Pan-Arctic Population Movements

Author(s):  
Max Friesen

This chapter provides description and interpretation of the two major, well-documented episodes of Arctic-wide migrations. The Paleo-Inuit (also called Paleoeskimo or Arctic Small Tool tradition) migration began around 3,200 B.C., with penetration of the central Arctic by highly mobile, small-scale hunter-gatherer groups. By around 2,500 B.C., the entire eastern Arctic had been peopled by cultures known as Pre-Dorset, Saqqaq, and Independence I. The Thule Inuit migration began around A.D. 1200, when complex maritime-oriented groups from the western Arctic initiated an extremely rapid population movement, spanning the North American Arctic within a generation. The chapter considers the timing and nature of each migration episode, as well as the motivating factors which have been proposed for them, including climate change, social or economic hardship, and acquisition of specific resources such as bowhead whales or metal.

EcoHealth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Dudley ◽  
Eric P. Hoberg ◽  
Emily J. Jenkins ◽  
Alan J. Parkinson

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovana Alkalaj ◽  
Thora Hrafnsdottir ◽  
Finnur Ingimarsson ◽  
Robin J Smith ◽  
Agnes-Katharina Kreiling ◽  
...  

AbstractOstracods in Icelandic freshwaters have seldom been researched, with the most comprehensive record from the 1930s. There is a need to update our knowledge of the distribution of ostracods in Iceland as they are an important link in these ecosystems as well as good candidates for biomonitoring. We analysed 25,005 ostracods from 44 lakes, 14 springs, and 10 cave pools. A total of 16 taxa were found, of which seven are new to Iceland. Candona candida (Müller, 1776) is the most widespread species, whereas Cytherissa lacustris (Sars, 1863) and Cypria ophtalmica (Jurine, 1820) are the most abundant, showing great numbers in lakes. Potamocypris fulva (Brady, 1868) is the dominant species in springs. While the fauna of lakes and springs are relatively distinct from each other, cave pools host species that are common in both lakes and springs. Icelandic non-marine ostracods include mostly generalist species, as well as species adapted to cold climates and resemble those of other north European countries while sharing very few species with the North American Arctic. Iceland is experiencing impacts from climate change and a booming tourism. It is possible to use selected freshwater ostracods as biomonitoring tools by constructing a detailed database of these species.


2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Báez ◽  
◽  
D. Macías ◽  
M. De Castro ◽  
M. Gómez-Gesteira ◽  
...  

There is a growing concern over the decline of fisheries and the possibility of the decline becoming worse due to climate change. Studies on small–scale fisheries could help to improve our understanding of the effect of climate on the ecology of exploited stocks. The Strait of Gibraltar is an important fishery ground for artisanal fleets. In this area, blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) is the main species targeted by artisanal fisheries in view of its relevance in landed weight. The aims of this study were to explore the possible effects of two atmospheric oscillations, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO), on the capture of blackspot seabream in the Strait of Gibraltar, to determine their association with oceanographic conditions, and to improve our knowledge about the possible effects of climate change on fisheries ecology so that fishery management can be improved. We used two types of data from different sources: (i) landings per unit of effort reported from a second working group between Morocco and Spain on Pagellus bogaraveo in the Gibraltar Strait area, for the period 1983–2011, and (ii) the recorded blackspot seabream landings obtained from the annual fisheries statistics published by the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian Regional Government). Our results indicate that the long–term landing of blackspot seabream in the Strait of Gibraltar is closely associated with atmospheric oscillations. Thus, prolonged periods of positive trends in the NAO and AO could favour high fishery yields. In contrast, negative trends in NAO and AO could drastically reduce yield.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Odess

Abstract Over forty years ago, William Irving proposed the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) to indicate taxonomic unity and historical relatedness among several recently identified mid-Holocene cultures in Alaska (Denbigh Flint complex), Canada (Pre-Dorset), and Greenland (Independence I and Saqqaq). Since then, research in Canada and Greenland has helped refine our understanding of cultural relationships between the eastern members of this tradition, their economies, technologies, and demographic histories. By comparison, research on the Denbigh Flint complex, the Alaskan member of the tradition, has lagged behind. Little fieldwork has been conducted since the mid-1970s, and little attention paid to Denbigh subsistence and settlement systems or to the historical relationship between Denbigh and its neighbors to the east. This paper reports on an Early ASTt site in the western Brooks Range, northwestern Alaska, and discusses its significance within the context of the Early ASTt across the North American Arctic. The structure from the site bears strong similarities to Pre-Dorset, Independence I, and Saqqaq houses from the Canadian Arctic and Greenland, and adds an additional dimension to our understanding of the relationships between the various techno-complexes that compose the Early Arctic Small Tool tradition.


