Early land survey records can be used to reconstruct the historical distribution and abundance of tree species prior to the large-scale impact of industrialized societies. Comparing these records to current vegetation patterns enables an examination of the shifts that have occurred in plant communities since the arrival of European settlers in North America. I used presettlement (1859-1874) land survey records from southeastern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct the relative abundance and density of tree species in these areas. I then collected equivalent vegetation data from the same points in the modern landscape, which enabled me to compare the two points in time and identify the changes in large-scale vegetation patterns that have occurred since European settlement. My results show a significant increase in the relative abundance of maple (Acer macrophyllum) and cedar (Thuja plicata), and a corresponding decrease in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii). Furthermore, there has been a considerable increase in tree density in undeveloped areas. The 1859 records indicate that at least one third of the land surveyed was made up of prairies or open “plains,” while a combination of open woods and forests made up the remaining two thirds. Based on comparable density measures from 2007, prairies and plains now represent less than 5% of the undeveloped landscape, while forests comprise nearly 90%. These changes are likely due to a combination of factors that have been influenced by European settlement, most notably logging and fire suppression. The suppression of fire has led to an infilling of trees into previously open areas and has led to the rapid decline of the open prairie and savanna habitat types once common in this area. The results of this study can inform conservation efforts throughout the study area, particularly those involving the restoration of prairie or savanna habitats.

Caribou have a longstanding cultural and environmental role, and have interacted with human groups across time. This thesis is a consideration of these interactions, exploring prehistoric and historic patterns of caribou usage by Cree people in northern Manitoba. Through zooarchaeological analysis, an ethnohistorical review, and community workshops and interviews with York Factory First Nation, the relationship between caribou populations and Cree use is illustrated, providing insight into abundance, movements, and the socio-cultural value of caribou over time. In doing so, context is provided for the present-day situation: connections between historical and modern herds are drawn, population and migration changes are highlighted, and the impact of hunting pressures, climatic variation, habitat changes, and food availability on caribou populations are contemplated. Caribou have long been central to the seasonal economy in northern Manitoba, and the use of these animals reflects their abundance and value.

Submitted by (edna.saturno@ufrpe.br) on 2016-07-05T12:04:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Taline Cristina da Silva.pdf: 3149962 bytes, checksum: 76e467f5583429ddc2bf9932948d4a73 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-05T12:04:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Taline Cristina da Silva.pdf: 3149962 bytes, checksum: 76e467f5583429ddc2bf9932948d4a73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Cultural landscape can be defined as landscapes derived from anthropogenic activities, with which people establish cosmological, sacred, historical relationship and many activities types. From these interactions emerges modified landscapes and local knowledge according to the needs of each human group, and research on these aspects help to understand about the historical use of these landscapes and make predictions aiming its conservation. Thus, this study sought to understand what criteria people use to classify landscapes, understanding the effects of anthropogenic landscapes in the management of FLONA-Araripe from biological evidence and perceptions of the surrounding communities and employees as well as checking as variables interfered with local knowledge about these landscapes. For this we used semi-structured interviews with 106 people living around the FLONA-Araripe, with seven employees of the conservation unit, plus a list-free landscapes and species of useful plants known, the community mapping and history graph. Biological evidence was accessed through floristic