Climatic and Ecological Change in the Americas

A Perspective from Historical Ecology

James Andrew Whitaker, Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, Guillaume Odonne, James Andrew Whitaker, Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, Guillaume Odonne

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032321073
• eBook ISBN: 9781000924381
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book offers a comparative analysis of the experiences, responses, and adaptations of people to climate variability and environmental change across the Americas. It foregrounds historical ecology as a structural framework for understanding the climate change crisis throughout the region and throughout time. In recent years, Indigenous and local populations in particular have experienced climate change effects such as altered weather patterns, seasonal irregularities, flooding and drought, and difficulties relating to subsistence practices. Understanding and dealing with these challenges has drawn on peoples' longstanding experience with climate variability and in some cases includes models of mitigation and responses that are millennia old. With contributions from specialists across the Americas, this volume will be of interest to scholars from fields including anthropology, archaeology, geography, environmental studies, and Indigenous studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 “Open the Floodgates of Heaven”: Amazonian Climate Change in Pre-Columbian Times
• 2 The Milpa Cycle as a Sustainable Ecological Resource
• 3 Confronting Climatic Instability in Coastal California Through the Lens of Archaeology and Historical Ecology
• 4 Indigenous People Prevented Climate-Induced Ecological Change for Millennia: Evidence from the Prairie Peninsula and Fire-Loving Forests of Eastern North America
• 5 Indigenous Land Use and Fire Resilience of Southwest USA Ponderosa Pine Forests
• 6 Different Relational Models have Shaped the Biocultural Conservation over Time of Araucaria araucana Forests and Their People
• 7 Ancient and Ongoing Land-Use as Climate Change Mitigation in Ts’msyen, Haíłzaqv, and Wuikinuxv Homelands
• 8 Clam Gardens Across Generations and Places Support Social–Ecological Resilience to Global Change
• 9 Ancient Knowledge, Future Wisdom: Archaeological Perspectives of Caribbean Coastal Food and Habitat Security During Times of Climate Crises
• 10 Whose Climate Change Is It?: A Thousand-Year Example of Kali’na Responses to Shifting Coastal Landscapes in the Lower Maroni River
• 11 Long-Term Ecological and Climate Changes Through Amazonian Indigenous Oral Histories
• 12 Owning Climate Change Among the Makushi and Akawaio
• Postface: Climatic and Ecological Change in the Americas: A Perspective from Historical Ecology
• Index