Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge
Humans who interact directly with local ecosystems possess traditional ecological knowledge that enables them to detect and predict ecosystem changes. Humans who use scientific ecological methods can use species such as mollusks that lay down annual growth rings to detect past environmental variatio...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44949 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 |
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ftupompeufabra:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/44949 |
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openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
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UPF Digital Repository (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) |
op_collection_id |
ftupompeufabra |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental change Scientific ecological knowledge Traditional ecological knowledge Sclerochronology Knowledge networks Arctic |
spellingShingle |
Environmental change Scientific ecological knowledge Traditional ecological knowledge Sclerochronology Knowledge networks Arctic Ambrose, William G. Jr Clough, Lisa M. Johnson, Jeffrey C. Greenacre, Michael Griffith, David C. Carroll, Michael L. Whiting, Alex Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
topic_facet |
Environmental change Scientific ecological knowledge Traditional ecological knowledge Sclerochronology Knowledge networks Arctic |
description |
Humans who interact directly with local ecosystems possess traditional ecological knowledge that enables them to detect and predict ecosystem changes. Humans who use scientific ecological methods can use species such as mollusks that lay down annual growth rings to detect past environmental variation and use statistical models to make predictions about future change. We used traditional ecological knowledge shared by local Iñupiaq, combined with growth histories of two species of mollusks, at different trophic levels, to study local change in the coastal ecosystems of Kotzebue, Alaska, an area in the Arctic without continuous scientific monitoring. For the mollusks, a combination of the Arctic Oscillation and total Arctic ice coverage, and summer air temperature and summer precipitation explained 79–80% of the interannual variability in growth of the suspension feeding Greenland cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the predatory whelk (Neptunea hero), respectively, indicating these mollusks seem to be impacted by local and regional environmental parameters, and should be good biomonitors for change in coastal Alaska. The change experts within the Kotzebue community were the elders and the fishers, and they observed changes in species abundance and behaviors, including benthic species, and infer that a fundamental change in the climate has taken place within the area. We conclude combining traditional and scientific ecological knowledge provides greater insight than either approach alone, and offers a powerful way to document change in an area that otherwise lacks widespread quantitative monitoring. This work was funded by a grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP-0222423) to William G. Ambrose Jr., Lisa M. Clough, David C. Griffith and Jeffrey C. Johnson, the Norwegian Research Council to Michael L. Carroll, the BBVA Foundation and Spanish Ministry of Education and Competitiveness grant MTM2012-37195 to Michael Greenacre, and with funds from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through Bates College. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ambrose, William G. Jr Clough, Lisa M. Johnson, Jeffrey C. Greenacre, Michael Griffith, David C. Carroll, Michael L. Whiting, Alex |
author_facet |
Ambrose, William G. Jr Clough, Lisa M. Johnson, Jeffrey C. Greenacre, Michael Griffith, David C. Carroll, Michael L. Whiting, Alex |
author_sort |
Ambrose, William G. Jr |
title |
Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
title_short |
Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
title_full |
Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
title_fullStr |
Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
title_sort |
interpreting environmental change in coastal alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge |
publisher |
Frontiers |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44949 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-65.631,-65.631,-65.821,-65.821) ENVELOPE(-81.183,-81.183,50.800,50.800) ENVELOPE(-158.433,-158.433,-85.900,-85.900) ENVELOPE(-155.500,-155.500,-85.883,-85.883) |
geographic |
Arctic Bates Carroll Clough Greenland Griffith |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bates Carroll Clough Greenland Griffith |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Greenland cockle Serripes groenlandicus Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Greenland cockle Serripes groenlandicus Alaska |
op_relation |
Frontiers in Marina Science. 2014 Sep 29;1:40 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/3PN/MTM2012-37195 Ambrose WG Jr, Clough LM, Johnson JC, Greenacre M, Griffith DC, Carroll ML, Whiting A. Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge. Front Mar Sci. 2014 Sep 29;1:40. DOI:10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 2296-7745 http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44949 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 |
op_rights |
© 2014 Ambrose, Clough, Johnson, Greenacre, Griffith, Carroll and Whiting. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
1 |
_version_ |
1766324407419011072 |
spelling |
ftupompeufabra:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/44949 2023-05-15T14:53:00+02:00 Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge Ambrose, William G. Jr Clough, Lisa M. Johnson, Jeffrey C. Greenacre, Michael Griffith, David C. Carroll, Michael L. Whiting, Alex application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44949 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 eng eng Frontiers Frontiers in Marina Science. 2014 Sep 29;1:40 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/3PN/MTM2012-37195 Ambrose WG Jr, Clough LM, Johnson JC, Greenacre M, Griffith DC, Carroll ML, Whiting A. Interpreting environmental change in coastal Alaska using traditional and scientific ecological knowledge. Front Mar Sci. 2014 Sep 29;1:40. DOI:10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 2296-7745 http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44949 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 © 2014 Ambrose, Clough, Johnson, Greenacre, Griffith, Carroll and Whiting. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY Environmental change Scientific ecological knowledge Traditional ecological knowledge Sclerochronology Knowledge networks Arctic info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion ftupompeufabra https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00040 2021-08-03T23:19:44Z Humans who interact directly with local ecosystems possess traditional ecological knowledge that enables them to detect and predict ecosystem changes. Humans who use scientific ecological methods can use species such as mollusks that lay down annual growth rings to detect past environmental variation and use statistical models to make predictions about future change. We used traditional ecological knowledge shared by local Iñupiaq, combined with growth histories of two species of mollusks, at different trophic levels, to study local change in the coastal ecosystems of Kotzebue, Alaska, an area in the Arctic without continuous scientific monitoring. For the mollusks, a combination of the Arctic Oscillation and total Arctic ice coverage, and summer air temperature and summer precipitation explained 79–80% of the interannual variability in growth of the suspension feeding Greenland cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the predatory whelk (Neptunea hero), respectively, indicating these mollusks seem to be impacted by local and regional environmental parameters, and should be good biomonitors for change in coastal Alaska. The change experts within the Kotzebue community were the elders and the fishers, and they observed changes in species abundance and behaviors, including benthic species, and infer that a fundamental change in the climate has taken place within the area. We conclude combining traditional and scientific ecological knowledge provides greater insight than either approach alone, and offers a powerful way to document change in an area that otherwise lacks widespread quantitative monitoring. This work was funded by a grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP-0222423) to William G. Ambrose Jr., Lisa M. Clough, David C. Griffith and Jeffrey C. Johnson, the Norwegian Research Council to Michael L. Carroll, the BBVA Foundation and Spanish Ministry of Education and Competitiveness grant MTM2012-37195 to Michael Greenacre, and with funds from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through Bates College. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Greenland cockle Serripes groenlandicus Alaska UPF Digital Repository (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) Arctic Bates ENVELOPE(-65.631,-65.631,-65.821,-65.821) Carroll ENVELOPE(-81.183,-81.183,50.800,50.800) Clough ENVELOPE(-158.433,-158.433,-85.900,-85.900) Greenland Griffith ENVELOPE(-155.500,-155.500,-85.883,-85.883) Frontiers in Marine Science 1 |