survey, soil analysis and aerial imagery of the managed areas in two temporal clippings. The main results of this study, was observed that the studied population establishes close relationships with the landscape, as they classify for utility issues and these designations indicate on your management process, as was evidenced in biological data. Moreover, it was observed that the anthropogenic effects on the landscapes of FLONA-Araripe, the votes favored plant species in the past tense, and currently the abundance of these species is in decline due to specific environmental and anthropogenic factors. Finally, employee perceptions about the occurrence of fires in managed areas, revealed the historical use and conflicts of interest in the conservation of these areas among the local population and the managers of the Unit. Thus, theoretical view point these results elucidate issues related to the classification of landscape processes, since it was found that these occur by utilitarian issues, and contribute to understanding the effects of management on current landscapes, seen that demystifies the idea of unspoiled forests, showing that FLONA-Araripe consists of a set of human altered landscapes and human activities can both contribute to the increase in the abundance of useful species, as the depletion of this species. From a practical view point, our results delineate future perspectives on forest landscape that will assist both the management of protected area, as local cultures that depend on the use of forest resources. / Paisagens culturais podem ser definidas como paisagens oriundas de ações antropogênicas, com as quais as pessoas estabelecem relações cosmológicas, sagradas, históricas e também realizam diversos tipos de atividades. A partir dessas interações emerge uma gama de conhecimento local e paisagens modificadas de acordo com as necessidades de cada grupo humano. Investigações sobre esses aspectos podem ser úteis para entender sobre o histórico de uso dessas paisagens e fazer predições visando sua conservação. Assim, o presente trabalho objetivou entender quais critérios as pessoas utilizam para classificar paisagens, compreender os efeitos do manejo antrópico nas paisagens da FLONA-Araripe a partir de evidências biológicas e das percepções de comunidades do entorno e funcionários da Unidade de Conservação, bem como verificar como variáveis (idade, gênero, renda, escolaridade, etc) interferiam no conhecimento local sobre essas paisagens. Para isso utilizou-se entrevistas semi-estruturadas com 106 moradores do entorno da FLONA-Araripe e com sete ex-funcionários da unidade de conservação, além da lista-livre das paisagens e espécies de plantas uteis conhecidas, do mapeamento comunitário e do gráfico histórico. As evidências biológicas foram acessadas por meio de levantamento florístico, análise de solo e de imagens aéreas das áreas manejadas em dois recortes temporais. Dentre os principais resultados desse estudo, observou-se que a população estudada estabelece relações estreitas com a paisagem, pois as classificam por questões utilitárias e essas denominações indicam sobre seu processo de manejo, assim como foi evidenciado nos dados biológicos. Além disso, observou-se que os efeitos antrópicos sob as paisagens da FLONA-Araripe, favoreceu as espécies vegetais úteis no tempo pretérito, e atualmente a abundância dessas espécies encontra-se em declínio devido a fatores ambientais e antrópicos específicos. Por último, as percepções dos funcionários sobre a ocorrência de incêndios nas áreas manejadas, revelaram o histórico de uso dessas áreas e conflitos de interesse em relação a conservação dessas áreas entre a população local e os gestores da Unidade. Dessa forma, do ponto de vista teórico, esses achados elucidaram questões relacionadas aos processos de classificação das paisagens, uma vez que constatou-se que esses se dão por questões utilitaristas, além de contribuir para a compreensão dos efeitos do manejo sobre as paisagens atuais, visto que desmistifica a ideia de florestas intocadas, mostrando que a FLONA-Araripe é composta por um conjunto de paisagens antropizadas e que ações antrópicas podem tanto contribuir com o aumento na abundância de espécies úteis, quanto na depleção dessa espécies. Do ponto de vista prático, os achados desse estudo delineiam perspectivas futuras sobre a paisagem florestal que irão auxiliar tanto a gestão da unidade de conservação, quanto as culturas locais que dependem do uso dos recursos florestais.

