indigenous hunting and harvesting methods

Resource intensification and late Holocene human impacts on Pacific coast bird populations: evidence from the Emeryville shellmound avifauna

Book ChapterAnthropologists and conservation biologists have commonly assumed that the distributions and abundances of vertebrate resources recorded during the early historic period in North America reflected a "pristine" condition. This view follows from the perception that Native American population densities and technological capabilities were simply too low to deplete or extirpate vertebrate populations, or, alternatively, that native peoples were "children of nature" and the original conservationists (Alvard 1993, 1994; Kay 1994). In fact, these perceptions underlie modern wildlife management policies and practices. For example, because pre-Columbian environments are routinely viewed as "primordial wilderness" (Hewes 1973:150), restoring ecosystems to their "original condition" simply requires the elimination of European influences; this is the principle behind "hands-off" or "natural regulation" management (Kay 1994)

Prehistoric human impacts on California birds: evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound Avifauna

Journal ArticleThe abundance of artiodactyls, marine mammals, waterfowl, seabirds, and other animals in 18th- and 19th-century California astonished early explorers, and the incredible wildlife densities reported in their accounts are routinely taken as analogues for the original or pristine zoological condition. However, recent analyses of archaeological fish and mammal materials from California and elsewhere in western North America document that those early historic-period faunal landcsapes represent poor analogues for prehistoric environments, because they postdate a dramatic 16th- or 17th-century population-crash of native hunters. The superabundance of tame wildlife witnessed during the early historic period may only reflect population irruptions that followed the demise of their main predators. While analyses of archaeological faunas from California have documented that prehistoric peoples had substantial impacts on populations of fish and mammals, harvest pressure on bird populations has yet to be documented. The hypothesis that prehistoric hunters caused depressions of avian taxa is tested here through a description and analysis of the Emeryville Shellmound avifauna: the first substantial, well-documented archaeological bird sequence for the late Holocene of California. A total of 64 species is represented by the 5,736 identified bird specimens derived from the stratified Emeryville deposits that date from between 2,600 and 700 years ago; waterfowl, cormorants, and shorebirds dominate the collection. Chrono-stratigraphic trends in relative taxonomic abundances and age structure within those groups are consistent with long-term anthropogenic depressions resulting from expansion of regional human populations over the occupational history of the mound. In general, large-sized bird species, those that occupied habitats closer to bayshore human residences, and those that were otherwise sensitive to human hunting pressure decreased in numbers over time. In the waterfowl assemblage, geese (Branta canadensis, B. hutchinsii, Anser albifrons, Chen caerulescens, C. rossii) declined significantly over time as compared with ducks, and the remains of the largest-sized geese (B. canadensis moffitti, A. albifrons, C. caerulescens) declined as compared with the smaller ones (e.g. B. hutchinsii, C. rossii). As hunting returns from local patches decreased over time, ever-increasing use was made of more distant, marine-oriented duck taxa - namely scoters (Melanitta fusca and M. perspicillata). Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritis) were especially hard-hit by human harvesting activities, which caused the extirpation of local island-based colonies; changes in the relative age and species composition of the regional Phalacrocorax fauna; and, ultimately, a nearly complete abandonment of cormorant hunting. Finally, the largest species of shorebirds-Marbled God wits (Limosa fedoa), Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus), and Whimbrels (N. phaeopus) - declined significantly over time, in comparison with smaller shorebird species. None of those patterns are correlated with changes in pertinent paleoenvironmental records that might indicate that they were caused by climate-based environmental change. They suggest, however, that activities of human foragers had a fundamental influence on the late Holocene avian fauna of the region, and that records of bird abundances, distributions, and behavior from the early historic period are anomalous in the context of the past several thousand years of intensive human harvesting. The conclusions presented here challenge the conventional wisdom regarding prehistoric landscape ecology in North America and have important implications for analyses that require information on long-term population histories, including those involving modern patterns in genetic diversity directed toward conservation related problems

Size of the bursa of fabricius in relation to gonad size and age in laysan and black-footed albatrosses

Journal ArticleAge determination can be difficult for birds that undergo little or no plumage change during life. This is the case for Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses (Diomedea immutabilis and D. nigripes). The juvenile plumage for both these North Pacific albatrosses is completely grown by about five to six months of age, just prior to their first flight, and is largely indistinguishable from the definitive basic plumage. Consequently, no well-documented methods of distinguishing newly fledged birds, older pre-breeders, or breeding-aged adults has been described for these species (Harrison 1985)

