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Human Ecodynamics
Building from a human behavioral ecology perspective, my research investigates how foraging populations in island and coastal landscapes mitigate environmental challenges such as natural disasters, resource fluctuations and social isolation. Specifically, I am interested in modeling the development of technological innovations and networking strategies for buffering social and environmental vulnerabilities. |
Eruption of Sarychev Peak, Matua
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Map of Kuril Islands
Paleodemographic Model of Kuril Population History
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In a recent publication in Quaternary International (Fitzhugh et al. 2016), my colleagues and I examine the resilience of populations living in the remote Kuril Islands to social, political and environmental challenges. The Kuril Islands of Northeast Asia offer a unique opportunity to examine population resilience due to the high frequency of natural hazards and geographic isolation.
Using 380 radiocarbon dates, we modeled the population history of the island chain. Our results demonstrate a dynamic population history with two major occupations and abandonments over the last three millennia. These population fluctuations are evaluated in the context of numerous social and natural systems including a detailed eruption history and the expanding influence of the East Asian world system. Ultimately, we conclude that population resilience to local climate and environmental perturbations was achieved by virtue of social networks that maintained non-local support in times of crisis but these networks also increased vulnerability to social and economic perturbations. |
Publications
Fitzhugh, Ben, Erik Gjesfjeld, William Brown, Mark Hudson and Jennie Shaw.
2016 Resilience and the population history of the Kuril Islands, North Pacific: A study in complex human ecodynamics. Quaternary International. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2016.02.003 Available from QI here.
Fitzhugh, Ben, Erik Gjesfjeld, William Brown, Mark Hudson and Jennie Shaw.
2016 Resilience and the population history of the Kuril Islands, North Pacific: A study in complex human ecodynamics. Quaternary International. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2016.02.003 Available from QI here.
