Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America

We investigate the perceptions and impacts of climate change on 11 Indigenous communities in Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. This coastal region constitutes an extremely dynamic and resilient social-ecological system where Indigenous Peoples have been adjusting to changing climate an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: de Echeverria, V. R. W., Thornton, Thomas F.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Netherlands 2019
Subjects:
Adaptation
Biodiversity
Climate change
Ethnoecology
Local knowledge
Pacific Northwest Coast
Arctic
Pacific
Alaska
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10650
id ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/10650
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/10650 2023-05-15T15:09:00+02:00 Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America Biodiversity Change and Human Adaptation de Echeverria, V. R. W. Thornton, Thomas F. 2019-10-09 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10650 en eng Springer Netherlands de Echeverria, V. R. W., & Thornton, T. F. (2019). Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America. Ambio, 1-23. 1654-7209 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10650 Ambio Adaptation Biodiversity Climate change Ethnoecology Local knowledge Pacific Northwest Coast Article 2019 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:37:32Z We investigate the perceptions and impacts of climate change on 11 Indigenous communities in Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. This coastal region constitutes an extremely dynamic and resilient social-ecological system where Indigenous Peoples have been adjusting to changing climate and biodiversity for millennia. The region is a bellwether for biodiversity changes in coastal, forest, and montane environments that link the arctic to more southerly latitudes on the Pacific coast. Ninety-six Elders and resource users were interviewed to record Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and observations regarding weather, landscape, and resource changes, especially as concerns what we term Cultural Keystone Indicator Species (CKIS), which provide a unique lens into the effects of environmental change. Our findings show that Indigenous residents of these communities are aware of significant environmental changes over their lifetimes, and an acceleration in changes over the last 15–20 years, not only in weather patterns, but also in the behaviour, distributions, and availability of important plants and animals. Within a broader ecological and social context of dwelling, we suggest ways this knowledge can assist communities in responding to future environmental changes using a range of place-based adaptation modes. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Yes Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Arctic Pacific
institution Open Polar
collection University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA
op_collection_id ftunivalaska
language English
topic Adaptation
Biodiversity
Climate change
Ethnoecology
Local knowledge
Pacific Northwest Coast
spellingShingle Adaptation
Biodiversity
Climate change
Ethnoecology
Local knowledge
Pacific Northwest Coast
de Echeverria, V. R. W.
Thornton, Thomas F.
Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
topic_facet Adaptation
Biodiversity
Climate change
Ethnoecology
Local knowledge
Pacific Northwest Coast
description We investigate the perceptions and impacts of climate change on 11 Indigenous communities in Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. This coastal region constitutes an extremely dynamic and resilient social-ecological system where Indigenous Peoples have been adjusting to changing climate and biodiversity for millennia. The region is a bellwether for biodiversity changes in coastal, forest, and montane environments that link the arctic to more southerly latitudes on the Pacific coast. Ninety-six Elders and resource users were interviewed to record Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and observations regarding weather, landscape, and resource changes, especially as concerns what we term Cultural Keystone Indicator Species (CKIS), which provide a unique lens into the effects of environmental change. Our findings show that Indigenous residents of these communities are aware of significant environmental changes over their lifetimes, and an acceleration in changes over the last 15–20 years, not only in weather patterns, but also in the behaviour, distributions, and availability of important plants and animals. Within a broader ecological and social context of dwelling, we suggest ways this knowledge can assist communities in responding to future environmental changes using a range of place-based adaptation modes. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Yes
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author de Echeverria, V. R. W.
Thornton, Thomas F.
author_facet de Echeverria, V. R. W.
Thornton, Thomas F.
author_sort de Echeverria, V. R. W.
title Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
title_short Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
title_full Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
title_fullStr Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
title_full_unstemmed Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America
title_sort using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the pacific coast of north america
publisher Springer Netherlands
publishDate 2019
url http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10650
geographic Arctic
Pacific
geographic_facet Arctic
Pacific
genre Arctic
Climate change
Alaska
genre_facet Arctic
Climate change
Alaska
op_source Ambio
op_relation de Echeverria, V. R. W., & Thornton, T. F. (2019). Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America. Ambio, 1-23.
1654-7209
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10650
_version_ 1766340253593894912

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