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Santana-Cordero AM, Szabó P, Bürgi M, Armstrong CG. The practice of historical ecology: What, when, where, how and what for. AMBIO 2024; 53:664-677. [PMID: 38441861 PMCID: PMC10992833 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-01981-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aarón Moisés Santana-Cordero
- Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Salamanca, Calle Cervantes s/n, 37001, Salamanca, Spain.
- Grupo Geografía, Medio Ambiente y Tecnologías de la Información Geográfica, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Parque Científico Tecnológico, Taliarte, 35214, Telde, Spain.
| | - Péter Szabó
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, 60200, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 60200, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matthias Bürgi
- Research Unit Land Change Science, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Chelsey Geralda Armstrong
- Indigenous Studies, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
- Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
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2
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Westbury MV, Brown SC, Lorenzen J, O’Neill S, Scott MB, McCuaig J, Cheung C, Armstrong E, Valdes PJ, Samaniego Castruita JA, Cabrera AA, Blom SK, Dietz R, Sonne C, Louis M, Galatius A, Fordham DA, Ribeiro S, Szpak P, Lorenzen ED. Impact of Holocene environmental change on the evolutionary ecology of an Arctic top predator. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf3326. [PMID: 37939193 PMCID: PMC10631739 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf3326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
The Arctic is among the most climatically sensitive environments on Earth, and the disappearance of multiyear sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is predicted within decades. As apex predators, polar bears are sentinel species for addressing the impact of environmental variability on Arctic marine ecosystems. By integrating genomics, isotopic analysis, morphometrics, and ecological modeling, we investigate how Holocene environmental changes affected polar bears around Greenland. We uncover reductions in effective population size coinciding with increases in annual mean sea surface temperature, reduction in sea ice cover, declines in suitable habitat, and shifts in suitable habitat northward. Furthermore, we show that west and east Greenlandic polar bears are morphologically, and ecologically distinct, putatively driven by regional biotic and genetic differences. Together, we provide insights into the vulnerability of polar bears to environmental change and how the Arctic marine ecosystem plays a vital role in shaping the evolutionary and ecological trajectories of its inhabitants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael V. Westbury
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
| | - Stuart C. Brown
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
- Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Department for Environment and Water, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Julie Lorenzen
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
| | - Stuart O’Neill
- Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Michael B. Scott
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9L0G2, Canada
| | - Julia McCuaig
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9L0G2, Canada
| | - Christina Cheung
- Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Edward Armstrong
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Paul J. Valdes
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | | | - Andrea A. Cabrera
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
| | - Stine Keibel Blom
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
| | - Rune Dietz
- Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, Roskilde DK-4000, Denmark
- Section for Marine Mammal Research, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Roskilde DK-4000, Denmark
| | - Christian Sonne
- Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, Roskilde DK-4000, Denmark
- Section for Marine Mammal Research, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Roskilde DK-4000, Denmark
| | - Marie Louis
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, PO Box 570, Nuuk 3900, Denmark
| | - Anders Galatius
- Section for Marine Mammal Research, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Roskilde DK-4000, Denmark
| | - Damien A. Fordham
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
- Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Sofia Ribeiro
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
- Glaciology and Climate Department, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
| | - Paul Szpak
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9L0G2, Canada
| | - Eline D. Lorenzen
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
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3
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Liow LH, Uyeda J, Hunt G. Cross-disciplinary information for understanding macroevolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2023; 38:250-260. [PMID: 36456381 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 10/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Many different macroevolutionary models can produce the same observations. Despite efforts in building more complex and realistic models, it may still be difficult to distinguish the processes that have generated the biodiversity we observe. In this opinion we argue that we can make new progress by reaching out across disciplines, relying on independent data and theory to constrain macroevolutionary inference. Using mainly paleontological insights and data, we illustrate how we can eliminate less plausible or implausible models, and/or parts of parameter space, while applying comparative phylogenetic approaches. We emphasize that such cross-disciplinary insights and data can be drawn between many other disciplines relevant to macroevolution. We urge cross-disciplinary training, and collaboration using common-use databases as a platform for increasing our understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee Hsiang Liow
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo 0562, Norway.
| | - Josef Uyeda
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Gene Hunt
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
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Dillon EM, Pier JQ, Smith JA, Raja NB, Dimitrijević D, Austin EL, Cybulski JD, De Entrambasaguas J, Durham SR, Grether CM, Haldar HS, Kocáková K, Lin CH, Mazzini I, Mychajliw AM, Ollendorf AL, Pimiento C, Regalado Fernández OR, Smith IE, Dietl GP. What is conservation paleobiology? Tracking 20 years of research and development. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1031483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Conservation paleobiology has coalesced over the last two decades since its formal coining, united by the goal of applying geohistorical records to inform the conservation, management, and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet, the field is still attempting to form an identity distinct from its academic roots. Here, we ask a deceptively simple question: What is conservation paleobiology? To track its development as a field, we synthesize complementary perspectives from a survey of the scientific community that is familiar with conservation paleobiology and a systematic literature review of publications that use the term. We present an overview of conservation paleobiology’s research scope and compare survey participants’ perceptions of what it is and what it should be as a field. We find that conservation paleobiologists use a variety of geohistorical data in their work, although research is typified by near-time records of marine molluscs and terrestrial mammals collected over local to regional spatial scales. Our results also confirm the field’s broad disciplinary basis: survey participants indicated that conservation paleobiology can incorporate information from a wide range of disciplines spanning conservation biology, ecology, historical ecology, paleontology, and archaeology. Finally, we show that conservation paleobiologists have yet to reach a consensus on how applied the field should be in practice. The survey revealed that many participants thought the field should be more applied but that most do not currently engage with conservation practice. Reflecting on how conservation paleobiology has developed over the last two decades, we discuss opportunities to promote community cohesion, strengthen collaborations within conservation science, and align training priorities with the field’s identity as it continues to crystallize.
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Mychajliw AM, Ellwood ER, Alagona PS, Anderson RS, Balisi MA, Biber E, Brown JL, George J, Hendy AJW, Higgins L, Hofman CA, Leger A, Ordeñana MA, Pauly GB, Putman BJ, Randall JM, Riley SPD, Shultz AJ, Stegner MA, Wake TA, Lindsey EL. Lessons for conservation from beneath the pavement. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2022; 36:e13983. [PMID: 36069058 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M Mychajliw
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biology and Environmental Studies Program, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, USA
| | - Elizabeth R Ellwood
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- iDigBio, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Peter S Alagona
- Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - R Scott Anderson
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Mairin A Balisi
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, California, USA
- Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, The Webb Schools, Claremont, California, USA
| | - Eric Biber
- School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Justin L Brown
- National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
| | - Jessie George
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Austin J W Hendy
- Department of Invertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Lila Higgins
- Community Science Program, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Courtney A Hofman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Ashley Leger
- Cogstone Resource Management, Orange, California, USA
| | - Miguel A Ordeñana
- Community Science Program, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Gregory B Pauly
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Breanna J Putman
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, California, USA
| | - John M Randall
- The Nature Conservancy, California Chapter, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Seth P D Riley
- National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Allison J Shultz
- Department of Ornithology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - M Allison Stegner
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, California, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Thomas A Wake
- The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Emily L Lindsey
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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A community-developed extension to Darwin Core for reporting the chronometric age of specimens. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0261044. [PMID: 36107867 PMCID: PMC9477364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Darwin Core, the data standard used for sharing modern biodiversity and paleodiversity occurrence records, has previously lacked proper mechanisms for reporting what is known about the estimated age range of specimens from deep time. This has led to data providers putting these data in fields where they cannot easily be found by users, which impedes the reuse and improvement of these data by other researchers. Here we describe the development of the Chronometric Age Extension to Darwin Core, a ratified, community-developed extension that enables the reporting of ages of specimens from deeper time and the evidence supporting these estimates. The extension standardizes reporting about the methods or assays used to determine an age and other critical information like uncertainty. It gives data providers flexibility about the level of detail reported, focusing on the minimum information needed for reuse while still allowing for significant detail if providers have it. Providing a standardized format for reporting these data will make them easier to find and search and enable researchers to pinpoint specimens of interest for data improvement or accumulate more data for broad temporal studies. The Chronometric Age Extension was also the first community-managed vocabulary to undergo the new Biodiversity Informatics Standards (TDWG) review and ratification process, thus providing a blueprint for future Darwin Core extension development.