Early land survey records can be used to reconstruct the historical distribution and abundance of tree species prior to the large-scale impact of industrialized societies. Comparing these records to current vegetation patterns enables an examination of the shifts that have occurred in plant communities since the arrival of European settlers in North America. I used presettlement (1859-1874) land survey records from southeastern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct the relative abundance and density of tree species in these areas. I then collected equivalent vegetation data from the same points in the modern landscape, which enabled me to compare the two points in time and identify the changes in large-scale vegetation patterns that have occurred since European settlement. My results show a significant increase in the relative abundance of maple (Acer macrophyllum) and cedar (Thuja plicata), and a corresponding decrease in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii). Furthermore, there has been a considerable increase in tree density in undeveloped areas. The 1859 records indicate that at least one third of the land surveyed was made up of prairies or open “plains,” while a combination of open woods and forests made up the remaining two thirds. Based on comparable density measures from 2007, prairies and plains now represent less than 5% of the undeveloped landscape, while forests comprise nearly 90%. These changes are likely due to a combination of factors that have been influenced by European settlement, most notably logging and fire suppression. The suppression of fire has led to an infilling of trees into previously open areas and has led to the rapid decline of the open prairie and savanna habitat types once common in this area. The results of this study can inform conservation efforts throughout the study area, particularly those involving the restoration of prairie or savanna habitats. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate

It is well recognized that humans have had a significant role in transforming terrestrial landscapes, yet comparatively little research has examined the long-term impacts of humans on marine ecosystems. As an applied field of research, marine historical ecology draws on archaeological, ecological, and other archival information to reveal the dynamics of marine social-ecological systems. This thesis examines the enduring history of relationships between ancient Indigenous fisheries and marine systems in the northeast Pacific. Specifically, I advance the development and application of two methodologies for 1) quantifying the composition of ancient fish landings, 2) estimating ancient ocean temperatures from archaeological fish bone assemblages, and 3) assessing the scale of ancient shellfish harvests using a regression-based approach. This thesis presents a novel method for estimating the ‘ancient Mean Temperature of the Catch’ (aMTC) using Indigenous fisheries catch records from two archaeological sites in the northeast Pacific. Despite different catch compositions, I observe an increase in aMTC over a 5,000-year period at two contemporaneously occupied archaeological sites in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Given that preindustrial fisheries data are ubiquitous in coastal archaeological sites, this method has the potential to be applied globally to broaden the temporal and geographic scale of ocean temperature baselines. Furthermore, the regression-based methodology presented in this thesis has broad applicability to archaeological shellfish assemblages, as it allows for reconstructing size frequency distributions of ancient shellfish harvests and refined estimates of clam biomass. Together, these methods offer a long-term perspective on the enduring relationships between Indigenous peoples and marine environments in the northeast Pacific. Furthermore, the methods advanced in this thesis shed light on ancient oceanographic conditions and fisheries practices, which can be used to inform contemporary management efforts. Ultimately, these insights aim to contribute towards ecologically sustainable and socially just operating space for Canada’s Pacific fisheries. / Graduate / 2023-04-10

Archaeological fisheries information represented in fish scales provides relative abundance and age-at-harvest data that can assist in understanding a range of culturally vital Indigenous fisheries. In this thesis, I undertake fish scale analysis (squamatology) to explore fish scale preservation in twelve coastal archaeological sites from two First Nations’ territories in coastal British Columbia (Wuikinuxv and Tseshaht). These data demonstrate that fish scales are more readily preserved in coastal archaeological deposits than is currently appreciated and can refine species-level identification of culturally significant Indigenous fisheries including forage fish and salmon. Fish scales can additionally generate baseline data on age-at-harvest in Pacific herring and when considered alongside other fisheries records provide relative abundance records for forage fisheries in Wuikinuxv territory that span the last 3000 years. This study additionally temporally anchors eulachon fishing along the Wannock River by at least 3000 years ago extending upon previous archaeological assessments by over 2000 years. I apply the concept of two-eyed seeing, as envisaged by Mi’kmaw elder Dr. Albert Marshall, to recognize the strengths of Indigenous and Western perspectives in developing decolonial practices for sharing archaeological fisheries data with community-based fisheries managers. Two-eyed seeing highlights the strength of archaeological data as deep time records of Indigenous fisheries that can be anchored by Indigenous knowledge including cultural stewardship and fishing practices. In this case study, I provide baseline fisheries data co-derived from archaeological and Indigenous knowledges including deep time accounts of relative abundance and traditional harvest methods that community-based managers may wish to use on their terms to pursue future activities of restoration, renewal, and affirmation of traditional fishing practices. / Graduate / 2022-05-14

