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The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions

The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions on the North Pacific and Southern Bering Sea Investigating the Role of the Aleut as Ecosystem Engineers. Herbert Maschner, James Jordan, Nancy Huntly, Bruce Finney, and Katherine Reedy-Maschner.

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The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions

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  1. The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions on the North Pacific and Southern Bering Sea Investigating the Role of the Aleut as Ecosystem Engineers Herbert Maschner, James Jordan, Nancy Huntly, Bruce Finney, and Katherine Reedy-Maschner

  2. The Theoretical ContextCatastrophic Change • Environmental Catastrophes • seismic events • volcanic eruptions • tsunami • short term climatic perturbations • Social Catastrophes • migration • technological change • Disease • Political upheaval • Imperial expansions

  3. Punctuated Change

  4. Data Requirements • Paleoecology (James Jordan) • ash falls • sea level • glacial history • tsunami • short term climatic perturbations • Archaeology (Maschner) • 100% survey • villages • households • subsistence economy • Social Anthropology (Katherine Reedy-Maschner) • Modern subsistence • Social organization • Local histories • Traditional knowledge

  5. Lower Alaska Peninsula Project • 10 field seasons, 400 km surveyed, 214 villages, 8252 surface depressions, 500,000 lithics, 700,000 faunal elements, 196 AMS dates. • Complete glacial history • Fairly complete volcanic history • Complete sea level history • Geographic information system • 6 pollen and diatom cores • Hundreds of hours of ethnographic interviews

  6. Drivers and Causes • Top down drivers • Large scale • Local scale • Bottom up drivers • Large Scale • Local Scale

  7. Top Down Drivers and Causes • Large scale • Climate • Salmon cycles • Sea mammal cycles • Local scale • Catastrophic environmental events • Sea level • Landscape evolution • Shorelines

  8. Wind

  9. Sea level

  10. W. AK. Pen. (Jordan, 2000, 2001) Shumagin Is. (Winslow, 1991) Umnak Is. (Black, 1974, 1976)

  11. Climate

  12. Region-wide climate trends (**) 9500 - 8000 yr BP** cool, dry8000 (6200) - 3200 yr BP warm, mesic3200 - 2100 yr BP** cool, mesic2100 - 0 yr BP cool, wet Region-wide coastal landscape changes 11,000 - 4000 yr BP RSL fall, coastal emergence3000 - 2000 yr BP RSL rise, shoreline erosion2000(?) - 1000 yr BP RSL fall, estuarine sed.1000 - 500 yr BP Embayment of estuaries

  13. Holocene Trends in Alaska Salmon and Climate 5 7 9 9 7 5 Climate d15N d15N 0 LIA 1000 MW ? 2000 Neoglacial Year BP 3000 4000 Hypsithermal 5000 6000 Karluk Lake Iliamna Lake

  14. Mammals 3500 Years Ago

  15. Mammals 2500 years ago

  16. Ringed Seal Bearded Seal Ribbon Seal

  17. Mammals 400 years ago

  18. Birds 3500 Years Ago

  19. Birds 2500 years ago

  20. Modern Species at Izembek NWR • Common year round residents include: • Black Brandt (<0.5% NISP) • Emperor Goose (<1% NISP) • Mallard (<1% NISP) • Pintail (<0.5% NISP)

  21. Extirpated Species found in Adamagan Excavations Albatrosses 14% NISP Auklets 4% NISP

  22. Birds 400 years ago

  23. Volcanics

  24. Bottom up drivers and causes • Large Scale • Technological evolution • warfare • Harvesting • Sea mammals • Local Scale • Evolution of villages

  25. Modeled Human Impacts on the Marine Ecosystem

  26. altered plant communities

  27. Past Ecological Studies Bank, 1953 McCartney, 1976 Bank, 1953

  28. Outlier Village Offsite Results: Polar Ordination

  29. Edible Flora Archaeological sites contain a higher edible plant cover used by contemporary Aleuts in King Cove, AK (X2 contingency table p < 0.001) • 30 % Village cover • 11 % Offsite cover

  30. Simplified models of human impacts on marine ecosystems from Jackson et al. 2001 Science

  31. Humans on the Alaska Peninsula Landscape Crux: in the last 6000 years, and more likely the last 12,000 years, there has never been a time when humans were not harvesting north Pacific resources. Thus, humans have always been an integral part of the regional ecosystem. Therefore, there is no a priori reason to assume that the north Pacific ecosystem can be understood without reference to the role humans played (or now play) in that ecosystem.

  32. Inuit and Cree within a complex ecosystem web east of Hudson Bay

  33. Testable Hypotheses • First, what have been the roles of prehistoric, historic, and modern Aleut in the structure and functioning of the north Pacific ecosystem and is it possible for that role to continue to viably sustain the communities that live in this ecosystem today? • Second, how have major changes in the environment, such as sea level, climate, tsunami, and volcanic eruptions, conditioned human social behavior in the context of humanity’s role as a key variable in the functioning of the North Pacific ecosystem?

  34. Aleut as Ecosystem EngineersA model for investigating humans as part of the ecosystem

  35. Acknowledgements • National Science Foundation grants OPP- 8912981, 9814086, 9714926, 9630072, 0137756 and BE/CNH 0119743 • Idaho State University • King Cove Corporation • Agdaagux Tribal Council of King Cove • Isanotski Corporation of False Pass • Nelson Lagoon Tribal Council • Pauloff Harbor Tribe • Sanak Corporation • False Pass Tribal Council • The Aleut Corporation • The Aleutians East Borough • Izembek National Wildlife Refuge • US Fish and Wildlife Service

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