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Viteri MC, Hadly EA. Spatiotemporal impacts of the Anthropocene on small mammal communities, and the role of small biological preserves in maintaining biodiversity. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.916239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The multi-faceted impacts of the Anthropocene are increasingly modifying natural ecosystems and threatening biodiversity. Can small protected spaces conserve small mammal diversity across spatial and temporal scales of human impact? We identified small mammal remains from modern raptor pellets and Holocene archeological sites along a human modification gradient in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA and evaluated alpha and beta diversity across sites and time periods. We found that Shannon diversity, standardized species richness, and evenness decrease across modern sites based on level of human modification, with no corresponding change between Holocene sites. Additionally, the alpha diversity of modern sites with moderate and high levels of human modification was significantly lower than the diversity of modern sites with low levels of human modification as well as all Holocene sites. On the other hand, the small mammal communities from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a small protected area, retain Holocene levels of alpha diversity. Jasper Ridge has also changed less over time in terms of overall community composition (beta diversity) than more modified sites. Despite this, Holocene and Anthropocene communities are distinct regardless of study area. Our results suggest that small mammal communities today are fundamentally different from even a few centuries ago, but that even relatively small protected spaces can partially conserve native faunal communities, highlighting their important role in urban conservation.
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Thurstan RH. The potential of historical ecology to aid understanding of human-ocean interactions throughout the Anthropocene. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2022; 101:351-364. [PMID: 35061243 PMCID: PMC9545720 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Marine historical ecology emerged in the scholarly literature with the aim of understanding long-term dynamics in marine ecosystems and the outcomes of past human-ocean interactions. The use of historical sources, which differ in temporal scale and resolution to most scientific monitoring data, present both opportunities and challenges for informing our understanding of past marine ecosystems and the ways in which human communities made use of them. With an emphasis upon marine social-ecological changes over the past 200 years, I present an overview of the relevant historical ecology literature and summarise how this approach generates a richer understanding of human-ocean interactions and the legacies associated with human-induced ecosystem change. Marine historical ecology methodologies continue to be developed, whereas expanded inter- and multidisciplinary collaborations provide exciting avenues for future discoveries. Beyond scholarship, historical ecology presents opportunities to foster a more sustainable relationship with oceans going forward: by challenging ingrained perceptions of what is "normal" within marine ecosystems, reconnecting human communities to the oceans and providing cautionary lessons and exemplars of sustainable human-ocean interactions from the past. To leverage these opportunities, scholars must work alongside practitioners, managers and policy makers to foster mutual understanding, explore new opportunities to communicate historical findings and address the challenges of integrating historical data into modern-day frameworks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth H. Thurstan
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
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In Support of Sustainability: The Historical Ecology of Vertebrate Biodiversity and Native American Harvest Practices in the Florida Keys, USA. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14116552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
The Florida Keys are currently experiencing unprecedented loss of lifeways, biodiversity, and cultural heritage due to sea-level rise, catastrophic storm events, unsustainable traditions of resource exploitation, and land development. Yet, these islands have a long history of human occupation and socioecological systems underlying their current sustainability crisis that date back at least 2500 years. Here we report early results of ongoing zooarchaeological research from Upper Matecumbe Key designed to explore anthropogenic engagement with vertebrate fauna between AD 800 and 1250, providing an approximately 500-year window on marine fisheries and terrestrial faunal harvesting for this small island archipelago. Focusing on one of the few remaining, nearly intact Native American archaeological sites in the region, our research contributes to critically needed long-term anthropogenic perspectives on harvest patterns relevant to regional biodiversity conservation and sustainability initiatives.
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Barclay KM, Leighton LR. Predation Scars Reveal Declines in Crab Populations Since the Pleistocene. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.810069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite growing concerns over global fisheries, the stock status of most commercially exploited species are poorly understood. Fossil data provide pre-anthropogenic baselines for data-poor fisheries, yet are underutilized in fisheries management. Here, we provide the first use of predation traces to assess the status of fisheries (crab). We compared crab predation traces on living individuals of the crab prey gastropod, Tegula funebralis, to Pleistocene individuals from the same regions in southern California. There were fewer crab predation traces on modern gastropods than their Pleistocene counterparts, revealing reductions in crab abundances today compared to the Pleistocene. We conclude that: (1) regardless of the cause, immediate actions are required to avoid further population reductions of commercially exploited crabs in southern California, (2) predation traces are a rapid, cost-effective method to assess otherwise data-poor fisheries, and (3) the inclusion of fossil data provides key new insights for modern resource and fisheries management.
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Powell J, Axmacher JC, Linnell JDC, Durant SM. Diverse Locations and a Long History: Historical Context for Urban Leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Early Anthropocene From Seoul, Korea. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.765911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While the urban landscapes of the early Anthropocene may appear hostile to large carnivores, humans and leopards (Panthera pardus) are known to co-inhabit major urban centres like Mumbai (India), Nairobi (Kenya) and Johannesburg (South Africa). We provide evidence that the presence of leopards in urban landscapes is not, however, a new phenomenon and has occurred repeatedly over the early history of the Anthropocene. Using records of Amur leopards (P. p. orientalis) in Seoul, Korea, at the end of the 19th century, a capital city and major urban centre with a high human population density, we explore socio-cultural, political and ecological factors that may have facilitated human-leopard co-occurrence in an urban landscape and the factors that eventually led to the leopards' extirpation. We suggest that, in the absence of unsustainable levels of persecution by humans, leopards are able to persist in urban landscapes which contain small patches of dense vegetation and have sufficient alternative food supplies. In light of the continued expansion of urban landscapes in the 21st century and increasing conservation focus on the presence of large carnivore populations there, this paper provides historical context to human co-existence with leopards in urban landscapes during the Anthropocene–and what we can learn from it for the future.
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12
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Hallman TA, Robinson WD, Curtis JR, Alverson ER. Building a better baseline to estimate 160 years of avian population change and create historically informed conservation targets. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2021; 35:1256-1267. [PMID: 33274484 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Globally, anthropogenic land-cover change has been dramatic over the last few centuries and is frequently invoked as a major cause of wildlife population declines. Baseline data currently used to assess population trends, however, began well after major changes to the landscape. In the United States and Canada, breeding bird population trends are assessed by the North American Breeding Bird Survey, which began in the 1960s. Estimates of distribution and abundance prior to major habitat alteration would add historical perspective to contemporary trends and allow for historically based conservation targets. We used a hindcasting framework to estimate change in distribution and abundance of 7 bird species in the Willamette Valley, Oregon (United States). After reconciling classification schemes of current and 1850s reconstructed land cover, we used multiscale species distribution models and hierarchical distance sampling models to predict spatially explicit densities in the modern and historical landscapes. We estimated that since the 1850s, White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) and Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) populations, 2 species sensitive to fragmentation of oak woodlands and grasslands, declined by 93% and 97%, respectively. Five other species we estimated nearly stable or increasing populations, despite steep regional declines since the 1960s. Based on these estimates, we developed historically based conservation targets for amount of habitat, population, and density for each species. Hindcasted reconstructions provide historical perspective for assessing contemporary trends and allow for historically based conservation targets that can inform current management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler A Hallman
- Monitoring Department, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, Sempach, CH-6204, Switzerland
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, U.S.A
| | - W Douglas Robinson
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, U.S.A
| | - Jenna R Curtis
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd. Ithaca, New York, NY, 14850, U.S.A
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Abstract
How can the disintegration of ecosystems, the foundation of life on Earth, be halted and these critical systems be rehabilitated? For scholars, the action list is long: increase the pool of expertise by engaging all relevant knowledge communities, collect rapidly disappearing data, analyze with both familiar and new methods, and apply the results of actionable science to policy and practice. This enormously complex and urgent activity requires an integrated research framework with the flexibility to accommodate the global diversity of places, peoples, and processes and to examine future options. Based on evidence of environmental change and human activity, the framework termed historical ecology assembles tools to construct an evidence-validated, open-ended narrative of the evolution and transformation of specific ecosystems and landscapes. Welcoming knowledge from scholars and communities of both heritage and practice, this comprehensive and systemic understanding offers insights, models, and ideas for the durable future of contemporary landscapes. The article evaluates how practitioners could adjust aspects of practice and improve access to policy makers, and the discussion applies to regions and localities everywhere.
