Historical ecology and project scope
"Ecology" is the science that studies the relationship of living things to their environments. "Historical ecology" examines those relationships and how they have changed over time. Historical ecology has been described as “the interface between ecology and historical geography that undertakes studies of lost or degenerated ecosystems (Dirkx 1999 in Egan and Howell 2005), and as a discipline that “traces the ongoing dialectical relations between human acts and acts of nature, made manifest in the landscape” (Crumley 1994). According to Egan and Howell (2005 p. 2), historical ecologists tend to agree on three points:
1. Human influences are pervasive in the Holocene (from ten thousand years ago to the present).
2. The interaction between humans and place is not deterministic, but rather a dynamic dialectic, resulting in landscapes that are cultural ecosystems.
3. Humans can produce and help to maintain sustainable, diverse ecosystems.
This site examines the historical ecology of one of the world's most severely degraded lakes, Onondaga Lake in central New York State. In constructing this website, I have included material outside the Lake's watershed, but within the central NY area and the "Onondaga Core Area" (Bradley 1987; see map below) defined by human settlement patterns. That would include places like Three Rivers, the Oneida Lake outlet, the Seneca River, and the eastern Finger Lakes area. The extensive lakes, marshes, swamps, rivers and forests provided an outstanding resource base for indigenous and later for immigrant peoples. This expanded strategy gave me access to more information and allowed me to tell a more complete regional story.
1. Human influences are pervasive in the Holocene (from ten thousand years ago to the present).
2. The interaction between humans and place is not deterministic, but rather a dynamic dialectic, resulting in landscapes that are cultural ecosystems.
3. Humans can produce and help to maintain sustainable, diverse ecosystems.
This site examines the historical ecology of one of the world's most severely degraded lakes, Onondaga Lake in central New York State. In constructing this website, I have included material outside the Lake's watershed, but within the central NY area and the "Onondaga Core Area" (Bradley 1987; see map below) defined by human settlement patterns. That would include places like Three Rivers, the Oneida Lake outlet, the Seneca River, and the eastern Finger Lakes area. The extensive lakes, marshes, swamps, rivers and forests provided an outstanding resource base for indigenous and later for immigrant peoples. This expanded strategy gave me access to more information and allowed me to tell a more complete regional story.