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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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 |