COURSE TITLE: Historical Ecology Of Landscapes (2 credits)

INSTRUCTOR: Charles M. Ruffner

A.  PREREQUISITE:

300 Level Plant Ecology course or consent of instructor

B.  PURPOSE:

Plant ecology has traditionally emphasized natural processes and mechanisms acting within the natural world with little recognition of the role of humans.  During the mid 20th century, cultural ecologists and historical geographers began to embrace the significant role humans have played in shaping much of the world's ecosystems.  Within the last twenty years plant ecologists have also developed an appreciation and interest in how humans have manipulated plant communities through time.  This growing field of ecology, called historical ecology, is a joining of traditional ecological concepts with multiple disciplines including palynology, dendrochronology, and historical research to investigate past human landscape transformation.  The proposed course is an introduction to the basic concepts and foundations of historical ecology via a thorough discussion of essential readings and several field trips designed to illustrate the concepts and methodologies used to conduct historical ecology studies.

C.  CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to the basic concepts and foundations of historical ecology, a discipline which joins traditional ecology with an investigation of human landscape transformation.  Emphasis is placed on the interdisciplinary approach to historical ecology with readings in pollen analysis, dendrochronology, archival and historical sources, and traditional vegetation surveys and reconstructions.  Prerequisites, 300 level plant ecology course or consent of instructor.

D.  COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1)  Understand the role of humans in manipulating and altering landscapes through time
2)  Become familiar with multiple disciplines including paleoecology, dendrochronology, historical research, conservation biology, and community and cultural ecology.
3)  Use case studies from around the globe to explore human-landscape interactions.

E.  COURSE OVERVIEW:
Class meetings:  A weekly seminar will be scheduled lasting from 2-3 hours during which we will meet to discuss assigned readings and formal instruction.  Several field trips will be scheduled throughout the semester for visiting field and study sites.
Course Texts:  Students will have access to a packet of readings selected by the instructor from various texts, articles, and proceedings.  Readings listed below as appropriate.

Week 1
Topics Covered:  Introduction to the evolution of Historical Ecology.  Introdcution to methodologies used to investigate human landscape interactions
Objectives:  Students should build an understanding of the multidisciplinary character of historical ecology through reading and discussion of introductory material.
Readings:
Whitney 1994  Chapter 1  Introduction to Historical Ecology
                          Chapter 2  Methods of Reconstructing the Past

Week 2
Topics Covered:  Brief overview of vegetation associations across the United States
Objectives:  A refamiliarization of major vegetation zones across North America with particular emphasis on areas to be covered in later discussions.
Readings: 
Whitney 1994  Chapter 4  The Forest Primeval
Davis 1983  Holocene vegetational history of the eastern United States

Week 3
Topics Covered:  Introduction to prehistoric cultural ecology of the United States
Objectives:  Gain an appreciation and understanding of the role Native cultures played in manipulating the Anthropogenic landscape encountered by the Europeans.
Readings:
Williams 1989 Chapter 2  The forest and the Indian
Whitney 1994 Chapter 5  Preservers of the ecological balance
Day 1953  The Indian as an ecological factor in the northeastern forest.

Week 4
Topics Covered:  Regional Native American Landscapes
Objectives:  Develop a more focused knowledge of human-vegetation interactions through exploringing the methodologies of dendrochronology, archaeology, and pollen analysis.
Readings:
Delcourt et al. 1986  Holocene ethnobotanical and paleoecological record of human impact on vegetation in the Little Tennessee River Valley.
Patterson and Sassaman 1988  Indian fires in the prehistory of New England.
Barrett and Arno  1982  Indian fires as an ecological influence in the northern Rockies.

Week 5
Topics Covered:
Midwestern Native American Landscapes
Objectives:  Develop an understanding of the local Native American landscape history.
Readings:
Dorney and Dorney 1989  An unusual oak savanna in northeastern Wisconsin:  The effect of Indian-caused fire.
Scarry 1992  Foraging and Farming in the eastern Woodlands

Week 6
Topics Covered:  European settlement and expansion
Objectives:  Introduce students to the many land-use manipulations introduced by Europeans and begin to evaluate ecological implications of these land-uses.
Readings:
Williams 1989  Chapter 3  The forest and pioneer life 1600-1810
   Chapter 5  Agricultural clearing 1810-1860
   Chapter 10 Industrial Impacts 1860-1920

Weeks 7 & 8
Topics Covered:  Case Studies of Agricultural and Industrial Impacts on the Landscape
Objectives:  Student lead presentations and discussions of chosen environmental history studies.
Readings:
As chosen by student with approval of Instructor

Week 9
Topics Covered:  Development of Class Historical Ecology Project
Objectives:  Develop a class historical ecology project that integrates many methodologies to investigate a regionally significant topic.  This type of project fosters group interaction and allows students to explore future research interests.

Week 10
Topics Covered:  International Studies
Objectives:  Expand students perspective on land-use history to other regions of the globe.  Students should recognize similar human use and vegetation change patterns.
Readings:
Russell 1997  Chapter 11  Diversity and species extinctions
Pyne 1995  World Fire:  The culture of fire on earth  Chapter 3  Hotspotting

Week 11
Topics Covered:  Historical Ecology of European Landscapes
Objectives:  Expand students appreciation for the enduring hand of man in shaping the landscape in the Old World.
Readings: 
Dumayne  1992  Iron age and Roman vegetation clearance in Northern Briatain
Dickson  1993  Scottish woodlands:  their ancient past and precious present
Pilcher et al. 1995  Dendrochronology of subfossil pine in the north of Ireland

Week 12
Topics Covered:  Presentation of Class Historical Ecology Project
 

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