Indigenous peoples as sentinels of change in human-wildlife relationships: Conservation status of mountain goats in Kitasoo Xai'xais territory and beyond

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dc.contributor.authorJessen, Tyler D.
dc.contributor.authorService, Christina N.
dc.contributor.authorPoole, Kim G.
dc.contributor.authorBurton, A. Cole
dc.contributor.authorBateman, Andrew W.
dc.contributor.authorPaquet, Paul C.
dc.contributor.authorDarimont, Chris T.
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-17T16:54:55Z
dc.date.available2022-05-17T16:54:55Z
dc.date.copyright2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-04
dc.description.abstractLocal people can act as sentinels for change, especially for wildlife populations not monitored by centralized governments. Responding to concern expressed by the Kitasoo Xai'xais (KX) First Nation over a decline in mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) sightings, our community-academic partnership assessed the conservation status of goats in KX territory and beyond in British Columbia by evaluating three independent information sources. Aerial surveys (2019 and 2020) over 542 km2 revealed a low-density population (mean 0.25, SD 0.12 goats/km2), typical of peripheral coastal range. Interviews with KX Knowledge Holders revealed that sightings from sea level have declined sharply over 40 years, a period during which temperatures have increased and snowpack has decreased. Finally, Kill data (1980–2018) showed that kills/hunter/day initially increased among guided hunters before plateauing, but declined among resident hunters (~70% of hunt days) in both coastal and interior BC. Convergent patterns among datasets suggest that coastal goats declined in abundance and/or reduced use of low-elevation habitat, disrupting a millennia-old relationship between KX people and goats, thereby posing a conservation concern. Broadly, our work shows that detecting threats to peripheral populations, and wildlife in general, can be informed and empowered by the knowledge of place-based peoples and associated decentralized management. Kitasoo Xai'xais First Nation mountain goat research illustrates roles of Indigenous peoples as sentinels of population and ecosystem change.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipBritish Columbia Parks Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Raincoast Conservation Foundation SkyeMikko Foundation Wilburforce Foundationen_US
dc.identifier.citationJessen, T. D., Service, C. N., Poole, K. G., Burton, A. C., Bateman, A. W., Paquet, P. C., & Darimont, C. T. (2022). Indigenous peoples as sentinels of change in human-wildlife relationships: Conservation status of mountain goats in Kitasoo Xai'xais territory and beyond. Conservation Science and Practice, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12662en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12662
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13958
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherConservation Science and Practiceen_US
dc.subjectconservation status
dc.subjectindigenous knowledge
dc.subjectlocal ecological knowledge
dc.subjectmountain goat
dc.subjectOreamnos americanus
dc.subjectsentinel
dc.subjectwildlife conservation
dc.subjectwildlife management
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.titleIndigenous peoples as sentinels of change in human-wildlife relationships: Conservation status of mountain goats in Kitasoo Xai'xais territory and beyonden_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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