The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions

The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions The Ecology and Paleoecology of Human-Landscape Interactions on the North Pacific and Southern Bering Sea on the North Pacific and Southern Bering Sea Investigating the Role of the Aleut as Ecosystem EngineersInvestigating the Role of the Aleut as Ecosystem Engineers

Herbert Maschner, James Jordan, Herbert Maschner, James Jordan, Nancy Huntly, Bruce Finney, Nancy Huntly, Bruce Finney, and Katherine Reedy-Maschnerand Katherine Reedy-Maschner

The Theoretical Context

Catastrophic Change• Environmental Catastrophes

– seismic events– volcanic eruptions– tsunami– short term climatic perturbations

• Social Catastrophes– migration– technological change– Disease– Political upheaval– Imperial expansions

Punctuated Change

Data Requirements• Paleoecology (James Jordan)

– ash falls– sea level– glacial history– tsunami– short term climatic perturbations

• Archaeology (Maschner)– 100% survey– villages– households– subsistence economy

• Social Anthropology (Katherine Reedy-Maschner)– Modern subsistence– Social organization– Local histories– Traditional knowledge

Lower Alaska Peninsula Project• 10 field seasons, 400 km surveyed, 214

villages, 8252 surface depressions, 500,000 lithics, 700,000 faunal elements, 196 AMS dates.

• Complete glacial history • Fairly complete volcanic history • Complete sea level history• Geographic information system• 6 pollen and diatom cores• Hundreds of hours of ethnographic

interviews

Drivers and Causes

• Top down drivers– Large scale– Local scale

• Bottom up drivers– Large Scale– Local Scale

Top Down Drivers and Causes

• Large scale• Climate• Salmon cycles• Sea mammal cycles

• Local scale• Catastrophic environmental events

– Sea level

• Landscape evolution– Shorelines

Wind

Sea level

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000

Age, 14C yr BP

De

pth

, m r

ela

tiv

e t

o m

od

ern

Umnak Is.

(Black, 1974, 1976)

Shumagin Is.

(Winslow, 1991)

W. AK. Pen.(Jordan, 2000,

2001)

Climate

Region-wide climate trends (**)

9500 - 8000 yr BP** cool, dry8000 (6200) - 3200 yr BP warm, mesic3200 - 2100 yr BP** cool, mesic2100 - 0 yr BP cool, wet

Region-wide coastal landscape changes

11,000 - 4000 yr BP RSL fall, coastal emergence3000 - 2000 yr BP RSL rise, shoreline erosion2000(?) - 1000 yr BP RSL fall, estuarine sed.1000 - 500 yr BP Embayment of estuaries

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

05 7 9

Yea

r B

P15N

5 7 915N

Karluk Lake Iliamna Lake

Holocene Trends in Alaska Salmon and Climate

Neoglacial

Hyp

sitherm

al

LIA

MW

?

Climate

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Toothed Whale

Walrus

Sea Lion

Harbor Seal

Porpoise

Caribou

Fox

Mink

Short-Tailed Weasal

Arctic Ground Squirrel

Percent number of specimens

Mammals 3500 Years Ago

Mammals 2500 years ago

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Brown Bear

Caribou

Canid sp.

Mink

Arctic Ground Squirrel

Vole sp.

Ribbon Seal

Ringed Seal

Harbor Seal

Bearded Seal

Northern Fur Seal

Steller Sea Lion

Otariidae sp.

Sea Otter

Walrus

Whale

Percent number of specimens

Bearded SealRinged Seal

Ribbon Seal

Mammals 400 years ago

0 10 20 30 40

Brown BearCaribou

Canid sp.Mink

Arctic Ground SquirrelVole sp.

Ribbon SealRinged SealHarbor Seal

Bearded SealNorthern Fur Seal

Steller Sea LionOtariidae sp.