Forest disturbance occurs on a wide gradient of selectiveness and creates new growth opportunities for adapted species. Across the spectrum of disturbance, anthropogenic disturbance influences community assembly in the Midwest more than other mechanisms but is its role in shaping and maintaining ecosystems is inadequately considered in most discussions on the historic range of variability (HRV). Forest resiliency is threatened by unprecedented agents of ecosystem change such as invasive species and reduced regeneration potential of native species. Historic anthropogenic disturbance largely resulted in forest conditions which commonly contained high value attributes like heterogeneity across habitat types and landscape diversity, yet also produced forests of undesirable traits due to high grading for timber and overgrazing by domesticated stock. In order to maintain historical representative forests and improve the degraded forests, active forest management is necessary to continue historic disturbance patterns and combat new threats. Forest transition theory is used here to describe the impacts of human settlement and development activities on forest ecosystems across the Middle Mississippi River Valley. To date, researchers have identified the need for information related to changes of forest attributes such as species composition and stand structure, improved descriptions of short- and medium-term dynamics within the context of the long-term transition, and the integration of biophysical drivers of forest change through time. In Midwestern U.S.A., forest dynamics were influenced by frequent, low intensity disturbance events that mediate forest composition and stand structure by selecting for disturbance regimes that create oak woodland and interspersed prairies and meadows. The onset of Euro-American settlement was accompanied by detailed land-use records with information related to forest attributes, agricultural activities, and parcel ownership patterns. We aggregated multiple sources of historic forest conditions into a geodatabase in order to document changes over the past 200 years in Elsah Township, Illinois, where the pre-settlement (1820) forest, once dominated by oak and hickory species, has largely shifted to a maple dominated system with a declining oak-hickory component, heavily influenced by an invasive shrub species, bush honeysuckle. Using on ordinary kriging interpolation, forest density was estimated at 8.7 stems per acre on average with a mean basal area of 14.6 square feet per acre prior to settlement. Conservation practices of the early 1900s, including fire suppression and erosion control resulted in changes to forest structure with density increases to 127 trees per acre with a basal area of 175.8 square feet per acre. The high degree of topographic variability near the Mississippi River influenced forest cover changes as slopes with low angles were the first to be converted from forest cover to other land uses (circa 1850). Forest re-initiation occurred in areas with steeper slope due to a lack of human activities. Forest cover declined to the lowest point in 1927 and has been rebounding steadily throughout this century. Of the original 15,252 forested acres, 11.6% remained covered throughout the past 200 years and coincided with slopes with an average of 39.1 degrees. These data can provide a spatially explicit and historically accurate tool to guide land management decisions including restoration treatment, disturbance regime management, and land use preservation activities in similarly heterogeneous environments. Forest communities along the bluffs of the Mississippi River differ in species composition and stand structure associated with specific topographic positions of floodplain, transition talus slope, bluff top, and upland. In order to assess current stand characteristics and ecosystem trajectory, we measured all woody stems in 316 fixed radius plots (79 plots per topographic position) with a plot area of 25 m2. Alpha (defined as within system diversity) and Beta (defined as between system diversity) diversity and diameter distributions were determined for seedling, shrub layer, and overstory stems. Stem density increased from 21.4 stems ha-1 in 1820 to 613 stems ha-1 in 1936 followed by reduction to 314 stems ha-1 in 2017. Average stand diameter decreased from 40.9 cm in 1820 to 25.3 cm in 2017 (for upland stems greater than 7.5 cm) while basal area increased from 3.3 m2 ha-1 in 1820 to 40.4 m2 ha-1 in 2017. Alpha diversity was highest in the upland overstory and in the river island shrub layer. Beta diversity in the overstory was highest (0.67) between the bluff and the upland while lowest (0.08) between the bluff and the river