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Historic and bioarchaeological evidence supports late onset of post-Columbian epidemics in Native California. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2024802118. [PMID: 34260380 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024802118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Catastrophic decline of Indigenous populations in the Americas following European contact is one of the most severe demographic events in the history of humanity, but uncertainty persists about the timing and scale of the collapse, which has implications for not only Indigenous history but also the understanding of historical ecology. A long-standing hypothesis that a continent-wide pandemic broke out immediately upon the arrival of Spanish seafarers has been challenged in recent years by a model of regional epidemics erupting asynchronously, causing different rates of population decline in different areas. Some researchers have suggested that, in California, significant depopulation occurred during the first two centuries of the post-Columbus era, which led to a "rebound" in native flora and fauna by the time of sustained European contact after 1769. Here, we combine a comprehensive prehistoric osteological dataset (n = 10,256 individuals) with historic mission mortuary records (n = 23,459 individuals) that together span from 3050 cal BC to AD 1870 to systematically evaluate changes in mortality over time by constructing life tables and conducting survival analysis of age-at-death records. Results show that a dramatic shift in the shape of mortality risk consistent with a plague-like population structure began only after sustained contact with European invaders, when permanent Spanish settlements and missions were established ca. AD 1770. These declines reflect the syndemic effects of newly introduced diseases and the severe cultural disruption of Indigenous lifeways by the Spanish colonial system.
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Turvey ST, Duncan C, Upham NS, Harrison X, Dávalos LM. Where the wild things were: intrinsic and extrinsic extinction predictors in the world's most depleted mammal fauna. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202905. [PMID: 33715429 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Preventing extinctions requires understanding macroecological patterns of vulnerability or persistence. However, correlates of risk can be nonlinear, within-species risk varies geographically, and current-day threats cannot reveal drivers of past losses. We investigated factors that regulated survival or extinction in Caribbean mammals, which have experienced the globally highest level of human-caused postglacial mammalian extinctions, and included all extinct and extant Holocene island populations of non-volant species (219 survivals or extinctions across 118 islands). Extinction selectivity shows a statistically detectable and complex body mass effect, with survival probability decreasing for both mass extremes, indicating that intermediate-sized species have been more resilient. A strong interaction between mass and age of first human arrival provides quantitative evidence of larger mammals going extinct on the earliest islands colonized, revealing an extinction filter caused by past human activities. Survival probability increases on islands with lower mean elevation (mostly small cays acting as offshore refugia) and decreases with more frequent hurricanes, highlighting the risk of extreme weather events and rising sea levels to surviving species on low-lying cays. These findings demonstrate the interplay between intrinsic biology, regional ecology and specific local threats, providing insights for understanding drivers of biodiversity loss across island systems and fragmented habitats worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel T Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Clare Duncan
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Nathan S Upham
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.,Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.,School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Xavier Harrison
- Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Streatham Campus, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK
| | - Liliana M Dávalos
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York 11794, USA.,Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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16
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Mobilizing the past to shape a better Anthropocene. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:273-284. [PMID: 33462488 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01361-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
As our planet emerges into a new epoch in which humans dominate the Earth system, it is imperative that societies initiate a new phase of responsible environmental stewardship. Here we argue that information from the past has a valuable role to play in enhancing the sustainability and resilience of our societies. We highlight the ways that past data can be mobilized for a variety of efforts, from supporting conservation to increasing agricultural sustainability and food security. At a practical level, solutions from the past often do not require fossil fuels, can be locally run and managed, and have been tested over the long term. Past failures reveal non-viable solutions and expose vulnerabilities. To more effectively leverage increasing knowledge about the past, we advocate greater cross-disciplinary collaboration, systematic engagement with stakeholders and policymakers, and approaches that bring together the best of the past with the cutting-edge technologies and solutions of tomorrow.
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17
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Lazagabaster IA, Ullman M, Porat R, Halevi R, Porat N, Davidovich U, Marom N. Changes in the large carnivore community structure of the Judean Desert in connection to Holocene human settlement dynamics. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3548. [PMID: 33574447 PMCID: PMC7878878 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82996-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigating historical anthropogenic impacts on faunal communities is key to understanding present patterns of biodiversity and holds important implications for conservation biology. While several studies have demonstrated the human role in the extinction of large herbivores, effective methods to study human interference on large carnivores in the past are limited by the small number of carnivoran remains in the paleozoological record. Here, we integrate a systematic paleozoological survey of biogenic cave assemblages with the archaeological and paleoenvironmental records of the Judean Desert, to reveal historical changes in the large carnivore community. Our results show a late Holocene (~ 3400 years ago) faunal reassembly characterized by the diminishment of the dominant large carnivoran, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus sbsp. nimr), and the spread of the Syrian striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena sbsp. syriaca). We suggest that increased hunting pressure in combination with regional aridification were responsible for the decrease in the number of leopards, while the introduction of domestic animals and settlement refuse brought new scavenging opportunities for hyenas. The recent extirpation of leopards from the region has been a final note to the Holocene human impact on the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio A. Lazagabaster
- grid.7468.d0000 0001 2248 7639Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany ,grid.18098.380000 0004 1937 0562Department of Maritime Civilizations, Charney School of Marine Science & Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Micka Ullman
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Roi Porat
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Romi Halevi
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | - Uri Davidovich
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Nimrod Marom
- grid.18098.380000 0004 1937 0562Department of Maritime Civilizations, Charney School of Marine Science & Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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18
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Roos CI, Swetnam TW, Ferguson TJ, Liebmann MJ, Loehman RA, Welch JR, Margolis EQ, Guiterman CH, Hockaday WC, Aiuvalasit MJ, Battillo J, Farella J, Kiahtipes CA. Native American fire management at an ancient wildland-urban interface in the Southwest United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2018733118. [PMID: 33468651 PMCID: PMC7848524 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018733118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The intersection of expanding human development and wildland landscapes-the "wildland-urban interface" or WUI-is one of the most vexing contexts for fire management because it involves complex interacting systems of people and nature. Here, we document the dynamism and stability of an ancient WUI that was apparently sustainable for more than 500 y. We combine ethnography, archaeology, paleoecology, and ecological modeling to infer intensive wood and fire use by Native American ancestors of Jemez Pueblo and the consequences on fire size, fire-climate relationships, and fire intensity. Initial settlement of northern New Mexico by Jemez farmers increased fire activity within an already dynamic landscape that experienced frequent fires. Wood harvesting for domestic fuel and architectural uses and abundant, small, patchy fires created a landscape that burned often but only rarely burned extensively. Depopulation of the forested landscape due to Spanish colonial impacts resulted in a rebound of fuels accompanied by the return of widely spreading, frequent surface fires. The sequence of more than 500 y of perennial small fires and wood collecting followed by frequent "free-range" wildland surface fires made the landscape resistant to extreme fire behavior, even when climate was conducive and surface fires were large. The ancient Jemez WUI offers an alternative model for fire management in modern WUI in the western United States, and possibly other settings where local management of woody fuels through use (domestic wood collecting) coupled with small prescribed fires may make these communities both self-reliant and more resilient to wildfire hazards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher I Roos
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205;
| | - Thomas W Swetnam
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
| | - T J Ferguson
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
| | | | - Rachel A Loehman
- US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK 99508
| | - John R Welch
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
- School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
- Archaeology Southwest, Tucson, AZ 85701
| | - Ellis Q Margolis
- New Mexico Field Station, Fort Collins Science Center, US Geological Survey, Santa Fe, NM 87508
| | | | | | - Michael J Aiuvalasit
- Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820
| | - Jenna Battillo
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205
| | - Joshua Farella
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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19
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Amano N, Wang YV, Boivin N, Roberts P. 'Emptying Forests?' Conservation Implications of Past Human-Primate Interactions. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:345-359. [PMID: 33431163 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Non-human primates are among the most vulnerable tropical animals to extinction and ~50% of primate species are endangered. Human hunting is considered a major cause of increasingly 'empty forests', yet archaeological data remains under-utilised in testing this assertion over the longer-term. Zooarchaeological datasets allow investigation of human exploitation of primates and the reconstruction of extinction, extirpation, and translocation processes. We evaluate the application and limitations of data from zooarchaeological studies spanning the past 45 000 years in South and Southeast Asia in guiding primate conservation efforts. We highlight that environmental change was the primary threat to many South and Southeast Asian non-human primate populations during much of the Holocene, foreshadowing human-induced land-use and environmental change as major threats of the 21st century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noel Amano
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
