Bridging Ethnobotany, Autecology and Restoration: The Study of Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia Willd.; Alismataceae) in Interior British Columbia

Abstract

The goal of this research is to explore the cultural and ecological restoration of an aquatic perennial, wapato ( agittaria latifolia Willd.: Alismataceae) in the Salmon River Delta, Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Wapato has been extirpated from this area, a traditional Secwepemc (Shuswap) gathering site, within the past 80 years. This research explores some of the repercussions of this loss as well as methods for this plant's restoration. I conducted a series of interviews that provided information on landscape and ecological characteristics of this area from the 1920s when Secwepemc elder Mary Thomas was a child. The Salmon River Delta has experienced significant changes over the past century that have resulted in a decline of some native plant species and an increase in exotic ones, as evidenced by interviews and literature research. I also experimentally investigated the effects of animal herbivory and water depth on Sagittaria latifolia growth in the Salmon River Delta. My results show that herbivory significantly (P = 0.00) limited S. latifolia growth in this study; plants showed prolific growth when planted in a wire exclosure. Water depth had a smaller but still significant (P = 0.016) effect on S. latifolia growth for plants inside the exclosure. I surveyed wapato populations to assess the current distribution of S. latifolia in the region and a traditionally harvested congener, S. cuneata. I located 16 patches of S. latifolia and S. cuneate at 10 sites in the southern interior of British Columbia. I found no new populations of Sagittaria and failed to locate Sagittaria at four sites that have documented populations. Research objectives facilitated the development of a model of cultural refugia as a parallel concept to that of ecological refugia. Just as ecological refugia are havens from disturbance for various species and can serve to retain "resource populations to promote conservation and resource protection, I propose that cultural refugia can take on a similar role. These refugia can serve as centres for the maintenance and expansion of traditional ecological knowledge. Restoration, within a cultural context, can facilitate this expansion thereby augmenting the knowledge system associated with a cultural refugium.