island. Importantly, mesophytic species are no longer restricted to watercourses and valleys as reported in historical accounts and confirmed by the spatial analysis of original witness tree records. Currently, bush honeysuckle, an invasive species, dominates the shrub layer on most non-hydric sites of the talus slope, upland, and particularly across the bluff top where it is an indicator. Across all forest sites in the study, we found evidence of a community shift to less diversity and more mesophytic species over the past 80 years. Hill prairie vegetation on the limestone bluffs of the central Mississippi River Valley represents a significant portion of the remaining prairie, savanna, and woodland systems of the Midwest and should be appropriately managed with prescribed fire and woody stem reduction efforts. We examined the structure, composition, and temporal community patterns of the forest-prairie gradient by employing hierarchical cluster analysis and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling in combination with indicator species analysis and dendrochronological methods. Results suggest that four general community types exist across the forest-prairie gradient: Group 1 consists of the woodland community structure with significant indicator values for the density of Juniperus virginiana (indicator value 58.4, p = 0.0002), Carya glabra (45, 0.0022), Quercus stellata (23.7, 0.0424), and Lonicera maackii (74.2, 0.0002) and a high basal area (BA) of J. virgniana (21.4, 0.0276) and L. maackii (47.9, 0.0054). The first year of L. maackii presence was 1964 with the primary wave of invasion beginning around 1990. Group 2 contains bare soil coverage in the subplot (40.4, 0.0002) as the one indicator at a significant level. The species with the highest BA in Group 2 include Acer saccharum (9.08 m2 ha-1), Q. velutina (5.89 m2 ha-1), and Q. muehlenbergii (5.32 m2 ha-1). Group 3 typifies the hill prairie community with the sole indicator of grass coverage in the subplots (39.7, 0.0196). Group 4 represents the stage of forest development following the cessation of disturbance events and the trajectory advancing towards a mesophytic forest and contains 14 significant indicators.

In the central Andes, complex civilizational processes and dramatic biophysical phenomena have concurred for thousands of years. The confluence of these cultural and natural forces implies that environmental disturbances should be neither overemphasized nor ignored but adequately included as a variable in the modeling of the cultural processes of the Andean prehistory. In this sense, it is justified to clarify why and how people from pre-Hispanic urban centers preferred to accept risk associated with disaster-prone settings and how they eventually developed social responses to biophysical hazards through centuries.Framed within this purpose, this dissertation takes as a case study the prehistoric urban center of Cajamarquilla (138 ha) located in a flood-prone sector on the arid Peruvian central coast, and occupied mainly but intermittently for a period of almost 800 years between ca. AD 650 and 1400 (from the Middle Horizon to the Late Intermediate Period). My research was built on the basis of theoretical and methodological contributions of the Historical Ecology, Anthropology of Disasters, and Environmental Archaeology. Thus, it included conventional archeological procedures, a geomorphological characterization of the study area, and archaeobotanical and geoarchaeological methods and techniques. Although a range of contexts were analyzed, the study of the hydraulic (first-order irrigation canals) and storage (underground silos) systems associated with the site were strongly emphasized. Results indicate that the interspersed occurrence of droughts and floods with phases of dynamic constructive activity in Cajamarquilla express a form of risk normalization. This included the maximum use of clay soils and the involvement of the site residents with planned abandonment processes, although apparently sudden final abandonment has also been documented. While it has been verified that occupational dynamics in Cajamarquilla were constantly constrained by regional eco-climatic conditions, these always responded simultaneously to the socio-political controls of each era, so that social responses were not only multifactorial in their origins but also multipurpose in their ends, an illustration of this being the thousands of bottle-shaped, capacious silos that characterize the site. This makes sense with the integrative culture-nature worldviews of the indigenous Andean societies. Finally, this investigation also finds that, beyond the common socio-environmental connotation noted above, social action in Cajamarquilla also shows substantial differences between its different cultural occupations when dealing with environmental determinants: Its earliest inhabitants carefully planned an ambitious technological equipment (canals and silos), while its later inhabitants were characterized by their marked sense of opportunism and pragmatism both in the use/readjustment of such inherited technologies and the rules of community life within the settlement. In general, beyond usual binary frames that oppose determinism versus possibilism, or collapse versus resilience, the case of Cajamarquilla raises the anthropological need for an integrative approach focused on how and to what extent cultural and natural forces intermingle in urban life.

