First, it is hardly unique and actually pretty well
self - evident that burning off patches of vegetation works. It can be done safely at certain times of the
year to block worse fires and to create a more open game friendly habitat to
say nothing of superior open hunting grounds to an upright predator able to see
better. As well we know that forest
underbrush was burned out regularly to open up the understory adjacent to
communities. This provided protective
sightlines as well as hunting opportunities.
We also know that a burn off triggers an explosion
of diversity in the plant population as well and this is also very important
for a healthier more productive biome.
Today our forests now suffer from excessive
entanglement and waste build up as well which suppresses diversity.
Aboriginal hunting practice increases
animal populations
In Australia's Western
Desert, Aboriginal hunters use a unique method that actually increases
populations of the animals they hunt, according to a study co-authored by
Stanford Woods Institute-affiliated researchers Rebecca and Doug Bird. Rebecca
Bird is an associate professor of anthropology, and Doug Bird is a senior
research scientist.
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The study, published today in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, offers new insights
into maintaining animal communities through ecosystem engineering and
co-evolution of animals and humans. It finds that populations of monitor
lizards nearly double in areas where they are heavily hunted. The hunting
method -- using fire to clear patches of land to improve the search for game --
also creates a mosaic of regrowth that enhances habitat. Where there are no
hunters, lightning fires spread over vast distances, landscapes are more
homogenous and monitor lizards are more rare.
"Our results show that humans can have positive impacts on other species without the need for policies of conservation and resource management," Rebecca Bird said. "In the case of indigenous communities, the everyday practice of subsistence might be just as effective at maintaining biodiversity as the activities of other organisms."
Martu, the aboriginal community the Birds and their colleagues have worked with for many years, refer to their relationship with the ecosystem around them as part of "jukurr" or dreaming. This ritual, practical philosophy and body of knowledge instructs the way Martu interact with the desert environment, from hunting practices to cosmological and social organization. At its core is the concept that land must be used if life is to continue. Therefore, Martu believe the absence of hunting, not its presence, causes species to decline.
While jukurr has often been interpreted as belonging to the realm of the sacred and irrational, it appears to actually be consistent with scientific understanding, according to the study. The findings suggest that the decline in aboriginal hunting and burning in the mid-20th century, due to the persecution of aboriginal people and the loss of traditional economies, may have contributed to the extinction of many desert species that had come to depend on such practices.
The findings add to a growing appreciation of the complex role that humans play in the function of ecosystems worldwide. In environments where people have been embedded in ecosystems for millennia, including areas of the U.S., tribal burning was extensive in many types of habitat. Many Native Americans in California, for instance, believe that policies of fire suppression and the exclusion of their traditional burning practices have contributed to the current crisis in biodiversity and native species decline, particularly in the health of oak woodland communities. Incorporating indigenous knowledge and practices into contemporary land management could become important in efforts to conserve and restore healthy ecosystems and landscapes.
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