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Doing Zooarchaeology As If It Mattered: Use of Faunal Data To

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Doing Zooarchaeology As If It Mattered: Use of Faunal Data To In, Zooarchaeoloqy and Conseryation Biology 2004, R. Lee Lyman and Kenneth P. Cannon,-eds. pp. 25-44, The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 2 Doing Zooarchaeologyas if It Mattered: Use of Faunal Data to AddressCurrent Issuesin Fish ConservationBiology in OwensValley, California VIRGINIA L. BUTLERAND MICHAEL G. DELACORTE "V cologists are increasingly incorporating conceptssuch as "legacy" into l::Jtheir explanations of current ecosystems(Harding et al. 1:998). This approach acknowledges that understanding the structure and function of extant ecosystems(or predicting future responsesto climate change)re- quires knowledge of historical forces that have beenoperating for decades, centuries, or longer (Foster 2.000;Moorhead et al. 1:999).Indeed, recog- nition of the needfor such long-term historical records is demonstratedby the level of National ScienceFoundation funding for the Long-Term Eco- logical Research(LTER) network (Kaiser 2.oo1:b;LTER Network 2.001:). Over 1:,1:00researcqers funded by the LTER carry out researchon 2..4des- ignated sites that have been studied;from a few years to several decades (Kaiser 2.O01:b).These studies cover a range of topics with the overall goal of "investigating ecological processesover long temporal and broad spa- tial scales" (LTER Network 2.001:).This goal is precisely that of zoo- archaeology.Yet, to our knowledge, zooarchaeologicalexpertise and data have not been incorporated into the LTER network. Our point is simply I that ecological sciencesseeking to understand the long-term properties of ecosystemshave direct accessto such information through zooarchaeology. Zooarchaeology needsto tollaborate with wildlife sciencesbecause of the increasing speedwith which habitats and biotas are being lost in the face of human population growth and habitat destruction (Minckley and Deacon 1:991:;Vitousek et al. 1:997).In responseto legislation such as the 2.S 2.6 VIRGINIA L. BUTLBR AND MICHAEL G. DELACORTE EndangeredSpecies Act of 1:973(1:6USC1:531:-1:547, Public Law 93-2.05), recovery plans are constantly being developed across the United States. Drawing from recent, often limited historical records, decisions are rou- tinely made on which taxa are native, which are exotic, which should be targeted for recovery, and which should be disregarded. In stark temlS, these are determinations of which organisms "belong on the ark." Given zooarchaeology's(and paleontology's)access to faunal records dating back hundreds and thousands of years, we can assist with these decisions. To demonstrate this with respect to fisheries management, we here discuss our recent work on the ancient fish fauna of Owens Valley, California. BACKGROUND Owens Valley is a deep, :£3o-km-longblock-faulted graben in southeast- ern California, on the western edgeof the hydrographic Great Basin (Fig- ure 2..:£).It is a narrow, roughly north-south-trending valley sandwiched between two mountain rangeswith :£4,Ooo-ft(4,2.65-m) peaks. The Sierra Nevada Rangeto the west capturesmost of the precipitation arriving from the west; the Inyo-White Mountains lie to the east. Whereas only :£6cm of rain fall on the valley floor, a significant winter snowpack in the high Sierra provides meltwater throughout the year. Owens River heads in the Sierra Nevada north of Owens Valley and is fed by numerous tributaries draining the range at various points along the valley. Prior to historic water-diversion projects, the river traveled southward about :£30 km be~ fore it emptied into Owens Lake. Historically the lake was shallow (2.