Climate, caribou and human needs linked by analysis of Indigenous and scientific knowledge
Migratory tundra caribou are ecologically and culturally critical in the circumpolar North. However, they are declining almost everywhere in North America, likely due to natural variation exacerbated by climate change and human activities. Yet, the interconnectedness between climate, caribou, and hu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://zenodo.org/record/7566386 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.msbcc2g2z |
| Summary: | Migratory tundra caribou are ecologically and culturally critical in the circumpolar North. However, they are declining almost everywhere in North America, likely due to natural variation exacerbated by climate change and human activities. Yet, the interconnectedness between climate, caribou, and human well-being has received little attention. To address this gap, we bridged Indigenous and scientific knowledge in a single model, using as an example the Porcupine caribou herd social-ecological system. Our analysis, involving 688 (fall season) and 616 (spring season) interviews conducted over nine years with 405 (fall season) and 390 (spring season) Indigenous hunters from nine communities, demonstrates that environmental conditions, large-scale temporal changes associated with caribou demography, and cultural practices affect hunters' capacity to meet their needs in caribou. Our quantitative approach bolsters our understanding of the complex relationships between ecosystems and human welfare in environments exposed to rapid climate change and shows the benefits of long-term participatory research methods implemented by Indigenous and scientific partners. Authors were not allowed to publicly archive survey data from the ABEKS due to their sensitive nature relating to endangered species and human identity. Access to ABEKS data requires consent from each Indigenous community involved in the project and the completion of a data request form which can be accessed via https://www.arcticborderlands.org/services. Nevertheless, we did include in the datafiles two .html code files (one for the fall season, one for the spring season) that describe the code used to perform the analysis, and the results obtained with the ABEKS data. No specific software is required to open the .html filesFunding provided by: Canada Excellence Research Chairs, Government of CanadaCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002784Award Number: 228343Funding provided by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of ... |
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