A series of anthropogenic disturbance conditions have altered the vegetation of the southern Appalachians during the past 200-years. The objective of this research was to identify the nature and timing of these vegetation changes in order to better understand the underlying causes. A total of 304 land surveys were collected for a small agricultural watershed from early settlement in 1787 through to the present day. Witness corners recorded tree species, shrubs, stumps, snags and non vegetative markers. Types of witness corners were tallied and tested for shifts in frequency across time periods. Tree species were also classified by silvical characteristics including sprouting capability, shade tolerance, and seed type and these groupings were tested for shifts in frequency across time periods. Landform bias of the witness corners was tested using references contained in the surveys. Results showed significant shifts in white oak (Quercus alba L.), chestnut (Castanea dentate Marsh. Borkh.), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus Wild.), black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.), red oak(Quercus rubra L.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), and scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muenchh.). The central change was a steady decline in white oak, probably due to the absence of fire and changes in soil properties. Chestnut replaced white oak as the dominant species, but was removed by chestnut blight in the 1930's. Sprouting capability appeared to be the most important silvical characteristic across all species. / Master of Science

Recent global climate change is influencing the behaviour and ecology of species worldwide. Birds are typical systems to study in this context, as they are often migratory and thus subjected to a variety of environmental effects. This thesis employs the use of long-term ringing records, field observations, historical maps and historical volunteer observations with the aim of describing behavioural and ecological responses of birds to the current environmental change. An investigation into the spring arrival, reproduction and autumn departure in willow warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus) breeding at a southern study site in Sweden (65°N 18°E) showed that all three phenological events had advanced in parallel. Thus birds arrive earlier, start breeding earlier and leave Sweden earlier, with the breeding period staying the same in length. By teasing apart the migratory responses of different individuals, it became clear that particularly early arriving males and early departing juveniles had advanced migration. However, willow warblers migrating past a northern study site in Sweden (65°N 23°E) displayed no change in autumn departure. When migration in the two regionally separate populations were analyzed in relation to climatic variables, the results indicated that foremost a combined effect of growing season onset and the North Atlantic Oscillation influenced migratory timing, and only in individuals that had advanced migration. As growing season onset had advanced at both regions, but only elicited migratory change in southern willow warblers, it is proposed that intra-specific difference between populations prepare them differently to climate change. Willow warblers breeding at northern latitudes were also displaying absence of an otherwise common behaviour of the species: philopatry. It is suggested that the climate induced change in onset of the growing season, coupled with an increase in available territories, could have enabled a southern influx of dispersal-prone birds adopting a less philopatric breeding behaviour. Availability of territories was also studied in southern Sweden, in relation to 100 years of land use change and future climate change effects on forestry. The mass-conversion of grazed forest into coniferous sylvicultures that has occurred in Sweden 1900-2013 was shown to have negatively affected territory availability for willow warblers. The second most common bird species in Sweden, the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), was however shown to be largely unaffected. In a future scenario where rising temperatures will increase growth rates of trees, harvest rotation will be faster and both sylvicultures and logged areas will increase in coverage, favouring both species. Thus commonness in terms of landscape and species occurrence has altered historically and is dynamically linked. Historic perspectives were also applied to observations of spring arrival of 14 migratory bird species. A relative comparison of two data sets, collected over 140 years, revealed that short-distance migrants have changed their spring arrival more than long-distance migrants in southern Sweden. In conclusion, the results of this thesis provide insights into climate change effects on avian behaviour and ecology, document unique observations and contribute with a great spectrum of knowledge, from exact details on responses by individual birds, through long-term changes in populations to historical perspectives on shifts in entire landscapes / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>