The Historical Ecology Program studies how the Bay Area landscape has changed since native times. The project endeavors to recover and synthesize the diverse, underutilized, and gradually diminishing historical resources for understanding the earlier structure and function of Bay Area creeks, wetlands, and terrestrial habitats.
We emphasize the integration of historical data into carefully documented maps and timelines which allow visualization and analysis of earlier landscapes and land management practices. The goal is to develop information which is sufficiently detailed to inform local environmental planning and management efforts, such as habitat restoration, fisheries management, flood control, endangered species recovery, erosion control, and natural reserve prioritization and design.
History has been a tool for ecologists and other environmental scientists for long time. When well-documented, it can be a key explanatory variable for understanding present-day conditions at a project site, watershed, or larger region. Historical documents can not only help determine how different cultural management regimes have affected landscape structure and function, but can also document natural ecological and physical processes over a long-term period.
However, historical ecology research often has not been pursued to the extent that it could be because it requires a different (and potentially time-consuming) set of techniques from the traditional environmental sciences. An authoritative historical ecological analysis necessitates:
- Substantial time investment to identify and acquire historical resources, both documentary and living, from standard and nonstandard archives.
- Scholarship to understand the social context and technical limitations of historical documents, to avoid misinterpretation.
- Analysis of hundreds, or thousands, of documents to fill data gaps and to calibrate the accuracy of independent data sources.
- Geographic translation techniques: historical cartographic interpretation, transformation of historical datums and projections, etc.
- Explicit methodologies for data integration and documentation, often using GIS.
The value of historical information is greatly increased by comparison, synthesis, experience, and multiple areas of expertise. While it is quite easy to develop erroneous or misleading interpretations from a small sample of historical documents, the explanatory power of historical analysis increases greatly with a thorough study. For this reason, research efforts are collaborative in nature with the invaluable assistance of many local experts. Without the generous participation of a broad group of archivists, historians, botanists, geologists, longtime residents, and other knowledgeable contributors, this kind of work would not be possible.
Because of the need for careful, well-documented, and synthetic research in this area, SFEI has developed an ongoing area of study in historical ecology. The historical ecology team is directed by Robin Grossinger, with the participation of SFEI scientists including Josh Collins, Lester McKee and Sarah Pearce. Many projects are carried out in collaboration with artist Elise Brewster (Brewster Design Arts), who has extensive experience in the acquisition of historical materials and the synthesis of diverse evidence into attractive and accurate landscape pictures. Research Associate Chuck Striplen, a graduate student at University California Berkeley in Enviornmental Science, Policy and Management is guiding research into the native land management practices of the region.