| | - Yiming V Wang
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
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20
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Shultz AJ, Adams BJ, Bell KC, Ludt WB, Pauly GB, Vendetti JE. Natural history collections are critical resources for contemporary and future studies of urban evolution. Evol Appl 2021; 14:233-247. [PMID: 33519967 PMCID: PMC7819571 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Urban environments are among the fastest changing habitats on the planet, and this change has evolutionary implications for the organisms inhabiting them. Herein, we demonstrate that natural history collections are critical resources for urban evolution studies. The specimens housed in these collections provide great potential for diverse types of urban evolution research, and strategic deposition of specimens and other materials from contemporary studies will determine the resources and research questions available to future urban evolutionary biologists. As natural history collections are windows into the past, they provide a crucial historical timescale for urban evolution research. While the importance of museum collections for research is generally appreciated, their utility in the study of urban evolution has not been explicitly evaluated. Here, we: (a) demonstrate that museum collections can greatly enhance urban evolution studies, (b) review patterns of specimen use and deposition in the urban evolution literature, (c) analyze how urban versus rural and native versus nonnative vertebrate species are being deposited in museum collections, and (d) make recommendations to researchers, museum professionals, scientific journal editors, funding agencies, permitting agencies, and professional societies to improve archiving policies. Our analyses of recent urban evolution studies reveal that museum specimens can be used for diverse research questions, but they are used infrequently. Further, although nearly all studies we analyzed generated resources that could be deposited in natural history collections (e.g., collected specimens), a minority (12%) of studies actually did so. Depositing such resources in collections is crucial to allow the scientific community to verify, replicate, and/or re-visit prior research. Therefore, to ensure that adequate museum resources are available for future urban evolutionary biology research, the research community-from practicing biologists to funding agencies and professional societies-must make adjustments that prioritize the collection and deposition of urban specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison J. Shultz
- Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Ornithology DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
| | - Benjamin J. Adams
- Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Entomology DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Department of Biological SciencesGeorge Washington UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Kayce C. Bell
- Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Mammalogy DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
| | - William B. Ludt
- Ichthyology DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
| | - Gregory B. Pauly
- Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Herpetology DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
| | - Jann E. Vendetti
- Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
- Malacology DepartmentNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCAUSA
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21
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Guiry EJ, Hunt BPV. Integrating fish scale and bone isotopic compositions for 'deep time' retrospective studies. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 160:104982. [PMID: 32907720 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Isotopic studies of archived fish scales have tremendous potential to develop long-term retrospectives that provide important insights into how humans have altered aquatic ecosystems. However, fish specimens in museum archives and other repositories typically date to time periods when the impacts of industrial societies may have already caused profound environmental changes. Archaeological fish bones offer an opportunity to bridge this key temporal gap by providing samples spanning from the recent past to as far back as the Pleistocene. Collagen is the primary protein component of both fish scale and bone, but the comparability of isotopic compositions from these tissues has not been established experimentally. To lay the framework for integrating isotopic datasets from these tissues, we compare δ13C and δ15N of bone and scale collagen, as well as other tissues, from fish with life-time controlled diets. Results show that while there is no difference in δ13C between scale and bone collagen, there may be a very slight but meaningful inter-tissue offset in δ15N (<0.3‰). We discuss potential sources of δ15N variation in scale and bone collagen measurements. Because there is no difference in scale and bone δ13C, and the observed offset in δ15N is very small (less than analytical uncertainty in many studies), our findings demonstrate that collagen isotopic compositions from these tissues should be directly comparable when integrating datasets from modern and ancient samples to build more powerful, millennium-scale isotopic times series. In linking isotopic compositions of collagen from modern, historical (scales), and archaeological (bones) fish, our findings open the way for more nuanced contextualization of how ecosystems functioned prior to large-scale exploitation and how they have responded to mounting anthropogenic pressures in the intervening centuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric J Guiry
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9L 0G2, Canada; School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE17RH, UK; Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6306 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Brian P V Hunt
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2020 - 2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; Hakai Institute, PO Box 309, Heriot Bay, BC, V0P 1H0, Canada
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22
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Randklev CR, Wolverton S, Johnson NA, Smith CH, DuBose TP, Robertson CR, Conley J. The utility of zooarchaeological data to guide listing efforts for an imperiled mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae:
Pleurobema riddellii
). CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Charles R. Randklev
- Texas A&M Natural Resources InstituteTexas A&M AgriLife Research Center at Dallas Dallas Texas USA
| | - Steve Wolverton
- Department of Geography and the Environment & the Advanced Environmental Research InstituteUniversity of North Texas Denton Texas USA
| | - Nathan A. Johnson
- US Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center Gainesville Florida USA
| | - Chase H. Smith
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of Texas Austin Texas USA
| | - Traci P. DuBose
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, Department of Biology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate ProgramUniversity of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA
| | | | - Julian Conley
- Department of GeosciencesEast Tennessee State University Johnson City Tennessee USA
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23
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Nikolic N, Thompson P, de Bruyn M, Macé M, Chevalet C. Evolutionary history of a Scottish harbour seal population. PeerJ 2020; 8:e9167. [PMID: 32728487 PMCID: PMC7357561 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Efforts to conserve marine mammals are often constrained by uncertainty over their population history. Here, we examine the evolutionary history of a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) population in the Moray Firth, northeast Scotland using genetic tools and microsatellite markers to explore population change. Previous fine-scale analysis of UK harbour seal populations revealed three clusters in the UK, with a northeastern cluster that included our Moray Firth study population. Our analysis revealed that the Moray Firth cluster is an independent genetic group, with similar levels of genetic diversity across each of the localities sampled. These samples were used to assess historic abundance and demographic events in the Moray Firth population. Estimates of current genetic diversity and effective population size were low, but the results indicated that this population has remained at broadly similar levels following the population bottleneck that occurred after post-glacial recolonization of the area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natacha Nikolic
- ARBRE (Reunion Island Biodiversity Research Agency), Saint-Leu, La Réunion
- Génétique Physiologie et Systèmes d’Elevage - UMR1388, INRAE, Castanet Tolosan, France
| | - Paul Thompson
- Lighthouse Field Station, Sciences School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cromarty, United Kingdom
| | - Mark de Bruyn
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Matthias Macé
- Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Moléculaire et d’Imagerie de Synthèse - UMR 5288, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - Claude Chevalet
- Génétique Physiologie et Systèmes d’Elevage - UMR1388, INRAE, Castanet Tolosan, France
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24
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Guiry EJ, Szpak P. Quality control for modern bone collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements. Methods Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eric J. Guiry
- Department of Anthropology Trent University Peterborough ON Canada
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History University of Leicester Leicester UK
| | - Paul Szpak
- Department of Anthropology Trent University Peterborough ON Canada
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25
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Zhang C, Xia W, Luan X, Zhuang H, Khan TU, Zhang G, Wu S. Use of historical data to assess the impact of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance on the black-billed capercaillie (Tetrao urogalloides) in northeast China. Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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26
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Marrero-Rodríguez N, García-Romero L, Sánchez-García MJ, Hernández-Calvento L, Pérez-Chacón Espino E. An historical ecological assessment of land-use evolution and observed landscape change in an arid aeolian sedimentary system. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 716:137087. [PMID: 32036127 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Coastal areas worldwide are undergoing major changes and degradation due to a set of combined natural and anthropogenic stressors. In arid aeolian sedimentary systems these changes can be even more acute given their sensitivity to perturbances in landscape dynamics. While in many such areas recent (20 year) observations have been made regarding measurable differences in dune coverage and stability, few studies have assessed and quantified the long-term relationships of transitioning exploitation and land-use changes in order to fully evaluate their importance. Land management, therefore, does not always benefit from the more holistic picture that a combined deeper time historical ecology and geographical approach provides and can contribute to decision making. The Jandía isthmus, in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) presented an ideal field laboratory in which to assess these phenomena in actual conditions and test a combined methodology using historical and current sources (historical documents, aerial photographs, orthophotos, LiDAR data, field work and oral sources). By doing so, different phases of land exploitation associated with changing land ownership were identified and the consequences of each on the dune system assessed. It is concluded that the transition from traditional land uses (livestock and fuel extraction) to more recent ones (aggregate extraction, construction of new roads and urban-touristic resorts, and some recreational uses) has altered aeolian sedimentary transport, inducing stabilization of the landforms, as well as producing significant changes in the vegetation. The wider application of this type of study can benefit the many other areas worldwide that are facing similar pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Néstor Marrero-Rodríguez
- Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain.
