Abstract
Sheep farms dominate the Falkland Islands landscape and have for over a century. The introduction of sheep, and several other species, has significantly transformed the ecology of this archipelago—the near elimination of tussac grass being one of the most notable changes. Tracing back to early accounts of tussac grass in the ‘Falklands’, this paper captures its discovery, exploitation and current stage of renewal, including a closer look at the connections between tussac and livestock farming, as well as parallel trends in other countries. We narrate changing relations between people and tussac grass using a combination of interview data, historical accounts and scientific literature. Tussac is presented as a historical bellwether of shifting trends in local farm and environmental management in this isolated archipelago. Shifts in land ownership, grazing management methods and conservation efforts are bringing momentum to a period of renewal across the Falklands. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 548-561 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | People and Nature |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank the participants interviewed for this research, who donated their time and invaluable knowledge. The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for valued suggestions provided during the review process, to Frin Ross at Falklands Conservation, for providing insightful comments to an earlier draft of this paper, and to Marie-Paul and Hugues Delignières for insights and practical field support. This research was carried out with funding to K.S. from the OECD Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, the Supplemental Sabbatical Fund of Dalhousie University, and an Insight Grant (#435-2015-0702) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Intellectual and in-kind support was provided by the Falkland Islands Department of Agriculture, and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI), in Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Funding Information:
The authors thank the participants interviewed for this research, who donated their time and invaluable knowledge. The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for valued suggestions provided during the review process, to Frin Ross at Falklands Conservation, for providing insightful comments to an earlier draft of this paper, and to Marie‐Paul and Hugues Delignières for insights and practical field support. This research was carried out with funding to K.S. from the OECD Co‐operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, the Supplemental Sabbatical Fund of Dalhousie University, and an Insight Grant (#435‐2015‐0702) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Intellectual and in‐kind support was provided by the Falkland Islands Department of Agriculture, and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI), in Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics