RECONSTRUCTION OF COMPOSITION OF HISTORIC PLANTS

FIRST YOU NEED TO LEARN ABOUT THE PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND FUNGI THAT INFLUENCED OUR ECOSYSTEM. THEN YOU CAN RECONSTRUCT YOUR HISTORIC LANDSCAPES. IF THE AREA HAS HAD CURRENT AFFECTS FROM TIMBER SALES OR WHATEVER MINING OR VARIOUS OTHER LAND USES IT IS LIKELY THAT INDIGENOUS PLANTS ARE GREATLY REDUCED OR NOT THERE. ONE MUST MAKE AN INVENTORY OF THE SPECIES THAT WERE ONCE THERE. AND DETERMINE THE SPECIES THAT WERE ONCE THERE. SOME MAY BE UNDERNEATH THE SOIL AS DORMANT DEPENDING UPON THE SEASON OF THE YEAR. SOME SPECIES MAY REQUIRE ONLY THE REINTRODUCTION OF LIGHT SURFACE FIRES OR HUMAN /NATURAL DISTURBANCES. IF SOME SPECIES HAVE VANISHED YOU MAY HAVE TO LEARN THE SPECIES SO THEY CAN BE REINTRODUCED.

IN SOME CASES SPECIES COMPOSITION OF HISTORIC PLANTS WERE RECORDED AND COLLECTED IN HERBARIA OR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS. THEY CAN BE DISCOVERED BY RECORDING HISTORIC LAND SURVEYS OR READING ETHNOGRAPHIES, OR INTERVIEWING ELDERS. NEARBY AREAS MAY HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED .

ETHNOGRAPHERS SUCH AS HARRINGTON IN THE 30'S INTERVIEWED MANY ELDERS IN MANY TRIBES THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA BETWEEN 1907 AND 1957. HE NOTED VERY DESCRIPTIVE PLANTS AND ANIMAL LIFE IN VARIOUS REGIONS, INCLUDING THEIR LOCATIONS. HE NOTED HUNTER AND GATHERING PRACTICES, THE PREPARATION OF USES OF THESE SPECIES. BOTANISTS HAVE TAKEN GOOD NOTES AS WELL. FOR INSTANCE THE WESTERN MONO TRIBE HAD USED UNDERSTORY BURNING TO ENRICH THEIR SOIL AND REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE FOREST FIRES.

THERE ARE STILL AREAS THAT HAVE NATIVE PLANT POPULATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN DISTURBED . INDIANS ELDERS CAN PROVIDE VALUABLE INFORMATION THAT SUPPORT SCIENTISTS TO RECONSTRUCT MICROENVIRONMENTS. THE MUSHROOMS MAY HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEALTH OF THE OAKS. INVENTORIES OF PLANT SPECIES NOT ONLY MANIPULATED THEIR ENVIRONMENT TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF THEIR PLANTS AND THE QUANTITY BASED ON THEIR SIZE,SHAPE, COLOR, TASTE, NUTRITION AND OTHER VARIABLES.

KAT ANDERSON