“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”


2020 ◽  
Vol 643 ◽  
pp. 197-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
SME Fortune ◽  
SH Ferguson ◽  
AW Trites ◽  
B LeBlanc ◽  
V LeMay ◽  
...  

Climate change may affect the foraging success of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus by altering the diversity and abundance of zooplankton species available as food. However, assessing climate-induced impacts first requires documenting feeding conditions under current environmental conditions. We collected seasonal movement and dive-behaviour data from 25 Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowheads instrumented with time-depth telemetry tags and used state-space models to examine whale movements and dive behaviours. Zooplankton samples were also collected in Cumberland Sound (CS) to determine species composition and biomass. We found that CS was used seasonally by 14 of the 25 tagged whales. Area-restricted movement was the dominant behaviour in CS, suggesting that the tagged whales allocated considerable time to feeding. Prey sampling data suggested that bowheads were exploiting energy-rich Arctic copepods such as Calanus glacialis and C. hyperboreus during summer. Dive behaviour changed seasonally in CS. Most notably, probable feeding dives were substantially shallower during spring and summer compared to fall and winter. These seasonal changes in dive depths likely reflect changes in the vertical distribution of calanoid copepods, which are known to suspend development and overwinter at depth during fall and winter when availability of their phytoplankton prey is presumed to be lower. Overall, CS appears to be an important year-round foraging habitat for bowheads, but is particularly important during the late summer and fall. Whether CS will remain a reliable feeding area for bowhead whales under climate change is not yet known.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 101-110
Author(s):  
N. N. ILYSHEVA ◽  
◽  
E. V. KARANINA ◽  
G. P. LEDKOV ◽  
E. V. BALDESKU ◽  
...  

The article deals with the problem of achieving sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between the components of sustainable development, taking into account the involvement of indigenous peoples in nature conservation. Climate change makes achieving sustainable development more difficult. Indigenous peoples are the first to feel the effects of climate change and play an important role in the environmental monitoring of their places of residence. The natural environment is the basis of life for indigenous peoples, and biological resources are the main source of food security. In the future, the importance of bioresources will increase, which is why economic development cannot be considered independently. It is assumed that the components of resilience are interrelated and influence each other. To identify this relationship, a model for the correlation of sustainable development components was developed. The model is based on the methods of correlation analysis and allows to determine the tightness of the relationship between economic development and its ecological footprint in the face of climate change. The correlation model was tested on the statistical materials of state reports on the environmental situation in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra. The approbation revealed a strong positive relationship between two components of sustainable development of the region: economy and ecology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-42
Author(s):  
Flora Mary Bartlett

I examine how tensions between locals, environmentalists, and State politicians in a small town in northern Sweden are reinforced through national discourses of climate change and sustainability. Turbulence emerges across different scales of responsibility and environmental engagement in Arjeplog as politicians are seen by local inhabitants to be engaging more with the global conversation than with the local experience of living in the north. Moreover, many people view the environmentalist discourses from the politicians in the south, whom they deem to be out of touch with rural life, as threatening to the local experience of nature. These discourses pose a threat to their reliance on petrol, essential for travel, and are experienced locally as a continuation of the south’s historical interference in the region. Based on thirteen months of field research, I argue that mistrust of the various messengers of climate change, including politicians and environmentalists, is a crucial part of the scepticism towards the climate change discourse and that we as researchers need to utilise the strengths of anthropology in examining the reception (or refusal) of climate change. The locals’ mistrust of environment discourses had implications for my positionality, as I was associated with these perceived ‘outsider’ sensibilities. While the anthropology of climate change often focusses on physical impacts and resilience, I argue that we need to pay due attention to the local turbulence surrounding the discourses of climate change, which exist alongside the physical phenomena.  


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