Cathedral cave fishes

Journal ArticleTable XLI provides the numbers of identified fish specimens by element from Stratum II at Cathedral Cave. The criteria used to arrive at those identifications are provided in chapter nine. A total of 547 identified fish specimens are represented in this deposit; all of those are sculpin. The mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi) is represented by three preopercles. Five preopercles were identified as either Bear Lake sculpin (Cottus extensus) or Utah Lake sculpin (C. echinatus). Both C. extensus and C. bairdi are represented in the Homestead Cave fauna as well as from the Hot Springs and Black Rock late Pleistocene deposits of Lake Bonneville (Smith and others, 1968). Since C. echinatus has yet to be securely identified in any Lake Bonneville ichthyofauna, the materials identified as C. extensus/echinatus most likely represent C. extensus

Homestead cave Ichthyofauna

Journal ArticleBiological evidence on the climatic and hydrographic history of the intermountain region would be much richer, if we had more than the present dribble of paleontological data on the fishes (Hubbs and Miller, 1948, p. 25). In this passage from their landmark synthesis of historical fish biogeography in the Great Basin, Hubbs and Miller lament the dearth of available fish fossil evidence and suggest that a far more detailed picture of past climates and hydrography would emerge were this situation to change. To Hubbs and Miller, the geographic distributions, both past and present, held the "least assailable" evidence of past hydrographic connections and climatic history of the Great Basin since "...fishes appear to occur only in habitats which they have been able to reach through surface water connections, by means of either active or passive migration. The dispersal of fishes is therefore closely linked with the history of water courses." The key assumption of this approach followed the earlier pioneering work of Jordan (1905) and was succinctly paraphrased by Smith, G. R. (in press): "fish are where they can swim and stop there

Biogeochemistry of inundated actual acid sulfate soils, Cairns, Australia

Tidal exchange is used to rehabilitate actual acid sulfate soils at East Trinity, Cairns, Australia, The aims of this study were to evaluate the biogeochemistry of inundated actual acid sulfate soils and to establish the uptake and exclusion of environmentally significant elements by plants colonising such soils. The survey was designed not only to test different native plant species, but also to assess different plant tissue, such as roots and the above-ground biomass. The chosen site was ideal for this research as the East Trinity site has undergone recent inundation with seawater. Hence, the selected site was particularly suitable for establishing the transfer of environmentally significant elements during the remediation process. The biogeochemical analysis indicate pronounced enrichment of Al and lesser concentrations of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn in the tissue of the mangrove fern Acrostichum speciosum and the grass species Paspalum vaginatum. In particular, the uptake of Al, As, Co, Cu and Zn by Paspalum vaginatum and Acrostichum speciosum increase linearly with EDTA- extractable soil metal concentrations. In comparison to background samples, the roots ans tems of Acrostichum speciousum and of Paspalum vaginatum display higher Co, Cr and Zn and higher Cu and Zn concentrations, respectively. In general the two plant species growing on the inundated soils have translocation factors (TF, metal concentration ratio of plant foliage to roots) for all elements less than one. These plants growing in inundated soils acquire higher metal concentrations despite their tendency to exclude metals from their biomass. Thus, the applied remediation technique at East Trinity promotes the transfer of environmentally significant elements (Co, Cd, Cu, Zn) into local plant species. Also, the Al concentrations in roots and stems of Paspalum vaginatum from inundated soils and background sites are distinctly elevated. Such Al concentrations exceed NRC (1980) animal feed guidelines, indicating that this plant species, prevalent in coast mangrove grasslands, poses a toxicity threat to farmed animals

Australian indigenous children with low cognitive ability:family and cultural participation

Family and cultural inclusion are essential for the healthy development of young Australian Indigenous peoples with low cognitive ability. To date, this issue has received limited research attention. A secondary analysis of data collected in Wave 4 of Footprints in Time, Australia’s Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, was conducted to help address this research gap. The study results indicated that in some areas, Indigenous children with low cognitive ability are at a higher risk of social exclusion than their peers. We discuss the policy implications of these findings with regards to addressing Indigenous disadvantag