Linda Storm (PhC 2002, Washington)

Research Interests:
Traditional ecological knowledge and ecosystem management; Indigenous people’s uses of fire; Paleoethnobotany, ethnobotany and ethnoecology; anthropogenic prairies, oak woodlands and other wild plant cultivation practices; historical ecology and contemporary ecological restoration and management issues.

"A review of the literature on Mima mound prairies in North America suggests that Native peoples used, adapted to and managed these ecologically rich prairie landscapes. Such adaptations included intentional burning, selective harvest, and other horticultural practices. The intent of my research is twofold. I am testing hypotheses about (1) whether and how mounded prairies contribute to wild plant food production systems in anthropogenically managed prairies, and (2) how frequent fire return intervals affect the growth and productivity of important root foods, such as camas (Camassia quamash & C. leichtlinii) in Pacific Northwest prairie ecosystems. My study area is the Upper Chehalis River basin, with an emphasis on dry, mounded prairies. I propose that the presence of earth mounds influences the routing, retention and dispersal of water in ways that extend the blooming stage of camas. Because camas was harvested during the blooming and fruiting period, extending these growth stages would effectively extend the harvest period of this important staple root food. Based on paleoecological records and analogies with other Pacific Northwest data sets, prairies in western Washington appear to have been maintained by indigenous burning practices for the last 3,000 + years. Such long-term people-plant interactions are described as "co-evolutionary," influencing plant and animal associations and their interactions.  Many plant and animal species unique to these prairie systems are listed as threatened, endangered, or are at risk of decline today due to habitat loss. Only 3% of historic western Washington prairies remain today. This is all that is left of a once vast mosaic of both wet and dry prairies and associated oak woodlands.  This research includes reconstructing the historic extent of prairies in the Upper Chehalis River basin, testing hypotheses about how mounds and fire influence the camas productivity, and the myriad resources prairies contributed to the subsistence and cultural lifeways of indigenous groups who occupied the Upper Chehalis River basin for thousands of years. I believe understanding the historical and cultural ecology of these prairie landscapes will contribute to better contemporary decision making about how to restore and manage them today."

Dissertation Project/Title:
“Prairie Fires and Earth Mounds: The Historical Ecology and Ethnoecology of Upper Chehalis Basin Prairies”