Looking to the past to shape the future: addressing social-ecological change and adaptive trade-offs

Abstract

Paleoecological and paleosocial synthesis, meaning the examination of data and patterns derived from past social and ecological systems, provides an important long-term perspective on adaptive strategies and their consequences. Data and analyses from extended timescales (centuries, millennia) have yet to be routinely incorporated into adaptive capacity studies; this has limited our ability to adequately consider adaptation and sustainability from a long-term perspective. In this study, we examine three cases of successful adaptation in the past drawn from various regions of northern North America and from various times spanning the last 13,000 years. These cases involve different degrees and kinds of environmental and social conditions, changes and triggers. Exploring their specific circumstances provides insights into the role of ecological, technological and social change in producing adaptive capacity and confronting sustainability challenges. Two implications of these case studies are explored. First, we outline how paleoecological and paleosocial approaches can be used to refine measures of adaptive capacity. Second, we argue that community-based observing networks are a deep time-vetted strategy for managing resources sustainably and that implementing similarly local and decentralized practices in modern contexts will aid in achieving sustainable resource management into the future.