SLIDE 1 How the History of European Agriculture can Shape its Future
Carole L. Crumley
Swedish Biodiversity Centre (CBM)
Swedish Agricultural University (SLU)
and
Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE)
Uppsala University
and
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
REPORTING RESEARCH of the FRENCH PROJECT
SLIDE 2 What is historical ecology?
Historic Earth Sciences + Past and Present Human Activity
SLIDE 3 Historical Ecology
Is an integrative framework drawn from the environmental sciences, archaeology, ecology, anthropology, geography
- Links human and earth system history
- Holistic, practical perspective
- Broad temporal and spatial breadth
- Independent data provide crosscheck
- Builds consensus
USE WHAT WORKS
SLIDE 4 Historical Ecology studies Landscapes: Past, Present, Future
- Landscapes are physical manifestations of the human-
environment relationship
- Humans have modified landscapes for over two million
years
- The history of landscapes shapes their future:
initial conditions (example: geology, altitude) path dependence (example: soils retain the history of their previous management)
SLIDE 5
The European Landscape
SLIDE 6 Agrarian History of Europe
- By 6000 years ago, a suite of
plants and animals--some indigenous to Europe and others introduced from many different regions and climates--had formed the basis of European farming
- These species and practices were
the foundation of European agriculture until several decades after WW II.
Domestication of wheat: 10,000 years Domestication of cattle: more than 8,000 years
SLIDE 7 Agrarian History of Europe
domesticated in the Middle East
from Anatolia across Northern Europe and along the North Mediterranean littoral
European Neolithic Farms (6000 BP)
SLIDE 8 Agrarian History of Europe
- The genetic and behavioral variety of this suite of indigenous
and imported plants and animals reduced farmers’ risk.
Iron Age Farm (3000-2000 years ago) Roman Villa (2100-1800 years ago) Medieval Farm (1600-400 years ago)
SLIDE 9 Agrarian History of Europe
Species continued to be imported from elsewhere. The tomato, first domesticated in Central America, was introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century The potato, first domesticated in South America, was also introduced in the sixteenth century
French farm in the early twentieth century French farm in the 1950s
SLIDE 10
Six Thousand Years of Land Use & Environmental Change
in Rural Southern Burgundy (France)
Our research integrates: Geology, Hydrology, Geomorphology), Climatology, Palynology, Dendrochronology, Archaeology, Ethnobotany, Ethnography, Maps and Documents
SLIDE 11 Data Management
Our research integrates & synthesizes spatial data within a GIS context:
- Aerial survey and satellite imagery
- Digitized historic and modern maps
- GPS collection of ground site points
- Archival aerial reconnaissance photos
- Archaeological field survey and excavation
- Ethnographic and historical document analysis
- Advanced visualization and modeling techniques
SLIDE 12 Climate History at Multiple Temporal and Spatial Scales
Global, N. Hemisphere, Continental, Regional, Local
a) Global and Northern Hemisphere Climate Change
SLIDE 13 1200BC – 300BC 300BC – 300AD <<Roman optimum>>
Mediterranean Continental Maritime Mediterranean Continental Maritime
300 AD – 900 AD
Range of climatic variation In Europe Continental Maritime Mediterranean
Three Regimes meet over Burgundy
b) Continental and Sub-Continental Scale Climate Change
SLIDE 14 c) Regional and Sub-Regional Scale Climate Change
La Loire Arroux River, Loire tributary
The stratigraphic record allows reconstruction
- f both climate and the rivers’ erosion history
SLIDE 15 Geologists core the region’s ancient ponds
Pollen from pond sediments reconstruct pond dynamics and local vegetation history The pond at the Chateau de Lucenier (eleventh century)
Woodlands have been carefully managed for centuries Burgundy’s six-thousand-year
- ak chronology is an important climate proxy
d) Local Scale Climate Change
SLIDE 16 Intense Industrial Agriculture in the Paris Basin Multifunctional Rural Landscape of Burgundy (forest, pasture, arable)
Landscape Diversity: a Key Regional Feature
SLIDE 17 Roman industrial zone and villa 200 years of occupation
Archaeological Excavation and Survey
combine with documentary and other evidence to form a picture of settlement in different periods.
