Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evolving adaptive capacity of seaweed harvesters in Brittany

  • Biodiversity Change and Human Adaptation
  • Published:
Ambio Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The coast of Brittany hosts one of the largest seaweed forests in Europe, collected for several centuries, but today subject to climatic change. By an ethnoecological survey, this paper investigates the seaweed collectors’ perception of the changes and hazards that affect their resources. We explored how hazards change their practices and adaptive capacity through strategy and ecological knowledge. Their knowledge evolved rapidly due to their interaction with the natural environment and exchange with scientists, generating new types of knowledge and management practices better adapted to expected future biodiversity change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The research reported here was funded by the Fondation de France.

  2. “On trouve que la mer monte plus haut qu’avant et les saisons ne sont plus comme avant. Depuis quelques années, j’ai remarqué qu’on n’a plus les mêmes tempêtes ici, les vents commençaient sud et ça allait jusqu’à nord-ouest et maintenant les vents, ils restent presque trois semaines norois, chose qu’avant il n’y avait pas. Je ne sais pas, il y a sûrement quelque chose. Ça influence les algues et la pêche aussi. La température de l’eau, les gens ils disent que ça se réchauffe, je ne sais pas, mais il y a des choses qui se passent. L’année dernière, des bonites ont été pêchées. C’est le monde à l’envers.”

  3. “Dans le sud Bretagne, l’eau se réchauffe. Un bon indicateur, c’est les huîtres sauvages. Jusqu’à la canicule de 2003, il n’y en avait quasiment pas à part en rade de Brest, parce que les rades c’est toujours plus chaud. Même à Quiberon il n’y avait pas d’huîtres sauvages. Maintenant, il y a en a partout. L’eau se réchauffe, car une huître pond à 19 °C donc il y a un réchauffement. Il y a eu aussi des changements d’orientation des vents. Dans les années 2000 à 2010 on a eu beaucoup de vents de sud-est alors que c’est plutôt ouest le schéma classique des dépressions et ça a vraisemblablement plus exposé les algues aux vents et à la houle et donc entrainé leur diminution.”

References

  • Acheson, J.M. 1981. Anthropology of fishing. Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 275–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W.N., S. Dessai, M. Goulden, M. Hulme, I. Lorenzoni, D.R. Nelson, L. Otto Naess, J. Wolf, and A. Wreford. 2009. Are there social limits to adaptation to climate change? Climatic Change 93: 335–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, D., F. Berkes, A. Dale, E. Kocho-Schellenberg, and E. Patton. 2011. Co-management and the co-production of knowledge: Learning to adapt in Canada’s Arctic. Global Environmental Change 21: 995–1004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F. 2009. Indigenous ways of knowing and the study of environmental change. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 39: 151–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F., and N.J. Turner. 2006. Knowledge, learning and the evolution of conservation practice for social-ecological system resilience. Human Ecology 34: 479–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaise, E., S. Suanez, P. Stéphan, B. Fichaut, L. David, V. Cuq, R. Autret, et al. 2015. Assessment of the winter storms 2013-2014 on the dynamics of retreat of the coastline in Brittany (in French, English summary). Géomorphologie: Relief. Processus Environnement 21: 1–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson, L., and F. Berkes. 2005. Co-management: Concepts and methodological implications. Journal of Environmental Management 75: 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dove, M.R. 2002. History and hybrid indigenous knowledge among Asian smallholder rubber farmers (in French, English summary). Revue Internationale Des Sciences Sociales 173: 389–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumez, R. 2010. Le Feu, savoirs et pratiques en Cévennes. Versailles: Quae.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, P.D. 2005. Ethnoclassification, ethnoecology and the imagination. Le Journal de la Société Des Océanistes 120–121: 12–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallon, R.K., M. Robuchon, B. Leroy, L. Le Gall, M. Valero, and E. Feunteun. 2014. Twenty years of observed and predicted changes in subtidal red seaweed assemblages along a biogeographical transition zone: Inferring potential causes from environmental data. Journal of Biogeography 41: 2293–2306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garineaud, C. 2015. Manual or mechanized practices: the part of the hand in sensory perceptions and ecological knowledge. Example of seaweed harvesters in Brittany (in French, English summary). Ethnographie.org, 31. http://www.ethnographiques.org/2015/Garineaud. [free accessed].