-:£5 m), was moderately saline (5-:£5 percent salts [Smith and Bischoff :£997]), and did not support fish populations (Gilbert :£893). The Quaternary record of Owens Lake shows that it has undergone significant changesin water level and chemistry over the last several hundred thousand years (Benson et al. :£996;Benson et al. :£997;Smith and Bischoff :£997).Basi- cally, the lake is a remnant of a vast Pleistocenelake systemthat once con- nected basins extending from south of Mono Lake on the north to Death Valley at the southern end of the chain (Hubbs ~d Miller :£948; Miller x946; Sadaand Vinyard 2.002.).I Although minor changesto the historic aquatic system began as early I as the x870S,when irrigation projects beganto divert Owens River water, the aquatic systemwas drastically altered beginning in X9:£3with the con- struction of the 1.0$Angeles Aqueduct. Reservoirswere constructed,canals were.dug, and most significant, much of the water from Sierran streams and the Owens River itself was siphonedoff, seriouslyreducing the amount DOING ZOOARCHAEOLOGY AS IF IT MArTr.UD 2.7 . Figure 2..1. Owens Valley, California, showing locatioos of geographic squaresfeatUresdenote and archaeological towns. projects. Circles denote archaeological. projects; of water that reachedthe valley bottom (Kahrl 1982.).By the 19305 Owens Lake had become a dry playa that accwnulates Water only in exception- ally wet years. Sometimebefore 1~90 catfish (Ictaluridae), carp (Cyprinus carpio), and salmonids were introduced to the basin (Gilbert 1893), and 2.8 VIR.GINIA L. BUTLEB. AND MICHAEL G. DELACO..n I I 4. DOING ZOOARCHAEOLOGY AS IF IT MATTERED 2.,9 I observations of native fish were in the X.940Sand X.950Sby University of ~~ Michigan ichthyologists, decadesafter the aquatic conditions had b~en drastically altered by Los AngelesCounty water-diversion projects. More- over, a review of these StUdiesreveals that most observerswere working in limited areas and over brief periods of time (Table 2..x). The zooarchaeological record can gready expand our knowledge of Owens Valley fish by providing a substantially longer history of fish in the area. Recent archaeological projects in southern Owens Valley provide a faunal record that spans much of the Holocene. Further, extensive data on regional paleoenvironments (Benson et al. X.9.97;Smith and Bischoff X.997;Stine X998) indicate that the aquatic system may have undergone significant change over the last severalthousand years. These data can be used to suggesthow fish have respondedto theseconditions and why some speciesare managing better than others under modem circumstances. METHODS AND MATERIALS Our study is based on analysis of fish remains from two archaeological projects in southern Owens Valley (Figure 2..r). The Alabama Gates sites are located within 2.km of the current river channel, about 15 km north of Owens Lake (Delacorte 1999). The Ash Creek sitesare located west of the lake, near tributary streambedsor ancient embaymentsof the for!fier lakeshore (Gilreath and Holanda 2.060). Sevensites from theseprojects provided fish remains, all of which were excavated and analyzed in similar ways (Buder r999, 2.000a).In the field, matrix was screened through 1/8-in (3.2.-mm) mesh, except for small volumes during initial testing efforts that were screenedthrough 1/4-in (6.4-m.m) mesh. Bulk sampleswere collected in the field and wet sieved through nested 1/8-in and r/l6-in (r.6-mm) mesh in the lab (Alabama Gates-rs6l; Ash Creek-488 1). Except for vertebrae, which were as- signed to Catostomidae/Cyprinidae (sucker/minnow) becauseof morpho- logical similarity, most skeletal elements could be assigned to at least taxonomic family. Maxillae and dentaries were used to identify sucker species,and pharyngealswere used to identify cyprinid species.Specimens were q~tified using the number pf identified specimens(NISP [Grayson 1984]). Vertebra diameterswe're measured (for the measurementused, see Casteel 1976) to estimate fish body length and changesin fish size, given the well-established relationship between vertebra size and body size.Be- cause vertebrae !:rom minnows and suckers cannot be distinguished, the measureprovides a coarse-grainedrecord of change in body size. ~ ... .~ :='+0 m ~ 0 G) ~ (,I~Q ..9 d'- 0 bDU~ c= 0 .,§ S §~ .r: tt ].:S~"j ... =' O=eg)(,I ~ 0 5 Q =u..t=~ "0 ~ -S ~o ~ ~.S~g " J o~>-S ~ f;>-. ]uu= :e, ~Q~-S° g) d ... -;;- ~ c " 0 1 ~.-'lJ C) U-"M ~ Q..o,uO\ ~ ,,- W U) «> = ~O 0 V) lo,~- ~~ ~.2 ~ ~_0\... od~.8 F->- (:5 = ~ . -Q .S.=. rl =' ~ .g ~ ~ 3: . ~ ~..d :""'C ~ § "'..d ~ ~ 0 .- 8 a u ~i ~ ~.~ c.r ] ~i '0 ~ .~ .~ ~ g ~~ ~8 O~ ~ =, ~ -= 'c ~ =' bO ~ ~ ~ u u po ~ \3 ~ ~~ N -5 ~ ~ := a, .~ ~ 15'~ u -Q ~ fo.= g ~ 5 ..d = ..d w:3 ~ ~ ~ ?- ~...I ~ ~ a \3 -Q = ~ ~ j H ~ g ."':8 5 ~ ~ '" 0 a ~ t U .; ti .;;; t! ~ ~ =; ~ B t ~ .~ .~ ~ .£0 j ~ ~ 1£~~ ~~== .~ .8 ~ '" ~ 8 . ~ t i u e '-"' 0 0 .~ ~ 0 B ~ u £ 0 ~ ~ ~"' -.r1a,!'I ~.~ ~.. 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