excavation of Mont Dardon: 2400 years of occupation
Mont Dardon
SLIDE 18
Along with archaeology and environmental studies, documents and interviews trace land use change over time
SLIDE 19
Continuity and Rupture in Agrarian History: The Valley of the Arroux
In the entire past three millennia, Roman period industrial farming practices created the greatest damage because:
SLIDE 20 To feed urban populations, the Empire forced “bread basket” regions (such as Burgundy) to produce only grain (mono-cropping) Many earlier advances (such as field rotation) were abandoned, increasing short-term yields but also erosion and the loss of soil fertility Beginning around AD 270, erratic climate devastated harvests Less hardy species (such as grapes), imported from the Mediterranean, were particularly vulnerable Burdened with exorbitant taxes and low yields, peasants abandoned farmland Without maintenance, farmland reverted to scrub and forest
Continuity and Rupture in Agrarian History:
The Valley of the Arroux, Burgundy
SLIDE 21 A Successful Adaptive Strategy
Little Ice Age (ca. 1300-1850 AD) conditions gave rise to communal farms in Burgundy
The communauté of Grand Dardon Documents and architecture trace the growth of the community
Members of these communities held the land in common and elected work managers from among their number; this form of household economy was particularly effective in times of environmental and economic crisis
SLIDE 22 Beginning in the Middle Ages hundreds of ponds were an important commercial and domestic resource in Uxeau parish. What value would pond restoration bring to the area today?
Site of an old pond
A Contemporary Adaptive Strategy?
The Cassini maps (1759) and other historic maps permit reconstruction of pond and forest history
SLIDE 23
Historically, Burgundy has raised ruminants
Horses and cattle 2500 years ago, Charolais breed cattle and sheep today
SLIDE 24
Many European Union subsidies are tied to herd size & structure
SLIDE 25
Farms remain family-owned but their number has decreased as their average size has quadrupled
SLIDE 26 For a combination of economic and social reasons, fewer and fewer farms raise other animals
For example, the constraints of EU regulations for milk products has hastened the disappearance of domestic goat cheese production and removed an additional source of household income; remaining farms that make goat cheese have specialized
Specialization reduces diversity of practice and sources for farm income
SLIDE 27
At a different spatial and temporal scale, household gardens retain the scheduling and species diversity characteristics of historic farm management
SLIDE 28 Economic Change Ripples through Rural Society
New barns required by the EU cost 300 000 euros Young farmers must complete four years of formal agricultural training to manage the family farm They take on much more debt than their predecessors, a source of intergenerational friction Farmers are pressed to specialize Farms are closely monitored by satellite and farmers’ much valued autonomy is curtailed Farmers face uncertain markets and subsidies, and threats to herd health
SLIDE 29
In fewer than two decades, the scale of farming has changed dramatically and the historic diversity of practice has vanished
SLIDE 30 Dominance of Mediterranean regime February through October, 2003
Increased climate variability poses challenges to EU agricultural policy
Following a 2002 drought, the 2003 heat wave and drought killed 20,000 people in France
2003 2008
Temperatures August 2003
SLIDE 31 The Loire in flood following the 2003 drought, January 2004
Intensified land use--such as the canalization of marshy areas and the removal of hedgerows to increase pasturage--increases the severity of valley flooding, already in danger due to impermeable surfaces and building in floodplains
The subsidy for protecting hedgerows is not as attractive as that for increasing herd size
SLIDE 32
The endless rains of 2007 “une saison de moississure”
SLIDE 33 The seasonal rhythm is broken
the variability of weather is likely to increase in the future
“out of season” weather ruins harvests, makes planning difficult human societies respond effectively to weather extremes but not to highly variable short term conditions the most variable period in French history was the decade before the French Revolution
unpredictable climatic variability = increased agricultural vulnerability
SLIDE 34
- Favors pasture over other land uses
- Destroys hedgerows and deciduous cover
- Reduces wild species populations
- Diminishes water retention in pastures
- Increases erosion
- Compromises herd health
- Endangers regional economy
EU CAP and other one-size-fits-all regulations afford farmers little flexibility in the face of increased seasonal variability.
Increased herd size:
SLIDE 35
- management of complex systems requires a holistic approach
- the future holds risks but vulnerability can be reduced
risk = uncertainty about possible undesirable outcomes climate change puts all European farmers at risk vulnerability = conditions that increase negative impact less diverse farms and regions are more vulnerable
- humans can be part of the solution: search regional history for
place-specific management ideas
Landscape-Scale Management
SLIDE 36
Millennia of knowledge about resilient productive landscapes is being lost. Can we learn how to apply these lessons today?
