The Importance of Surprising Results and Best Practices in Historical Ecology

The growing field of historical ecology describes population abundances, biodiversity, spatial structure, and ecological functioning in the past, which are important to understanding ecological dynamics and recovery potential. However, because historical ecological analyses often incorporate nontraditional data sources (i.e., archival materials and oral histories) and may reveal unexpected changes to species and populations, the results are subject to critiques of objectivity and quality control, which may hamper their broad application. Here, we argue that surprising results revealed by historical sources are essential for ecology and conservation, providing new hypotheses that can be tested with additional data and new understandings of ecological dynamics that have immediate conservation implications. We outline four best practices in conducting conservation-relevant historical ecology research using nontraditional sources, and we argue that if these practices are considered in designing historical ecological analyses, the results can provide reliable insight into past change, current ecosystem structure, and future recovery targets.