Inuit cultural practices increase local-scale biodiversity and create novel vegetation communities in Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada)

Interpreting present-day biodiversity patterns requires an understanding of the cumulative historic and contemporary effects of cultural practices on ecosystems. Research in ecology is increasingly acknowledging the wide-ranging and enduring effects of cultural practices in shaping landscapes, but long-term transformative effects of Indigenous peoples on landscape are less recognised in the Circumpolar North. The objectives of this research are …