Bridging ethnobotany, autecology and restoration: The study of wapato (Sagittaria latifolia Willd.; Alismataceae) in interior British Columbia

The goal of this research is to explore the cultural and ecological restoration of an aquatic perennial, wapato (Sagittaria latifolia Willd.: Alismataceae) in the Salmon River Delta, Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Wapato has been extirpated from this area, a traditional Secwepemc (Shuswap) gathering site, within the past 80 years. This research explores some of the repercussions of this loss as well as methods for this plant's restoration.

I conducted a series of interviews that provided information on landscape and ecological characteristics of this area from the 1920s when Secwepemc elder Mary Thomas was a child. The Salmon River Delta has experienced significant changes over the past century that have resulted in a decline of some native plant species and an increase in exotic ones, as evidenced by interviews and literature research.

I also experimentally investigated the effects of animal herbivory and water depth on Sagittaria latifolia growth in the Salmon River Delta.

Research objectives facilitated the development of a model of cultural refugia, as a parallel concept to that of ecological refugia. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)