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The sustainability of resources used by Native Americans on four Caribbean islands
Author(s) -
Wing Elizabeth S.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/oa.550
Subject(s) - trophic level , overexploitation , pelagic zone , fishing , trophic cascade , ecology , abundance (ecology) , population , tuna , subsistence agriculture , predation , geography , fishery , apex predator , biology , food web , agriculture , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
Changes in the subsistence economies during the 2000‐year colonization of the Leeward and Virgin islands are discussed. The colonists migrated from northern South America with traditions for producing ceramics, engaging in horticulture, fishing, gathering, and managing captive animals. Based on analysis of pairs of faunal samples from four islands, I am able to show some consistent changes in the relative abundances of some species, the sizes of individual animals, and the mean trophic levels of the aquatic components of the faunas. The changes that take place through time are: decline in the relative abundance of land crabs; a relative increase in the abundance of molluscs; decline in the mean trophic level of reef fishes; a subsequent increase or decrease in the mean trophic level of inshore and pelagic fishes. In those sites where the mean trophic level of inshore and pelagic fishes occurs it is dominated by tuna and other large predators, increased dependence upon herrings and other small fishes reduced the mean trophic level. These changes accompanied a human population increase and intensification of the horticultural enterprise. The root cause of many of these changes is overexploitation. Compensation for the decline in some resources is accomplished through changes in fishing technology. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.