Mapping and Modeling of Biocultural Landscapes
Mapping and Modeling of Biocultural Landscapes
Session Type:
Oral
Session Date and Time:
Friday, 22 May, 2026 - 09:00 to 10:20
Presentations
Abstract
09:00
Presentation Format:
Oral (in-person)
Ethnofloras compile culturally significant and useful plant species within a defined landscape, offering a tool that links cultural value to conservation priorities. This project traces the development of an ethnoflora for the 13,000‑acre Domain of The University of the South and examines how such compilations can strengthen landscape‑scale conservation planning while serving as a high‑impact, collaborative teaching practice in ethnobotany. Building from an existing flora of more than 1,200 documented vascular plant species, we identified plants with documented cultural uses or relationships by cross‑referencing the Sewanee flora with databases such as the Native American Ethnobotany Database and Plants for a Future. Beyond documentation, we used spatial analysis to identify habitats of high biocultural and conservation significance. This model can be extended to nearby protected areas, including the new Head of the Crow State Park, and offers institutions and land managers an engaged framework for stewarding regional biocultural diversity.
09:20
Presentation Format:
Oral (virtual)
What are the potential applications of GIS in identifying Cultural Keystone Places (CKPs)? Given the rising interest in the CKP concept, the popularity of Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) technologies, and increasing public access to spatial datasets, I explore GIS spatial analysis as a formative tool in locating ecosystems of high cultural value through 'hot spot' mapping. Using the Mogollon Highlands of central Arizona, a relatively understudied yet ecologically and culturally diverse region, as a case study, I test the efficacy of GIS applications in classifying clusters of statistical biocultural importance. By synthesizing and overlaying datasets of Juniper distribution, Pinyon Pine endemism, herpetological (snake) diversity, and archaeological surveys, I evaluate whether GIS can serve as one effective predictive tool to be used in tandem with local expert knowledge prior to 'ground-truthing' the presence of Cultural Keystone Places in the field.
09:40
Presentation Format:
Oral (in-person)
This ongoing research investigates how indigenous land-use legacies shaped the distribution of ethnobotanicals and endemic plant species. Using biodiversity databases (from GBIF and FIA) to analyze plant taxa across the Eastern United States, we are examining the co-occurrence of ethnobotanically significant plants near ancient mound sites and waterways. I predict ethnobotanical species exhibit higher cooccurance in riverine and riparian zone environments, reflecting the historical utility of waterways for trade, migration, and subsistence.
This study hypothesizes that anthropogenic management and use of waterways created distinct biocultural ecological niches, which would create higher cooccurance of ethnobotanical plant taxa in wetland or riverine environments compared to other cultural environments due to their cross-cultural importance. By integrating archaeological data, historical maps, and broad-scale botanical records, this project seeks to investigate the extent to which deep-time human land-use legacy may have structured modern North American forests and the ecology of culturally significant species.
10:00
Presentation Format:
Oral (virtual)
Accelerating biodiversity loss poses major challenges for conservation, especially where ecological change coincides with the erosion of Indigenous and local knowledge. Biocultural approaches respond by recognizing the interdependence between biodiversity and human cultures. Cultural Keystone Species (CKS)—species central to sociocultural identity, livelihoods, and knowledge—connect biological and cultural conservation priorities. This study compiled a global database of CKS from English-language literature and linked it to species conservation status from the IUCN Red List and language vitality data from Ethnologue. Results reveal strong taxonomic and geographic biases, with most CKS being plants and concentrated in North America. While most are not biologically threatened, 60% are keystone to groups speaking endangered languages, indicating widespread biocultural vulnerability, especially among animals. Biological status changed more than cultural vitality. These findings highlight the central role of Indigenous and local stewardship in sustaining biodiversity and provides a policy-relevant foundation for integrating biocultural approaches into conservation strategies.
Presentations
| Abstract | |
|---|---|
| 09:00 |
Presentation Format:
Oral (in-person)
Ethnofloras compile culturally significant and useful plant species within a defined landscape, offering a tool that links cultural value to conservation priorities. This project traces the development of an ethnoflora for the 13,000‑acre Domain of The University of the South and examines how such compilations can strengthen landscape‑scale conservation planning while serving as a high‑impact, collaborative teaching practice in ethnobotany. Building from an existing flora of more than 1,200 documented vascular plant species, we identified plants with documented cultural uses or relationships by cross‑referencing the Sewanee flora with databases such as the Native American Ethnobotany Database and Plants for a Future. Beyond documentation, we used spatial analysis to identify habitats of high biocultural and conservation significance. This model can be extended to nearby protected areas, including the new Head of the Crow State Park, and offers institutions and land managers an engaged framework for stewarding regional biocultural diversity. |
| 09:20 |
Presentation Format:
Oral (virtual)
What are the potential applications of GIS in identifying Cultural Keystone Places (CKPs)? Given the rising interest in the CKP concept, the popularity of Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) technologies, and increasing public access to spatial datasets, I explore GIS spatial analysis as a formative tool in locating ecosystems of high cultural value through 'hot spot' mapping. Using the Mogollon Highlands of central Arizona, a relatively understudied yet ecologically and culturally diverse region, as a case study, I test the efficacy of GIS applications in classifying clusters of statistical biocultural importance. By synthesizing and overlaying datasets of Juniper distribution, Pinyon Pine endemism, herpetological (snake) diversity, and archaeological surveys, I evaluate whether GIS can serve as one effective predictive tool to be used in tandem with local expert knowledge prior to 'ground-truthing' the presence of Cultural Keystone Places in the field.
|
| 09:40 |
Presentation Format:
Oral (in-person)
This ongoing research investigates how indigenous land-use legacies shaped the distribution of ethnobotanicals and endemic plant species. Using biodiversity databases (from GBIF and FIA) to analyze plant taxa across the Eastern United States, we are examining the co-occurrence of ethnobotanically significant plants near ancient mound sites and waterways. I predict ethnobotanical species exhibit higher cooccurance in riverine and riparian zone environments, reflecting the historical utility of waterways for trade, migration, and subsistence. This study hypothesizes that anthropogenic management and use of waterways created distinct biocultural ecological niches, which would create higher cooccurance of ethnobotanical plant taxa in wetland or riverine environments compared to other cultural environments due to their cross-cultural importance. By integrating archaeological data, historical maps, and broad-scale botanical records, this project seeks to investigate the extent to which deep-time human land-use legacy may have structured modern North American forests and the ecology of culturally significant species.
|
| 10:00 |
Presentation Format:
Oral (virtual)
Accelerating biodiversity loss poses major challenges for conservation, especially where ecological change coincides with the erosion of Indigenous and local knowledge. Biocultural approaches respond by recognizing the interdependence between biodiversity and human cultures. Cultural Keystone Species (CKS)—species central to sociocultural identity, livelihoods, and knowledge—connect biological and cultural conservation priorities. This study compiled a global database of CKS from English-language literature and linked it to species conservation status from the IUCN Red List and language vitality data from Ethnologue. Results reveal strong taxonomic and geographic biases, with most CKS being plants and concentrated in North America. While most are not biologically threatened, 60% are keystone to groups speaking endangered languages, indicating widespread biocultural vulnerability, especially among animals. Biological status changed more than cultural vitality. These findings highlight the central role of Indigenous and local stewardship in sustaining biodiversity and provides a policy-relevant foundation for integrating biocultural approaches into conservation strategies. |