Sea OtterWalrusWhale

Percent number of specimens

Birds 3500 Years Ago

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Arctic LoonAuklet

Bald EagleCommon Loon

Common MurreCormorant

Duck sp.Eider

GooseHarlequin duck

KittiwakeOld SquawPtarmigan

PuffinSandpiper

ScaupScoter

Shearwater

Percent number of specimens

Birds 2500 years ago

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Loon

Grebe

Albatross

Shearwater

Cormorant

Swan

Goose

Dabbling Ducks

Diving Ducks

Bald Eagle

Ptarmigan

Gulls

Murre

Auklet

Puffin

Raven

Percent number of specimens

Modern Species at Izembek NWR

Common year round residents include:

• Black Brandt (<0.5% NISP)

• Emperor Goose (<1% NISP)

• Mallard (<1% NISP)

• Pintail (<0.5% NISP)

Extirpated Species found in Adamagan Excavations

Albatrosses 14% NISP

Auklets 4% NISP

Birds 400 years ago

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Arctic LoonAuklet

Bald EagleCommon Loon

Glaucus Wing-GullCormorant

Duck sp.Eider

GooseHarlequin duck

KittiwakeOld SquawPtarmigan

PuffinSandpiper

ScaupScoter

Shearwater

Percent number of specimens

Volcanics

Bottom up drivers and causes

• Large Scale• Technological evolution

– warfare

• Harvesting– Sea mammals

• Local Scale• Evolution of villages

Modeled Human Impacts on the Marine Ecosystem

DATE (years before present)

ALEUTPOPULATION

PHOCIDS HARVESTED

PINNIPEDS HARVESTED

10000 250 300 68

9000 400 480 108

8000 750 900 203

7000 1300 1560 351

6000 1800 2160 486

5000 2500 3000 675

4000 4000 4800 1080

3000 7500 9000 2025

2000 12000 14400 3240

1000 23000 27600 6210

altered plant communities

Past Ecological Studies

Bank, 1953

McCartney, 1976

Bank, 1953

Axis 1

Axi

s 2

Outlier

Village

Offsite

Results: Polar Ordination

Edible Flora

Archaeological sites contain a higher edible plant cover

used by contemporary Aleutsin King Cove, AK (X2 contingency table p <

0.001)30 % Village cover11 % Offsite cover

Simplified models of human impacts on marine ecosystems from Jackson et al. 2001 Science

Humans on the Alaska Peninsula Landscape

Crux: in the last 6000 years, and more likely the last 12,000 years, there has never been a time when humans were not harvesting north Pacific resources.

Thus, humans have always been an integral part of the regional ecosystem.

Therefore, there is no a priori reason to assume that the north Pacific ecosystem can be understood without reference to the role humans played (or now play) in that ecosystem.

Inuit and Cree within a complex ecosystem web east of Hudson Bay

Testable Hypotheses

• First, what have been the roles of prehistoric, historic, and modern Aleut in the structure and functioning of the north Pacific ecosystem and is it possible for that role to continue to viably sustain the communities that live in this ecosystem today?

• Second, how have major changes in the environment, such as sea level, climate, tsunami, and volcanic eruptions, conditioned human social behavior in the context of humanity’s role as a key variable in the functioning of the North Pacific ecosystem?

Aleut as Ecosystem EngineersA model for investigating humans as part of the ecosystem

Cattle

Coastal Erosion

Contaminants

Sea Level

Dune Formation

Prehistoric

Historic andModern

Marine TerrestrialAleutArchaeological Faunas

Aleutian Low

Occupation History

Vegetation

BirdsSalmon

GroundfishSea Mammals

Traditional KnowledgeOral HistoryEthnohistory

Pollen

DiatomsIsotopes

Peat Bogs

Paleoclimate

Ancient DNA

Modern DNA

Soils

Ground SquirrelsLemmings

FoxesCanneriesNavy Base

Villages

Tsunami

Tephras

Acknowledgements• National Science Foundation grants OPP-

8912981, 9814086, 9714926, 9630072, 0137756 and BE/CNH 0119743

• Idaho State University• King Cove Corporation• Agdaagux Tribal Council of King Cove• Isanotski Corporation of False Pass• Nelson Lagoon Tribal Council• Pauloff Harbor Tribe• Sanak Corporation• False Pass Tribal Council• The Aleut Corporation• The Aleutians East Borough• Izembek National Wildlife Refuge• US Fish and Wildlife Service