| | - Leví García-Romero
- Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain.
| | - María José Sánchez-García
- Grupo de Geología Aplicada y Regional, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain..
| | - Luis Hernández-Calvento
- Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain.
| | - Emma Pérez-Chacón Espino
- Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain.
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27
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Guiry E, Royle TCA, Matson RG, Ward H, Weir T, Waber N, Brown TJ, Hunt BPV, Price MHH, Finney BP, Kaeriyama M, Qin Y, Yang DY, Szpak P. Differentiating salmonid migratory ecotypes through stable isotope analysis of collagen: Archaeological and ecological applications. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232180. [PMID: 32343728 PMCID: PMC7188214 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to distinguish between different migratory behaviours (e.g., anadromy and potamodromy) in fish can provide important insights into the ecology, evolution, and conservation of many aquatic species. We present a simple stable carbon isotope (δ13C) approach for distinguishing between sockeye (anadromous ocean migrants) and kokanee (potamodromous freshwater residents), two migratory ecotypes of Oncorhynchus nerka (Salmonidae) that is applicable throughout most of their range across coastal regions of the North Pacific Ocean. Analyses of kokanee (n = 239) and sockeye (n = 417) from 87 sites spanning the North Pacific (Russia to California) show that anadromous and potamodromous ecotypes are broadly distinguishable on the basis of the δ13C values of their scale and bone collagen. We present three case studies demonstrating how this approach can address questions in archaeology, archival, and conservation research. Relative to conventional methods for determining migratory status, which typically apply chemical analyses to otoliths or involve genetic analyses of tissues, the δ13C approach outlined here has the benefit of being non-lethal (when applied to scales), cost-effective, widely available commercially, and should be much more broadly accessible for addressing archaeological questions since the recovery of otoliths at archaeological sites is rare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Guiry
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Thomas C. A. Royle
- Department of Archaeology, Ancient DNA Laboratory, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - R. G. Matson
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Hillary Ward
- Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Government of British Columbia, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Tyler Weir
- Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Government of British Columbia, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Nicholas Waber
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Thomas J. Brown
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Brian P. V. Hunt
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Hakai Institute, Heriot Bay, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michael H. H. Price
- Department of Biological Sciences, Earth to Ocean Research Group, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Bruce P. Finney
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America
- Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America
| | | | - Yuxue Qin
- School of Marine Science and Environmental Engineering, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, Liaoning, China
| | - Dongya Y. Yang
- Department of Archaeology, Ancient DNA Laboratory, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Paul Szpak
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Elliott Smith EA, Tinker MT, Whistler EL, Kennett DJ, Vellanoweth RL, Gifford‐Gonzalez D, Hylkema MG, Newsome SD. Reductions in the dietary niche of southern sea otters ( Enhydra lutris nereis) from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:3318-3329. [PMID: 32273989 PMCID: PMC7141068 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal hunted to near extinction during the 1800s. Despite their well-known modern importance as a keystone species, we know little about historical sea otter ecology. Here, we characterize the ecological niche of ancient southern sea otters (E. lutris nereis) using δ13C analysis and δ15N analysis of bones recovered from archaeological sites spanning ~7,000 to 350 years before present (N = 112 individuals) at five regions along the coast of California. These data are compared with previously published data on modern animals (N = 165) and potential modern prey items. In addition, we analyze the δ15N of individual amino acids for 23 individuals to test for differences in sea otter trophic ecology through time. After correcting for tissue-specific and temporal isotopic effects, we employ nonparametric statistics and Bayesian niche models to quantify differences among ancient and modern animals. We find ancient otters occupied a larger isotopic niche than nearly all modern localities; likely reflecting broader habitat and prey use in prefur trade populations. In addition, ancient sea otters at the most southerly sites occupied an isotopic niche that was more than twice as large as ancient otters from northerly regions. This likely reflects greater invertebrate prey diversity in southern California relative to northern California. Thus, we suggest the potential dietary niche of sea otters in southern California could be larger than in central and northern California. At two sites, Año Nuevo and Monterey Bay, ancient otters had significantly higher δ15N values than modern populations. Amino acid δ15N data indicated this resulted from shifting baseline isotope values, rather than a change in sea otter trophic ecology. Our results help in better understanding the contemporary ecological role of sea otters and exemplify the strength of combing zooarchaeological and biological information to provide baseline data for conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Martin Tim Tinker
- Nhydra Ecological ConsultingSt Margaret’s BayNova ScotiaCanada
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of California Santa CruzSanta CruzCAUSA
| | | | | | - René L. Vellanoweth
- Department of AnthropologyCalifornia State University Los AngelesLos AngelesCAUSA
| | | | - Mark G. Hylkema
- California Department of Parks and RecreationSanta CruzCAUSA
| | - Seth D. Newsome
- Department of BiologyUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNMUSA
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29
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McAfee D, Alleway HK, Connell SD. Environmental solutions sparked by environmental history. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2020; 34:386-394. [PMID: 31385623 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Environmental solutions require a decision-making process that is ultimately political, in that they involve decisions with uncertain outcomes and stakeholders with conflicting viewpoints. If this process seeks broad alignment between the government and public, then reconciling conflicting viewpoints is a key to the legitimacy of these decisions. We show that ecological baselines can be particularly powerful tools for creating a common understanding for public support (legitimacy) and conformity to new rules or regulations (legality) that enable the solution. They are powerful because they move the discussion of solutions from the abstract to the concrete by providing a conceptual model for a common expectation (e.g., restoring habitat). They provide narratives of the past (ecological histories) that readjust the future expectations of individuals on how to perceive and respond to new policy. While ecological baselines offer scientists benchmarks for reinstating ecological functions, they also normalize public and government discussion of solutions. This social normalization of public issues may assist government policy and influence social views, practices, and behaviors that adopt the policy. For science to more effectively inform conservation, we encourage interdisciplinary thinking (science- and human-centered) because it can provide public support and government legitimacy for investing in environmental solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominic McAfee
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia
| | - Heidi K Alleway
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia
| | - Sean D Connell
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia
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30
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Zhang C, Yang L, Wu S, Xia W, Yang L, Li M, Chen M, Luan X. Use of historical data to improve conservation of the black grouse (
Lyrurus tetrix
) in Northeast China. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Chao Zhang
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Li Yang
- School of Life Sciences Sun Yat‐sen University No. 135 Xingang West Road Guangzhou 510275 China
- IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group Zoological Society of London Regent's Park London NW1 4RY UK
| | - Shuhong Wu
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Wancai Xia
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Lei Yang
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Miaomiao Li
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Minhao Chen
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
| | - Xiaofeng Luan
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University NO. 35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District Beijing 100083 China
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31
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Beller EE, McClenachan L, Zavaleta ES, Larsen LG. Past forward: Recommendations from historical ecology for ecosystem management. Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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32
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Hesterberg SG, Herbert GS, Pluckhahn TJ, Harke RM, Al-Qattan NM, Duke CT, Moore EW, Smith ME, Delgado AC, Sampson CP. Prehistoric baseline reveals substantial decline of oyster reef condition in a Gulf of Mexico conservation priority area. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20190865. [PMID: 32019462 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is home to the world's largest remaining wild oyster fisheries, but baseline surveys needed to assess habitat condition are recent and may represent an already-shifted reference state. Here, we use prehistoric oysters from archaeological middens to show that oyster size, an indicator of habitat function and population resilience, declined prior to the earliest assessments of reef condition in an area of the GoM previously considered pristine. Stable isotope sclerochronlogy reveals extirpation of colossal oysters occurred through truncated life history and slowed growth. More broadly, our study suggests that management strategies affected by shifting baselines may overestimate resilience and perpetuate practices that risk irreversible decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen G Hesterberg
