The Impacts of Climate and Social Changes on Cloudberry (Bakeapple) Picking: a Case Study from Southeastern Labrador

Abstract

The traditional subsistence activities of Indigenous communities in Canada’s subarctic are being affected by the impacts of climate change, compounding the effects of social, economic and political changes. Most research has focused on hunting and fishing activities, overlooking berry picking as an important socio-cultural activity and contributor to the diversity of food systems. We examined the vulnerability of cloudberry (referred to as ‘bakeapple’ consistent with local terminology) picking to environmental changes in the community of Cartwright, Labrador using semi-structured interviews (n = 18), field surveys, and satellite imagery. We identified the components of vulnerability including: the environmental changes affecting the abundance, quality, and ripening time of bakeapples (i.e., exposure), the characteristics of the community that affect how these changes have local impacts (i.e., sensitivity), and the ways in which the community is responding to environmental changes (i.e., adaptive capacity). Our results confirm that environmental changes related to permafrost, vegetation, and water have occurred at the bakeapple picking grounds with observed impacts on bakeapples. It is becoming increasingly difficult for bakeapple pickers to respond to variable growth as in the past because of changes in summer settlement patterns that place families farther from their bakeapple patches. We conclude that harvesters in Cartwright have high adaptive capacity to respond to environmental changes due to their knowledge of their bakeapple patches, and at present, socioeconomic changes have had a greater impact than environmental changes on their harvesting capacity.

Born to Eat Wild: An Integrated Conservation Approach to Secure Wild Food Plants for Food Security and Nutrition

“…One key impact that could threaten WFP use is the likely shifts in both WFP geographic ranges and phenological changes in ripening times. This could create mismatches with traditional knowledge and practices of the communities that traditionally harvest them [ 117 ].…”

Significant underestimation of peatland permafrost along the Labrador Sea coastline in northern Canada

“…In the Labrador region of northeastern Canada, continental-to hemispheric-scale studies have depicted peatland permafrost as present in the region's continental interior but as far less abundant or completely absent along most of the Labrador Sea coastline (Fewster et al, 2020;Hugelius et al, 2020;Olefeldt et al, 2021). However, historic and contemporary use of coastal peatland permafrost environments by Labrador Inuit and Innu is well documented (Anderson et al, 2018), and published field-based observations (e.g., Anderson et al, 2018;Andrews, 1961;Brown, 1975Brown, , 1979Davis et al, 2020;Dionne, 1984;Elias, 1982;Hustich, 1939;Seguin and Dionne, 1992;Smith, 2003;Wenner, 1947) suggest that peatland permafrost is abundant along some sections of the coast. This recurring misestimation of peatland permafrost occurrence has an impact on predictions of ground ice content (O'Neill et al, 2019), thermokarst potential (Olefeldt et al, 2016), and carbon content (Hugelius et al, 2014) in the region.…”

Seasonality in Human Interest in Berry Plants Detection by Google Trends

“…Ongoing and projected climate changes in high latitudes may, however, change these functions as plants respond to a changing environment (Gauthier et al, 2015). Although the extended growing season may improve yields (Holmberg et al, 2019), the sensitivity of these plants to climate and environmental changes (Boulanger-Lapointe et al, 2017;Anderson et al, 2018;Herman-Mercer et al, 2020) may lead to changes in the areas where they are found. The influence of climate change on berry abundance has been recognized by local residents in northeastern Siberia (Ksenofontov et al, 2018) and Alaska (Hupp et al, 2015).…”