Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects
Date
2017-02
Authors
Armstrong, C.G.
Shoemaker, A.C.
McKechnie, I.
Ekblom, A.
Szabó, P.
Lane, P.J.
McAlvay, A.C.
Boles, O.J.
Walshaw, S.
Petek, N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key questions for historical ecology from anthropological and archaeological perspectives. The aim of this research is to showcase the variety of questions that reflect the broad scope for historical-ecological research trajectories across scientific disciplines. Historical ecology encompasses research concerned with decadal, centennial, and millennial human-environmental interactions, and the consequences that those relationships have in the formation of contemporary landscapes. Six interrelated themes arose from our consensus-building workshop model: (1) climate and environmental change and variability; (2) multi-scalar, multi-disciplinary; (3) biodiversity and community ecology; (4) resource and environmental management and governance; (5) methods and applications; and (6) communication and policy. The 50 questions represented by these themes highlight meaningful trends in historical ecology that distill the field down to three explicit findings. First, historical ecology is fundamentally an applied research program. Second, this program seeks to understand longterm human-environment interactions with a focus on avoiding, mitigating, and reversing adverse ecological effects. Third, historical ecology is part of convergent trends toward transdisciplinary research science, which erodes scientific boundaries between the cultural and natural.
Description
Keywords
Canada, Case report, Climate, Community ecology, Applied research, Biodiversity, Consensus development, Crowdsourcing, Environmental change, Environmental management, Cultural anthropology, Ecology, Anthropology, Cultural, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century
Citation
Armstrong C.G. et al. 2017. Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects. PLoS ONE 12(2), Article number e0171883