Human impacts on the environment and wildlife in California’s past: Lessons from California archaeology

Abstract

The long history of human-animal interactions in California prior to European contact is frequently not considered when setting ecological baselines and, by consequence, when planning conservation and management expectations and strategies for native species. This article reviews archaeological perspectives that explore the relationship between human niche construction and plant and wildlife populations and human health in pre-European contact Central California, with an emphasis on the Central Valley and Delta, the surrounding foothills, and the San Francisco Bay Area. A summary of the archaeological record for Central California is provided, along with how niche construction and related evolutionary based models have been applied to it. Examples of the influences of human niche construction on flora, fauna, and human health from the archaeological and ethnographic record are then discussed. This information is tied to modern wildlife research and management practices by highlighting key points that would serve contemporary fish and wildlife management related to the concept that human influences on species “natural” habitats and ecological baselines extends much further into the past than current ecological baselines and wildlife management strategies traditionally account for.

Keywords

• archaeology
• central valley
• delta
• ecological baselines
• environmental management
• health
• niche construction
• san francisco bay
• traditional management practices