Eco-cultural legacies: Understanding the role that people play in driving ecosystem patterns

Rainforest, Graham Island, Haida Gwaii by Dru on flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Eco-cultural legacies: Understanding the role that people play in driving ecosystem patterns

Date: February 26, 2018, 7:30 pm - Knox Presbyterian Church Hall

The Presentation: How has 13,000 years of repeated occupation by coastal Indigenous Peoples in BC influenced patterns of forest productivity in temperate rainforests? How do these ecological and cultural legacies compare to other patterns globally? In the upcoming meeting, Andrew will explain how he and his research team explored these questions. Despite human occupation usually being associated with degraded landscapes, Andrew found forest productivity to have actually increased as a result of indigenous activities. Come out to February's meeting to learn more about this exciting research and the connections in this interesting social-ecological system.

The Presenter: Dr. Andrew Trant is a professor in the School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo. Andrew’s research focuses on exploring eco-cultural legacies that have arisen in this human dominated era. Recently, he has been focused on exploring the drivers of change behind shifts in species distributions and biodiversity associated with climate change. Andrew’s research has taken him to the subarctic of Labrador, the Great Bear Rainforest, and the Coast Mountains of BC. Come out and hear about Andrew’s fascinating research. For more information, check out his Eco-Cultural Legacy Lab’s website: http://andrewtrant.com/research/.