Ecological Change on California’s Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene

To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article was published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and is in the public domain. The published article can be found at: http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/.Historical ecology is becoming an important focus in conservation biology and offers a promising tool to help guide ecosystem management.\ud Here, we integrate data from multiple disciplines to illuminate the past, present, and future of biodiversity on California’s Channel Islands, an\ud archipelago that has undergone a wide range of land-use and ecological changes. Our analysis spans approximately 20,000 years, from before\ud human occupation and through Native American hunter–gatherers, commercial ranchers and fishers, the US military, and other land managers.\ud We demonstrate how long-term, interdisciplinary research provides insight into conservation decisions, such as setting ecosystem restoration\ud goals, preserving rare and endemic taxa, and reducing the impacts of climate change on natural and cultural resources. We illustrate the\ud importance of historical perspectives for understanding modern patterns and ecological change and present an approach that can be applied\ud generally in conservation management planning