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Gregory S Herbert
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Thomas J Pluckhahn
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Ryan M Harke
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Nasser M Al-Qattan
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - C Trevor Duke
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, PO Box 117305, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Evan W Moore
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.,Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA
| | - Megan E Smith
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.,Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA
| | - Alexander C Delgado
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Christina P Sampson
- The Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, 101 West Hall, 1085 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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33
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Oswald JA, Allen JM, LeFebvre MJ, Stucky BJ, Folk RA, Albury NA, Morgan GS, Guralnick RP, Steadman DW. Ancient DNA and high-resolution chronometry reveal a long-term human role in the historical diversity and biogeography of the Bahamian hutia. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1373. [PMID: 31992804 PMCID: PMC6987171 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58224-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Quaternary paleontological and archaeological evidence often is crucial for uncovering the historical mechanisms shaping modern diversity and distributions. We take an interdisciplinary approach using multiple lines of evidence to understand how past human activity has shaped long-term animal diversity in an island system. Islands afford unique opportunities for such studies given their robust fossil and archaeological records. Herein, we examine the only non-volant terrestrial mammal endemic to the Bahamian Archipelago, the hutia Geocapromys ingrahami. This capromyine rodent once inhabited many islands but is now restricted to several small cays. Radiocarbon dated fossils indicate that hutias were present on the Great Bahama Bank islands before humans arrived at AD ~800-1000; all dates from other islands post-date human arrival. Using ancient DNA from a subset of these fossils, along with modern representatives of Bahamian hutia and related taxa, we develop a fossil-calibrated phylogeny. We found little genetic divergence among individuals from within either the northern or southern Bahamas but discovered a relatively deep North-South divergence (~750 ka). This result, combined with radiocarbon dating and archaeological evidence, reveals a pre-human biogeographic divergence, and an unexpected human role in shaping Bahamian hutia diversity and biogeography across islands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Oswald
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
- Biology Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
| | - Julie M Allen
- Biology Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
- Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Michelle J LeFebvre
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Brian J Stucky
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Ryan A Folk
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA
| | - Nancy A Albury
- National Museum of The Bahamas, Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas
| | - Gary S Morgan
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 1801 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque, NM, 87104, USA
| | - Robert P Guralnick
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - David W Steadman
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
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34
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Martínez-Polanco MF, Béarez P. An osteometric approach to reconstruct the length and weight of Lutjanus argentiventris (Perciformes: Lujtanidae) for archaeological and ecological purposes. NEOTROPICAL ICHTHYOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1590/1982-0224-2019-0106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Lutjanus argentiventris presents a large intertropical distribution within the Eastern Pacific, which is as important to fisheries now as it was in the pre-Hispanic period. The purpose of this article is to present an allometric model that enables the size and weight of L. argentiventris to be predicted, using the isolated bones found in archaeological and paleontological contexts or the stomach contents of ichthyophagous species. A modern collection of L. argentiventris from Ecuador was used, composed of 37 individuals covering a wide range of sizes and weights. The total length (TL), standard length (SL), and total fresh weight (W) of each individual was gathered. The TL of the sample ranged between 210 and 760 mm, the SL between 164 and 627 mm and the W ranged between 123 and 6550 g. The most frequent bones (15) and otoliths were chosen and 39 measurements were taken. The total length-weight relationship was W = 6E-06 TL3.1513 with R 2 = 0.997. In general, it was observed that the relationships between the TL and the bone measurements had a strong correlation (R² > 0.95). The allometric model will be useful not only for archaeologists but also for biologists working on historical ecology.
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35
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Rodrigues ASL, Monsarrat S, Charpentier A, Brooks TM, Hoffmann M, Reeves R, Palomares MLD, Turvey ST. Unshifting the baseline: a framework for documenting historical population changes and assessing long-term anthropogenic impacts. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20190220. [PMID: 31679498 PMCID: PMC6863499 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological baselines-reference states of species' distributions and abundances-are key to the scientific arguments underpinning many conservation and management interventions, as well as to the public support to such interventions. Yet societal as well as scientific perceptions of these baselines are often based on ecosystems that have been deeply transformed by human actions. Despite increased awareness about the pervasiveness and implications of this shifting baseline syndrome, ongoing global assessments of the state of biodiversity do not take into account the long-term, cumulative, anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. Here, we propose a new framework for documenting such impacts, by classifying populations according to the extent to which they deviate from a baseline in the absence of human actions. We apply this framework to the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) to illustrate how it can be used to assess populations with different geographies and timelines of known or suspected impacts. Through other examples, we discuss how the framework can be applied to populations for which there is a wide diversity of existing knowledge, by making the best use of the available ecological, historical and archaeological data. Combined across multiple populations, this framework provides a standard for assessing cumulative anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The past is a foreign country: how much can the fossil record actually inform conservation?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana S. L. Rodrigues
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 (CNRS—Université de Montpellier—UPVM—EPHE), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Sophie Monsarrat
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Anne Charpentier
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 (CNRS—Université de Montpellier—UPVM—EPHE), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Thomas M. Brooks
- International Union for Conservation of Nature, 28 Rue Mauverney, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
- World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), University of The Philippines Los Baños, Laguna 4031, The Philippines
- Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
| | - Michael Hoffmann
- Conservation and Policy, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Randall Reeves
- Okapi Wildlife Associates, 27 Chandler Lane, Hudson, Quebec, Canada JOP 1HO
| | - Maria L. D. Palomares
- Sea Around Us, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Samuel T. Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
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36
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Seasonal oyster harvesting recorded in a Late Archaic period shell ring. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0224666. [PMID: 31747413 PMCID: PMC6867601 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The function of Late Archaic period (5000-3000 B.P.) shell rings has been a focus of debate among archaeologists for decades. These rings have been variously interpreted as a product of seasonal feasting/ceremonial gatherings, quotidian food refuse generated by permanent dwellers, or a combination of seasonal and perennial activities. Seasonality of shell rings can be assessed by reconstructing the harvest time of oysters (Crassostrea virginica), the primary faunal component of shell rings. We estimated the timing of oyster harvest at St. Catherines Shell Ring (Georgia, USA) by statistical modeling of size frequency distributions of the impressed odostome (Boonea impressa), a parasitic snail inadvertently gathered by Archaic peoples with its oyster host. The odostome samples from three archaeological excavation units were evaluated against resampling models based on monthly demographic data obtained for present-day populations of Boonea impressa. For all samples, the harvest was unlikely to start earlier than late fall and end later than late spring, indicating that shell deposits at St. Catherines Shell Ring formed seasonally with substantial harvesting activities restricted to non-summer months. For all samples, the resampling models indicated that harvesting activities likely occurred during multiple months. However, these analytical outcomes would also be expected in the case of extensively time-averaged records of short-term, non-summer harvest events. Regardless of the exact harvest duration, the results point to seasonal harvesting and suggest that Archaic populations may have opted out of consuming summer oysters to focus on other resources, avoid unpalatable food, decrease pathogen risks, or ensure sustainable harvesting.
