Publication Date

12-2020

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

3-17-2020

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Arts in Anthropology

Department

Anthropology

Supervisory Committee Chair

Pei-Lin Yu, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Co-Chair

Mark Plew, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Cheryl Anderson, Ph.D.

Abstract

Camas (Camassia quamash) is well documented as a traditional native food source throughout the Northwestern United States and Canada. A better understanding of the historic distribution of camas in Idaho would help to distinguish root foraging in this region from the Pacific Northwest. Modern grazing, development, climate change, and other factors have decimated native camas in this region. This study uses a species distribution model (MaxEnt) to provide a well-informed geospatial projection of the historic distribution and habitat characteristics of camas in Southern Idaho. Understanding the most significant landscape and climate characteristics for camas allows us to estimate suitable habitats, and therefore the potential influence of camas on human diet breadth and mobility in the Late Archaic.

DOI

10.18122/td/1745/boisestate

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