Ancient DNA reveals phenological diversity of Coast Salish herring harvests over multiple centuries.

ABSTRACT: Phenological diversity in food resources prolongs foraging opportunities for consumers and buffers them against environmental disturbances. Such diversity is particularly important in forage fish such as Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), which are foundational to coastal food webs and fisheries. While the importance of phenological diversity is well-known from contemporary studies, the extent to which different populations contribute to fisheries over long time scales is mostly unknown. In this study, we investigated the relative contributions of genetically and phenologically distinct herring populations to Indigenous Peoples' food systems over multiple centuries, using ancient DNA extracted from archaeological herring bones. These bones were excavated from two Coast Salish archaeologica

SUBMITTER: Petrou EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9357025 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature