hidden
Image Database Export Citations

Menu:

Historical Meadow Dynamics in Southwest British Columbia: A Multidisciplinary Analysis

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Lepofsky, Dana en_US
dc.contributor.author Heyerdahl, Emily K. en_US
dc.contributor.author Lertzman, Ken en_US
dc.contributor.author Schaepe, Dave en_US
dc.contributor.author Mierendorf, Bob en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2009-07-31T14:55:20Z
dc.date.available 2009-07-31T14:55:20Z
dc.date.issued 2003 en_US
dc.date.submitted 2009-04-06 en_US
dc.date.submitted 2009-04-06 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/2929
dc.description.abstract "The recent encroachment of woody species threatening many western North American meadows has been attributed to diverse factors. We used a suite of methods in Chittenden Meadow, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, to identify the human, ecological, and physical factors responsible for its historical dynamics and current encroachment by woody vegetation. We evaluated three hypotheses about the origin and processes maintaining the meadow: the meadow is (1) of recent human origin; (2) of ancient human origin, maintained by aboriginal burning; and (3) of ancient non-human origin, not maintained by aboriginal burning. "Our data supported the idea that the meadow had ancient non-human origins and its recent history and current status have resulted from complex interactions among landform, climate, and fire. Soil properties (both horizonation and charcoal content) indicate that the meadow is of ancient, non-human origin. Tree ages in the meadow and surrounding forest indicate that encroachment is recent, not related to a variety of recent human activities, and is probably a result of increasing spring temperature and decreasing spring snow depth. Although ethnographic surveys and historical documents revealed indigenous use of the general area over millennia, including the use of fire as a management tool, we found little direct evidence of indigenous use of the meadow. However, there was no proxy record of fire frequency in the meadow that we could have used to determine the role of fire in maintaining the meadow in the past, or the role of humans in igniting those fires. Thus, the historical role of humans in the maintenance of the meadow by prescribed fire remains indeterminate. Based on these conclusions, we combined hypotheses (2) and (3) into an a posteriori hypothesis that reflects changing interactions among people, fire, and climate over time. Without management intervention, we expect that tree encroachment will continue. "Several general lessons emerge from our study of Chittenden Meadow. A single modern ecosystem condition may result from diverse antecedents, but ecosystems may not carry a memory of all the processes driving their historical dynamics. The historical role of indigenous reource management activities may be one such process: despite millennia of human occupation and resource use in the region, local First Nations left only a light footprint on Chittenden Meadow. Finally, there is value and challenge in integrating data and perspectives from different disciplines." en_US
dc.subject anthropology en_US
dc.subject climate change en_US
dc.subject fire ecology en_US
dc.subject trees en_US
dc.title Historical Meadow Dynamics in Southwest British Columbia: A Multidisciplinary Analysis en_US
dc.type Journal Article en_US
dc.type.published published en_US
dc.coverage.region North America en_US
dc.coverage.country Canada en_US
dc.subject.sector History en_US
dc.subject.sector Forestry en_US
dc.identifier.citationjournal Ecology and Society en_US
dc.identifier.citationvolume 7 en_US
dc.identifier.citationnumber 3 en_US
dc.identifier.citationmonth December en_US


Files in this item

Files Size Format View
Historical-Meadow-dynamics.pdf 590.1Kb PDF View/Open

This item appears in the following document type(s)

Show simple item record