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37
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Turvey ST, Saupe EE. Insights from the past: unique opportunity or foreign country? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20190208. [PMID: 31679483 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Samuel T Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Erin E Saupe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
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38
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Lockwood R, Mann R. A conservation palaeobiological perspective on Chesapeake Bay oysters. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20190209. [PMID: 31679486 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The eastern oyster plays a vital role in estuarine habitats, acting as an ecosystem engineer and improving water quality. Populations of Chesapeake Bay oysters have declined precipitously in recent decades. The fossil record, which preserves 500 000 years of once-thriving reefs, provides a unique opportunity to study pristine reefs to establish a possible baseline for mitigation. For this study, over 900 fossil oysters were examined from three Pleistocene localities in the Chesapeake region. Data on oyster shell lengths, lifespans and population density were assessed. Comparisons to modern Crassostrea virginica, sampled from monitoring surveys of similar environments, reveal that fossil oysters were significantly larger, longer-lived and more abundant than modern oysters from polyhaline salinity zones. This pattern results from the preferential harvesting of larger, reproductively more active females from the modern population. These fossil data, combined with modern estimates of age-based fecundity and mortality, make it possible to estimate ecosystem services in these long-dead reefs, including filtering capacity, which was an order of magnitude greater in the past than today. Conservation palaeobiology can provide us with a picture of not just what the Chesapeake Bay looked like, but how it functioned, before humans. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The past is a foreign country: how much can the fossil record actually inform conservation?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowan Lockwood
- Department of Geology, William and Mary, PO Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA
| | - Roger Mann
- Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary, Route 1208 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA
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Kiessling W, Raja NB, Roden VJ, Turvey ST, Saupe EE. Addressing priority questions of conservation science with palaeontological data. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20190222. [PMID: 31679490 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Palaeontologists often ask identical questions to those asked by ecologists. Despite this, ecology is considered a core discipline of conservation biology, while palaeontologists are rarely consulted in the protection of species, habitats and ecosystems. The recent emergence of conservation palaeobiology presents a big step towards better integration of palaeontology in conservation science, although its focus on historical baselines may not fully capture the potential contributions of geohistorical data to conservation science. In this essay we address previously defined priority questions in conservation and consider which of these questions may be answerable using palaeontological data. Using a statistical assessment of surveys, we find that conservation biologists and younger scientists have a more optimistic view of potential palaeontological contributions to the field compared to experienced palaeontologists. Participants considered questions related to climate change and marine ecosystems to be the best addressable with palaeontological data. As these categories are also deemed most relevant by ecologists and receive the greatest research effort in conservation, they are the natural choice for future academic collaboration. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The past is a foreign country: how much can the fossil record actually inform conservation?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Kiessling
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Nussaïbah B Raja
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Julie Roden
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Samuel T Turvey
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Erin E Saupe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
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40
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Pálsdóttir AH, Bläuer A, Rannamäe E, Boessenkool S, Hallsson JH. Not a limitless resource: ethics and guidelines for destructive sampling of archaeofaunal remains. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:191059. [PMID: 31824712 PMCID: PMC6837180 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
With the advent of ancient DNA, as well as other methods such as isotope analysis, destructive sampling of archaeofaunal remains has increased much faster than the effort to collect and curate them. While there has been considerable discussion regarding the ethics of destructive sampling and analysis of human remains, this dialogue has not extended to archaeofaunal material. Here we address this gap and discuss the ethical challenges surrounding destructive sampling of materials from archaeofaunal collections. We suggest ways of mitigating the negative aspects of destructive sampling and present step-by-step guidelines aimed at relevant stakeholders, including scientists, holding institutions and scientific journals. Our suggestions are in most cases easily implemented without significant increases in project costs, but with clear long-term benefits in the preservation and use of zooarchaeological material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albína Hulda Pálsdóttir
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postbox 1066, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Agricultural University of Iceland, Keldnaholti - Árleyni 22, 112 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Author for correspondence: Albína Hulda Pálsdóttir e-mail:
| | - Auli Bläuer
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4 A, 20520 Turku, Finland
- University of Turku, Archaeology, Akatemiankatu 1, FI-20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Eve Rannamäe
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4 A, 20520 Turku, Finland
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Sanne Boessenkool
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postbox 1066, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
| | - Jón Hallsteinn Hallsson
- Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Agricultural University of Iceland, Keldnaholti - Árleyni 22, 112 Reykjavík, Iceland
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41
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Guiry E. Complexities of Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry in Ancient Freshwater Ecosystems: Implications for the Study of Past Subsistence and Environmental Change. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
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42
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Brown MB, Bolger DT, Fennessy J. All the eggs in one basket: A countrywide assessment of current and historical giraffe population distribution in Uganda. Glob Ecol Conserv 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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43
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Thomas FR. Sustainable Extractive Strategies in the Pre-European Contact Pacific: Evidence from Mollusk Resources. J ETHNOBIOL 2019. [DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771-39.2.240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Frank R. Thomas
- University of the South Pacific, Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies, Suva, Fiji
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44
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Faulkner P, Harris M, Haji O, Crowther A, Horton MC, Boivin NL. Towards a Historical Ecology of Intertidal Foraging in the Mafia Archipelago: Archaeomalacology and Implications for Marine Resource Management. J ETHNOBIOL 2019. [DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771-39.2.182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Faulkner
- Department of Archaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, Brennan MacCallum Building A18, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006 Australia
| | - Matthew Harris
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Othman Haji
- Department of Museums and Antiquities, Zanzibar, Tanzania
| | - Alison Crowther
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Nicole L. Boivin
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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LeFebvre MJ, Brenskelle L, Wieczorek J, Kansa SW, Kansa EC, Wallis NJ, King JN, Emery KF, Guralnick R. ZooArchNet: Connecting zooarchaeological specimens to the biodiversity and archaeology data networks. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215369. [PMID: 30978247 PMCID: PMC6461259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Interdisciplinary collaborations and data sharing are essential to addressing the long history of human-environmental interactions underlying the modern biodiversity crisis. Such collaborations are increasingly facilitated by, and dependent upon, sharing open access data from a variety of disciplinary communities and data sources, including those within biology, paleontology, and archaeology. Significant advances in biodiversity open data sharing have focused on neontological and paleontological specimen records, making available over a billion records through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. But to date, less effort has been placed on the integration of important archaeological sources of biodiversity, such as zooarchaeological specimens. Zooarchaeological specimens are rich with both biological and cultural heritage data documenting nearly all phases of human interaction with animals and the surrounding environment through time, filling a critical gap between paleontological and neontological sources of data within biodiversity networks. Here we describe technical advances for mobilizing zooarchaeological specimen-specific biological and cultural data. In particular, we demonstrate adaptations in the workflow used by biodiversity publisher VertNet to mobilize Darwin Core formatted zooarchaeological data to the GBIF network. We also show how a linked open data approach can be used to connect existing biodiversity publishing mechanisms with archaeoinformatics publishing mechanisms through collaboration with the Open Context platform. Examples of ZooArchNet published datasets are used to show the efficacy of creating this critically needed bridge between biological and archaeological sources of open access data. These technical advances and efforts to support data publication are placed in the larger context of ZooarchNet, a new project meant to build community around new approaches to interconnect zoorchaeological data and knowledge across disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle J. LeFebvre
