User:Derock456789/Agriculture in California

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Since initial contact between Europeans and Indigenous American peoples, the topic of Native American agriculture has been debated. While agriculture in pre-contact California certainly did not fit into the Western definition of agriculture, the keen stewardship of California’s natural ecosystem by Indigenous Californians to achieve the best possible output of resources is “agricultural,” with California’s ecosystems acting as a large, unbounded agricultural site.[1][2] Because of this difference in ideology, agricultural practices in pre-contact California often took a different form than those of Europe.

Native Californians were skilled at gathering materials from plants at all times of the year, allowing the consistent gathering of materials from any and all local plants. Depending on when various plants—including succulents, flowers, and trees—bloomed or became ripe, different aspects of the plant could be accessed or harvested by Native California peoples.[3]

A basket cap made by the Karuk, Yurok, or Hupa peoples, using stems of plants that would have been harvested as a result of cultural burning.

Native Californians also developed strategies when it came to competing with animals for resources. The Kashaya Pomo, for example, timed their harvest of dogwood to be before insects and worms would be able to access the inner parts of the plant.[3] Indigenous Californians also developed strategies for acquiring black oak acorns directly from tree branches using a long pole, increasing harvest yields that would otherwise have been disturbed by animals.[3]

Black oak acorn harvests were further increased by cultural burning, which stimulated acorn growth and increased biodiversity in the area.[4] Cultural burning was commonly practiced by throughout California to maintain a healthy landscape that produced quality resources, as the Karuk, Yurok, Hupa peoples all regularly burned areas of bear grass and California hazelnut and to encourage the growth of stronger stems that could be used for basketry.[5][6]




Colorado River irrigation is essential for agriculture to the Salton Sea Basin, which supports key agriculturally productive areas such as the Imperial Valley.[7]

In 2014, California agriculture soils contributed 51% of statewide greenhouse gas emissions.[8] California's Mediterranean climate supports irrigation events such as nitrification which encourage nitrous oxide production. Mean nitrous oxide emissions (the biggest contributor to ozone depletion of all the major agricultural greenhouse gases) have been reported to be "four times higher in irrigated compared to rain-fed systems". Another factor which frequently contributes to increased emissions are warm soil temperatures (a common occurrence in California)[9]. 

California

  1. ^ Indigenous food sovereignty in the United States : restoring cultural knowledge, protecting environments, and regaining health. Devon A. Mihesuah, Elizabeth Hoover, Winona LaDuke. Norman. 2019. ISBN 978-0-8061-6321-5. OCLC 1098218408.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ Akins, Damon B. (2021). We are the land : a history of Native California. William J., Jr. Bauer. Oakland, California. ISBN 978-0-520-28049-6. OCLC 1176314767.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b c Anderson, Kat (2005). Tending the wild : Native American knowledge and the management of California's natural resources. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93310-1. OCLC 62175673.
  4. ^ Long, Jonathan W.; Goode, Ron W.; Gutteriez, Raymond J.; Lackey, Jessica J.; Anderson, M. Kat (2017-09-15). "Managing California Black Oak for Tribal Ecocultural Restoration". Journal of Forestry. 115 (5): 426–434. doi:10.5849/jof.16-033. ISSN 0022-1201.
  5. ^ Marks-Block, Tony; Lake, Frank K.; Bliege Bird, Rebecca; Curran, Lisa M. (2021-02-19). "Revitalized Karuk and Yurok cultural burning to enhance California hazelnut for basketweaving in northwestern California, USA". Fire Ecology. 17 (1): 6. doi:10.1186/s42408-021-00092-6. ISSN 1933-9747.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  6. ^ Hunter, John (1988). "Prescribed burning for cultural resources" (PDF). Fire management notes. 49: 8–9 – via ResearchGate.
  7. ^ Bradley, T.; Ajami, H.; Porter, W. (2022-04-22). "Ecological transitions at the Salton Sea: Past, present and future". California Agriculture. 76 (1): 8–15. ISSN 0008-0845.
  8. ^ Verhoeven, E.; Pereira, E.; Decock, C.; Garland, G.; Kennedy, T.; Suddick, E.; Horwath, W.; Six, J. (2017-09-13). "N2O emissions from California farmlands: A review". California Agriculture. 71 (3): 148–159. ISSN 0008-0845.
  9. ^ Verhoeven, E.; Pereira, E.; Decock, C.; Garland, G.; Kennedy, T.; Suddick, E.; Horwath, W.; Six, J. (2017-09-13). "N2O emissions from California farmlands: A review". California Agriculture. 71 (3): 148–159. ISSN 0008-0845.
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