Linking interactions between cultural and biological diversity on the Pacific Coast of North America in the face of climatic change

This research proposal will investigate the magnitude of historical environmental shifts in the coastal estuarine ecosystem in several Indigenous communities on the northern coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Using Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) as a focus species, I will examine how changes in crabapple populations influence the surrounding biological and cultural ecosystems now and in the future, the linkages between cultural and biological diversity in this region and how they co-adapt in relation to climatic changes. This mixed method research will include documenting local Indigenous Knowledge, analyzing historical time series photographs and weather data, and delineating ecological requirements of crabapple populations. The ultimate goal of this project is understand how environmental change is affecting local peoples and create predictive models of this change to provide information on how they can or cannot apply strategies from the past to adapt to probable future coastal environmental changes.