Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change

Abstract Ecological calendars are knowledge systems based on close observation of one's habitat to measure and give meaning to time, thereby providing anticipatory capacity for livelihood activities and contributing to food sovereignty. They rely upon seasonal indicators that integrate biophysi...

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Published in:GeoHealth
Main Authors: Karim‐Aly S. Kassam, Joseph Bernardo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614
https://doaj.org/article/1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd 2023-05-15T15:12:13+02:00 Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change Karim‐Aly S. Kassam Joseph Bernardo 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614 https://doaj.org/article/1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd EN eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614 https://doaj.org/toc/2471-1403 2471-1403 doi:10.1029/2022GH000614 https://doaj.org/article/1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd GeoHealth, Vol 6, Iss 10, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) ecological calendars food sovereignty Indigenous or local knowledge climate change species biodiversity transdisciplinary research Environmental protection TD169-171.8 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614 2022-12-30T21:50:00Z Abstract Ecological calendars are knowledge systems based on close observation of one's habitat to measure and give meaning to time, thereby providing anticipatory capacity for livelihood activities and contributing to food sovereignty. They rely upon seasonal indicators that integrate biophysical and ecological phenomena (e.g., first snowfall, last frost, blossoming of a tree species; seasonal appearance of an animal or plant) with locally grounded cultural meaning and value systems. These context‐specific relationships have enabled Indigenous and rural societies to anticipate weather and other seasonal processes in their environment. However, anthropogenic climate change could undermine ecological calendars due to adverse impacts on specific indicators species, but this issue remains unexplored. We address this knowledge gap by examining how anthropogenic climate change might affect selected species (birds, fish, and mammals) that are seasonal and key to Indigenous food systems in two Western Arctic communities. We leverage existing dietary animal datasets to which we apply a novel methodology for assessing organismal vulnerability to climate change. The methodology uses intrinsic species traits such as physiological tolerances, genetic variability, and life history traits to generate an empirical and integrative assessment of vulnerability for any given species. Subsequently, an aggregate view of vulnerability across calendar species is achieved through comparative statistical analysis across species both within and between communities. This exercise permits the first quantitative assessment of the continued relevance and effective use of an ecological calendar, thus demonstrating that food sovereignty and livelihood security is enhanced by biodiversity of indicator species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic GeoHealth 6 10
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic ecological calendars
food sovereignty
Indigenous or local knowledge
climate change
species biodiversity
transdisciplinary research
Environmental protection
TD169-171.8
spellingShingle ecological calendars
food sovereignty
Indigenous or local knowledge
climate change
species biodiversity
transdisciplinary research
Environmental protection
TD169-171.8
Karim‐Aly S. Kassam
Joseph Bernardo
Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
topic_facet ecological calendars
food sovereignty
Indigenous or local knowledge
climate change
species biodiversity
transdisciplinary research
Environmental protection
TD169-171.8
description Abstract Ecological calendars are knowledge systems based on close observation of one's habitat to measure and give meaning to time, thereby providing anticipatory capacity for livelihood activities and contributing to food sovereignty. They rely upon seasonal indicators that integrate biophysical and ecological phenomena (e.g., first snowfall, last frost, blossoming of a tree species; seasonal appearance of an animal or plant) with locally grounded cultural meaning and value systems. These context‐specific relationships have enabled Indigenous and rural societies to anticipate weather and other seasonal processes in their environment. However, anthropogenic climate change could undermine ecological calendars due to adverse impacts on specific indicators species, but this issue remains unexplored. We address this knowledge gap by examining how anthropogenic climate change might affect selected species (birds, fish, and mammals) that are seasonal and key to Indigenous food systems in two Western Arctic communities. We leverage existing dietary animal datasets to which we apply a novel methodology for assessing organismal vulnerability to climate change. The methodology uses intrinsic species traits such as physiological tolerances, genetic variability, and life history traits to generate an empirical and integrative assessment of vulnerability for any given species. Subsequently, an aggregate view of vulnerability across calendar species is achieved through comparative statistical analysis across species both within and between communities. This exercise permits the first quantitative assessment of the continued relevance and effective use of an ecological calendar, thus demonstrating that food sovereignty and livelihood security is enhanced by biodiversity of indicator species.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Karim‐Aly S. Kassam
Joseph Bernardo
author_facet Karim‐Aly S. Kassam
Joseph Bernardo
author_sort Karim‐Aly S. Kassam
title Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
title_short Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
title_full Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
title_fullStr Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
title_full_unstemmed Role of Biodiversity in Ecological Calendars and Its Implications for Food Sovereignty: Empirical Assessment of the Resilience of Indicator Species to Anthropogenic Climate Change
title_sort role of biodiversity in ecological calendars and its implications for food sovereignty: empirical assessment of the resilience of indicator species to anthropogenic climate change
publisher American Geophysical Union (AGU)
publishDate 2022
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614
https://doaj.org/article/1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
Climate change
genre_facet Arctic
Climate change
op_source GeoHealth, Vol 6, Iss 10, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)
op_relation https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614
https://doaj.org/toc/2471-1403
2471-1403
doi:10.1029/2022GH000614
https://doaj.org/article/1a43f282e25c45f992264ef00d3e03cd
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000614
container_title GeoHealth
container_volume 6
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