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Laura Brenskelle
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - John Wieczorek
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Sarah Whitcher Kansa
- Open Context, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Eric C. Kansa
- Open Context, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Neill J. Wallis
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Jessica N. King
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kitty F. Emery
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Robert Guralnick
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
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Haas H, Braje TJ, Edwards MS, Erlandson JM, Whitaker SG. Black abalone ( Haliotis cracherodii) population structure shifts through deep time: Management implications for southern California's northern Channel Islands. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:4720-4732. [PMID: 31031938 PMCID: PMC6476767 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 11/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
For over 10,000 years, black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) were an important resource in southern California, first for coastal Native Americans, then beginning in the nineteenth century, as one of the state's first commercial shellfisheries. By 1993, after years of heavy fishing, rising sea surface temperatures (SST), and the spread of withering syndrome (WS), black abalone populations declined dramatically, resulting in the closure of the Alta California fishery. After nearly 25 years of management and recovery efforts, black abalone are showing signs of ecological rebound along some Channel Island shorelines. These include the presence of juvenile abalone and increasing densities, largely from data collected by Channel Islands National Park (CINP) monitoring efforts that began in 1985.In an effort to apply deeper historical perspectives to modern fisheries management and restoration, we analyzed black abalone size data from San Miguel Island at prehistoric and historical archeological sites spanning the last 10,000 years and compared these populations to those described by CINP biologists between 1985 and 2013.We found a statistically significant relationship between SST and black abalone size distributions during the ancient record, along with dramatic shifts in population size structure toward larger individuals between the nineteenth century and modern periods. A pattern of larger mean black abalone sizes was identified during warm SSTs, when compared against intervals of cooler SSTs.Synthesis and applications. Our study provides a deep historical perspective of abalone population size distributions, patterns within these distributions through time, and parallels to modern abalone populations. Our results may help managers determine whether the current (and future) size and age structure of intertidal black abalone populations around the northern Channel Islands are "natural" and healthy, measured against the 10,000 year history of black abalone fishing in southern California.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Haas
- Rincon Consultants, Inc.SacramentoCalifornia
| | - Todd J. Braje
- Department of AnthropologyCalifornia Academy of SciencesSan FranciscoCalifornia
| | | | - Jon M. Erlandson
- Museum of Natural and Cultural History and Department of AnthropologyUniversity of OregonEugeneOregon
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Buckley SM, McClanahan TR, Quintana Morales EM, Mwakha V, Nyanapah J, Otwoma LM, Pandolfi JM. Identifying species threatened with local extinction in tropical reef fisheries using historical reconstruction of species occurrence. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0211224. [PMID: 30759107 PMCID: PMC6373906 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying the species that are at risk of local extinction in highly diverse ecosystems is a big challenge for conservation science. Assessments of species status are costly and difficult to implement in developing countries with diverse ecosystems due to a lack of species-specific surveys, species-specific data, and other resources. Numerous techniques are devised to determine the threat status of species based on the availability of data and budgetary limits. On this basis, we developed a framework that compared occurrence data of historically exploited reef species in Kenya from existing disparate data sources. Occurrence data from archaeological remains (750-1500CE) was compared with occurrence data of these species catch assessments, and underwater surveys (1991-2014CE). This comparison indicated that only 67 species were exploited over a 750 year period, 750-1500CE, whereas 185 species were landed between 1995 and 2014CE. The first step of our framework identified 23 reef species as threatened with local extinction. The second step of the framework further evaluated the possibility of local extinction with Bayesian extinction analyses using occurrence data from naturalists’ species list with the existing occurrence data sources. The Bayesian extinction analysis reduced the number of reef species threatened with local extinction from 23 to 15. We compared our findings with three methods used for assessing extinction risk. Commonly used extinction risk methods varied in their ability to identify reef species that we identified as threatened with local extinction by our comparative and Bayesian method. For example, 12 of the 15 threatened species that we identified using our framework were listed as either least concern, unevaluated, or data deficient in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature red list. Piscivores and macro-invertivores were the only functional groups found to be locally extinct. Comparing occurrence data from disparate sources revealed a large number of historically exploited reef species that are possibly locally extinct. Our framework addressed biases such as uncertainty in priors, sightings and survey effort, when estimating the probability of local extinction. Our inexpensive method showed the value and potential for disparate data to fill knowledge gaps that exist in species extinction assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M. Buckley
- Australia Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Tim R. McClanahan
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Marine Programs, Bronx, New York, United States of America
| | | | - Victor Mwakha
- Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa, Kenya
| | - Jatieno Nyanapah
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Marine Programs, Bronx, New York, United States of America
| | - Levy M. Otwoma
- Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa, Kenya
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Bremen, Germany
| | - John M. Pandolfi
- Australia Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Jorgenson AK, Fiske S, Hubacek K, Li J, McGovern T, Rick T, Schor JB, Solecki W, York R, Zycherman A. Social science perspectives on drivers of and responses to global climate change. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. CLIMATE CHANGE 2019; 10:e554. [PMID: 30774719 PMCID: PMC6360453 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Revised: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 08/16/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
This article provides a review of recent anthropological, archeological, geographical, and sociological research on anthropogenic drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on drivers of carbon emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The four disciplines emphasize cultural, economic, geographic, historical, political, and social-structural factors to be important drivers of and responses to climate change. Each of these disciplines has unique perspectives and makes noteworthy contributions to our shared understanding of anthropogenic drivers, but they also complement one another and contribute to integrated, multidisciplinary frameworks. The article begins with discussions of research on temporal dimensions of human drivers of carbon emissions, highlighting interactions between long-term and near-term drivers. Next, descriptions of the disciplines' contributions to the understanding of mitigation and adaptation are provided. It concludes with a summary of key lessons offered by the four disciplines as well as suggestions for future research. This article is categorized under: Climate Economics > Economics and Climate Change.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shirley Fiske
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of MarylandCollege ParkMaryland
| | - Klaus Hubacek
- Department of Geographical SciencesUniversity of MarylandCollege ParkMaryland
| | - Jia Li
- U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWashingtonDC
| | - Tom McGovern
- Department of AnthropologyHunter College‐CUNYNew YorkNew York
| | - Torben Rick
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian InstitutionWashingtonDC
| | - Juliet B. Schor
- Department of SociologyBoston CollegeChestnut HillMassachusetts
| | | | - Richard York
- Department of SociologyUniversity of OregonEugeneOregon
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Morrison SA, Sillett TS, Funk WC, Ghalambor CK, Rick TC. California Island Rediscovery: Building an Archive to Improve Conservation Today and Equip the Historical Ecologist of Tomorrow. WEST N AM NATURALIST 2018. [DOI: 10.3398/064.078.0423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Scott A. Morrison
- The Nature Conservancy, 201 Mission St., 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105
| | - T. Scott Sillett
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, MRC 5503, Washington, DC 20013
| | - W. Chris Funk
- Department of Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Cameron K. Ghalambor
- Department of Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Torben C. Rick
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013
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Boser CL, Sillett TS, Collins PW, Faulkner KR, Funk WC, Ghalambor CK, Laughrin L, Pauly GB, Robertson JM, Shea R, Vickers W. Equipping Tomorrow's Historical Ecologist: Priorities for Documenting Conditions of the Terrestrial Fauna of Santa Cruz Island, California. WEST N AM NATURALIST 2018. [DOI: 10.3398/064.078.0426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - T. Scott Sillett
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20013
| | - Paul W. Collins
- Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
| | | | - W. Chris Funk
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Cameron K. Ghalambor
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Lyndal Laughrin
- University of California Natural Reserve System, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
| | - Gregory B. Pauly
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007
| | | | - Robyn Shea
- California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA 93012
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