Ethnobiology as a Bridge between Science and Ethics: An Applied Paleozoological Perspective

Wolverton, Steve; Randklev, Charles R.; Barker, Andrew

doi:10.1002/9781118015872.ch8

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…To our knowledge, the term conservation archeobiology has not been used before. However, the terms conservation zooarcheology and applied paleozoology , which emphasize the application of archeological (and paleontological) animal remains (bones and teeth) to achieve conservation objectives, have gained acceptance (Lyman & Cannon ; Wolverton et al ; Lyman ). We follow previous usage of these terms, but expand them to include botanical remains (pollen, phytoliths, and macrobotanical remains) and geochemical data (stable isotopes and ancient DNA).…”

Section: Conservation Archeobiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Paleobiology, Archeology, and History to Inform Biological Conservation

Rick

Lockwood

2012

Conservation Biology

204

158

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The search for novel approaches to establishing ecological baselines (reference conditions) is constrained by the fact that most ecological studies span the past few decades, at most, and investigate ecosystems that have been substantially altered by human activities for decades, centuries, or more. Paleobiology, archeology, and history provide historical ecological context for biological conservation, remediation, and restoration. We argue that linking historical ecology explicitly with conservation can help unify related disciplines of conservation paleobiology, conservation archeobiology, and environmental history. Differences in the spatial and temporal resolution and extent (scale) of prehistoric, historic, and modern ecological data remain obstacles to integrating historical ecology and conservation biology, but the prolonged temporal extents of historical ecological data can help establish more complete baselines for restoration, document a historical range of ecological variability, and assist in determining desired future conditions. We used the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery of the Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to demonstrate the utility of historical ecological data for elucidating oyster conservation and the need for an approach to conservation that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Historical ecological studies from the Chesapeake have documented dramatic declines (as much as 99%) in oyster abundance since the early to mid-1800 s, changes in oyster size in response to different nutrient levels from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, and substantial reductions in oyster accretion rates (from 10 mm/year to effectively 0 mm/year) from the Late Holocene to modern times. Better integration of different historical ecological data sets and increased collaboration between paleobiologists, geologists, archeologists, environmental historians, and ecologists to create standardized research designs and methodologies will help unify prehistoric, historic, and modern time perspectives on biological conservation.

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Section: Conservation Archeobiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Paleobiology, Archeology, and History to Inform Biological Conservation

Rick

Lockwood

2012

Conservation Biology

204

158

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“…However, archeologists can make specific contributions to historical ecology and contemporary conservation. Building on the work of Lyman, Rick and Lockwood, Wolverton and colleagues, and others, we argue that archeologists, in concert with other scientists and managers can: Provide a set of baselines and benchmarks that document the structure and function of ecosystems through deep time. This can include the types of species present, the relative abundances and distributions of species, and phase shifts in ecosystem structure. Identify the range of historic or prehistoric variability within an ecosystem.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We review three case studies that provide important foundations and new areas of inquiry for the growing field of historical ecology and the broader place of archeology and anthropology within it: the Holocene history of red abalone ( Haliotis rufescens ) fishing in southern California; ecological transformations within California's interior valleys; and the transformative effects of fire on Californian landscapes (figure ). Our analysis is built on the applied paleozoology and conservation zooarcheology work of Lyman and colleagues and advocates a unified conservation archeobiology that draws on zooarcheology, archeobotany, and related approaches of conservation paleobiology and environmental history . Ultimately, we use these California case studies to illustrate six tangible contributions anthropologists and archeologists can make to historical ecology, conservation, and restoration biology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the last decade or so, zooarcheologists or paleozoologists, archeobotanists, ethnologists, and others have contributed important insights into modern conservation and restoration, and charted a course for new transdisciplinary fields of inquiry, including conservation or applied paleozoology and conservation archaeobiology (box 1). 6,8,9 Archeological approaches have formed in parallel with similar developments in paleobiology (i.e., conservation paleobiology 10 ), environmental history, 11 and studies of traditional ecological knowledge. 12 With this growth in research and approaches have come new questions about the best ways to integrate environmental archeological data and broader anthropological data into conservation biology, restoration ecology, and environmental management.…”

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confidence: 99%

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From forest fires to fisheries management: Anthropology, conservation biology, and historical ecology

Braje

Rick

2013

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Human-environmental relationships have long been of interest to a variety of scientists, including ecologists, biologists, anthropologists, and many others. In anthropology, this interest was especially prevalent among cultural ecologists of the 1970s and earlier, who tended to explain culture as the result of techno-environmental constraints. More recently researchers have used historical ecology, an approach that focuses on the long-term dialectical relationship between humans and their environments, as well as long-term prehuman ecological datasets. An important contribution of anthropology to historical ecology is that anthropological datasets dealing with ethnohistory, traditional ecological knowledge, and human skeletal analysis, as well as archeological datasets on faunal and floral remains, artifacts, geochemistry, and stratigraphic analysis, provide a deep time perspective (across decades, centuries, and millennia) on the evolution of ecosystems and the place of people in those larger systems. Historical ecological data also have an applied component that can provide important information on the relative abundances of flora and fauna, changes in biogeography, alternations in food webs, landscape evolution, and much more.

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“…Zooarchaeologists routinely analyze assemblages of archaeological bones and/or shells containing thousands to tens of thousands of specimens. The resulting data have value within a contemporary management context via what has come to be known as ''applied zooarchaeology'' or ''applied paleozoology'' (Lyman 1996, Lyman and Cannon 2004, Wolverton et al 2011. It is accurate to say that the use of such data is not yet mainstream in conservation biology, despite the fact that thousands of zooarchaeological assemblages have been recovered (with more recovered every day).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “cultural filter,” human transport of mussel shell, and the applied potential of zooarchaeological data

Peacock

Randklev

Wolverton

et al. 2012

Ecological Applications

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Large assemblages of animal bones and/or shells from archaeological sites can provide data valuable for modern conservation efforts, e.g., by providing accurate historical baselines for species reintroductions or habitat restoration. Such data are underused by natural scientists, partly due to assumptions that archaeological materials are too biased by prehistoric human actions (the so-called ''cultural filter'') to accurately reflect past biotic communities. In order to address many paleobiological, archaeological, or applied research questions, data on past species, communities, and populations must first be demonstrated to be representative at the appropriate level. We discuss different ways in which one kind of cultural bias, human transport of specimens, can be tested at different scales, using freshwater mussel shells from prehistoric sites in the Tombigbee River basin of Mississippi and Alabama to show how representativeness of samples can be assessed.

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Ethnobiology as a Bridge between Science and Ethics: An Applied Paleozoological Perspective

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Integrating Paleobiology, Archeology, and History to Inform Biological Conservation

Integrating Paleobiology, Archeology, and History to Inform Biological Conservation

From forest fires to fisheries management: Anthropology, conservation biology, and historical ecology

The “cultural filter,” human transport of mussel shell, and the applied potential of zooarchaeological data

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