  • Garineaud, C., A. Levain, E. Feunteun, and R. Dumez. 2016. The stone, field and forest: Spatial representations and appropriations of seaweed harvesters in Brittany (in French, English summary). In Habiter Le Littoral, Enjeux Contemporains, ed. S. Robert and H. Melin, 125–139. Aix-en-Provence: Presses Universitaires Aix-en-Provence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelcich, S., E.J. Gareth, J.K. Michel, and J.C. Castilla. 2006. Co-Management policy can reduce resilience in traditionally managed marine ecosystems. Ecosystems 9: 951–966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GIP-Bretagne Environment. 2010. Invasive marine species in Brittany. Rennes, France: Report of the observatory of biodiversity and natural heritage in Brittany. (in French).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gohin, F., P. Bryère, and J.W. Griffiths. 2015. The exceptional surface turbidity of the North-West European Shelf Seas during the stormy 2013–2014 Winter: Consequences for the Initiation of the Phytoplankton Blooms? Journal of Marine Systems 148: 70–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Baggethun, E., V. Reyes-Garcia, P. Olsson, and C. Montes. 2012. Traditional ecological knowledge and community resilience to environmental extremes: A case study in Donana,SW Spain. Global Environmental Change 22: 640–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frangoudes, K., and C. Garineaud. 2015. Governability of kelp forest small-scale harvesting in Iroise sea, France. In Interactive governance for small-scale fisheries, ed. S. Jentoft and R. Chuenpagdee, 101–115. Amsterdam: MARE Publication Series.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Friedberg, C. 2005. Ethnoscience and others ethno « machins » today (in French). Journal de La Société Des Océanistes 120–121: 27–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. 2014. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: Global and sectoral aspects. Contribution of working group ii to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Report 2014, Geneva Switzerland.

  • Johannes, R.E. 1981. Working with fisherman to improve tropical coastal fisheries and resource management. Bulletin of Marine Science 31: 673–680.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jönsson, A.M., O. Anderbrant, J. Holmér, J. Johansson, G. Schurgers, G.P. Svensson, and H.G. Smith. 2015. Enhanced science–stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments. Ambio 44: 249–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, S.A., A.P. Kerswell, and S.R. Connolly. 2014. Global diversity of marine macroalgae: environmental conditions explain less variation in the tropics. Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 517–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc, J.C. 2013. Biodiversity, structure and trophic functioning of communities associated with Laminaria hyperborea, under natural and exploited conditions, in Brittany. PHD Thesis. France: University Pierre and Marie Curie.

  • Madin, E., N.C. Ban, Z.A. Doubleday, T.H. Holmes, G.T. Pecl, and F. Smith. 2012. Socio-economic and management implications of range-shifting species in marine systems. Global Environmental Change 22: 137–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marbà, N., D. Krause-Jensen, B. Olesen, P.B. Christensen, A. Merzouk, J. Rodrigues, S. Wegeberg, and R.T. Wilce. 2017. Climate change stimulates the growth of the intertidal macroalgae Ascophyllum nodosum near the northern distribution limit. Ambio 46: 119–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Météo-france. 2014. Météo-France: Climatic balance of winter 2013-2014. Paris, France (in French): Rapport.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being: Wetland and water, Report. Washington DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nabhan, G.P., F. Wyndham, and D. Lepofsky. 2011. Ethnobiology for a diverse world, ethnobiology emerging from a time of crisis. Journal of Ethnobiology 31: 172–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakashima, D., and M. Roué. 2002. Indigenous knowledge, peoples and sustainable practice. Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change 5: 314–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pecl, G.T., M.B. Araujo, J. Bell, J. Blanchard, T.C. Bonebrake, I. Chen, T.D. Clark, R.K. Colwell, et al. 2017. Biodiversity redistribution under climate change: Impacts on ecosystems and human well-being. Science 355: 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raybaud, V., G. Beaugrand, E. Goberville, G. Delebecq, C. Destombe, M. Valero, D. Davoult, P. Morin, and F. Gevaert. 2013. Decline in kelp in west Europe and climate. PLoS ONE 8: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rist, S., and F. Dahdouh-Guebas. 2006. Ethnosciences—A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future. Environment, Development and Sustainability 8: 467–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossi, N., C. Daniel, and T. Perrot. 2011. Monitoring the coverage of intertidal macroalgae hard substrates in the REBENT project under 2010. Brest, France (in French): Report REBENT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steneck, R., M.H. Graham, B.J. Bourque, D. Corbett, J.M. Erlandson, J.A. Estes, and M.J. Tegner. 2002. Kelp forest ecosystems: Biodiversity, stability, resilience and future. Environmental Conservation 29: 439–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toledo, V.M. 1992. What is Ethnoecology? origins, scope and implications of a rising discipline. Etnoecologica 1: 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valero, M., C. Engel, P. Arzel, A. Creach, D.E. Davoult, C. Destombe, & F. Gevaert. 2006. Dynamics of Laminaria Digitata fields, algal resource in Brittany: biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic impacts (in French) In Biodiversité et Changement Global. Réponses Adaptatives Au Changement Global: Résultats et Prospective.

  • Valero, M., C. Destombe, S. Mauger, C. Ribout, C. Engel, C. Daguin-Thiebaut, and F. Tellier. 2011. Using genetic tools for sustainable management of kelps: A literature review and the example of Laminaria Digitata. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 52: 467–483.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7206 Éco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, CNRS — Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Musée de l’homme 17, Place du Trocadéro, 75016, Paris, France

    Clément Garineaud

Authors
  1. Clément Garineaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clément Garineaud.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Garineaud, C. Evolving adaptive capacity of seaweed harvesters in Brittany. Ambio 48, 1543–1552 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1119-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1119-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation