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Ancient Anthropogenic Clam Gardens of the Northwest Coast Expand Clam Habitat

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Abstract

Clam gardens are ancient mariculture features developed by Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America that create shallow sloping intertidal shelves where clam productivity is enhanced. We quantify the area of clam habitat created by constructing rock-walled clam gardens terraces in northern Quadra Island, British Columbia, Canada. We combined modelling, high-resolution mapping, beach sampling, and a comprehensive survey of the shoreline to document the location and areal extent of clam habitat in clam gardens today. We divided our analysis into three classes of clam gardens, which differ in substrate and thus the amount of clam habitat created. We found that Indigenous People built clam garden walls on 35% of the shoreline and that about 112,979 m2 of flat beach terrace were created by clam garden construction. Collectively, the three classes of clam gardens increased clam habitat area between 26 and 36%. About 35% of the area of clam habitat in clam gardens was constructed de novo on bedrock shelves and rocky slopes where no clam habitat existed previously. Furthermore, about 12.0% of clam gardens are smaller than 30 m2, reflecting the effort put into creating enhanced food production wherever possible. Our analysis demonstrates that clam management in the form of clam gardens was extensive prior to colonization and that these features still have a significant impact on today’s intertidal ecosystems. Clam habitat expansion facilitated by clam garden construction encouraged a sustainable and abundant food source in the past and could do so again in today’s changing environmental conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was conducted on the traditional territories of the We Wai Kai, We Wai Kum, K’omoks, Xwemalhkwu, and Klahoose Nations. We are grateful to Eric Peterson and Christina Munck for the financial and logistical support provided by Tula Foundation and Hakai Institute. We thank Nicole Smith and Anne Salomon for the many clam garden conversations that sparked some of the ideas woven throughout this paper, and Amy Groesbeck for sharing her unpublished clam survey data. We thank also Joanne McSporran for the field assistance, Louise Williams for the production of Figure 3, Ken Lertzman for help calculating changes in the area of clam habitat as a result of wall building, and Gavia Lertzman-Lepofsky for producing Figure 6.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ginevra Toniello

    Present address: Treaty, Lands and Resources, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

  2. DL, JE, GT, and KH conceived of and designed the study. JE, GT, KH, CR, LW, and DL performed the research. DL, JE, and KH analysed the data. DL, JE, KH, GT, and KR wrote the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Dana Lepofsky & Ginevra Toniello

  2. Hakai Institute, Heriot Bay, British Columbia, V0P 1H0, Canada

    Dana Lepofsky, Ginevra Toniello, Christine Roberts, Louis Wilson & Keith Holmes

  3. Independent, Victoria, British Columbia, V8R 5A9, Canada

    Jacob Earnshaw

  4. Wei Wai Kum First Nation, Campbell River, British Columbia, V9W 3E8, Canada

    Christine Roberts

  5. We Wai Kai Nation, Quathiaski Cove, British Columbia, V0P 1N0, Canada

    Louis Wilson

  6. Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80303, USA

    Kirsten Rowell

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  1. Dana Lepofsky
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Correspondence to Dana Lepofsky.

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Lepofsky, D., Toniello, G., Earnshaw, J. et al. Ancient Anthropogenic Clam Gardens of the Northwest Coast Expand Clam Habitat. Ecosystems 24, 248–260 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00515-6

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