{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,7]],"date-time":"2026-04-07T06:45:07Z","timestamp":1775544307237,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]],"date-time":"2020-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583020800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005880","name":"Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Graduate Research Grant"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Graduate Research Grant"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005880","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"GLOBES Program on Ecology and Society at the University of Notre Dame","award":["Graduate Research Grant"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Graduate Research Grant"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005961","name":"Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Graduate Research Grant"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Graduate Research Grant"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005961","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Land"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The impacts of human activities on ecosystems are significantly increasing the rate of environmental change in the earth system, reshaping the global landscape. The rapid rate of environmental change is disrupting the ability of millions of people around the globe to live their everyday lives and maintain their human niche. Evidence suggests that we have entered (or created) a new epoch, the Anthropocene, which is defined as the period in which humans and human activities are the primary drivers of planetary change. The Anthropocene denotes a global shift, but it is the collective of local processes. This is our frame for investigating local accounts of human-caused disruptive environmental change in the Pampana River in Tonkolili District, Northern Province, Sierra Leone. Since the end of the Sierra Leonean civil war in 2002, the country has experienced a rapid increase in extractive industries, namely mining. We explored the effects of this development by working with communities along the Pampana River in Tonkolili, with a specific focus given to engaging local fishermen through ethnographic interviews (N = 21 fishermen and 33 non-fishermen), focus group discussions (N = 21 fishermen), and participant observation. We deployed theoretical and methodological frameworks from human niche construction theory, complex adaptive systems, and ethnography to track disruptive environmental change in and on the Pampana from upstream activities and the concomitant shifts in the local human niche. We highlight the value of integrating ethnographic methods with human evolutionary theory, produce important insights about local human coping processes with disruptive environmental change, and help to further account for and understand the ongoing global process of human modification of the earth system in the Anthropocene.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/land9030072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,2]],"date-time":"2020-03-02T06:34:23Z","timestamp":1583130863000},"page":"72","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["A Clear Past and a Murky Future: Life in the Anthropocene on the Pampana River, Sierra Leone"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3470-341X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Marcantonio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Anthropology Department, University of Notre Dame, 276 Corbett Family, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0955-8214","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agustin","family":"Fuentes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Anthropology Department, the University of Notre Dame, 296 Corbett Family, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Pachauri, R.K., Allen, M.R., Barros, V.R., Broome, J., Cramer, W., Christ, R., Church, J.A., Clarke, L., Dahe, Q., and Dasgupta, P. (2014). Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"81","article-title":"The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The great acceleration","volume":"2","author":"Steffen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Anthr. Rev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8252","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1810141115","article-title":"Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene","volume":"115","author":"Steffen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"IPCC (2018). Summary for Policy Makers. Global Warming of 1.5\u00b0C. An IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5 \u00b0C above Pre-Industrial Levels and Related Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Pathways, World Meteorological Organization."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geoforum.2013.06.013","article-title":"Biopolitics and climate security in the Anthropocene","volume":"49","author":"Dalby","year":"2013","journal-title":"Geoforum"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1007\/s11625-017-0513-6","article-title":"Evolving the Anthropocene: Linking multi-level selection with long-term social\u2013ecological change","volume":"13","author":"Ellis","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sustain. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"581","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)32464-9","article-title":"The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: From 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health","volume":"391","author":"Watts","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1080\/13563460903290912","article-title":"Climate Change, Human Well-Being and Insecurity","volume":"15","author":"Adger","year":"2010","journal-title":"New Political Econ."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1191\/1464993403ps060oa","article-title":"Adaptation to climate change in the developing world","volume":"3","author":"Adger","year":"2003","journal-title":"Prog. Dev. Stud."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1142\/S1363919601000312","article-title":"Boundaries, hierarchies and networks in complex systems","volume":"05","author":"Cilliers","year":"2001","journal-title":"Int. J. Innov. Manag."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276405058052","article-title":"Complexity, Deconstruction and Relativism","volume":"22","author":"Cilliers","year":"2005","journal-title":"Theory Cult. Soc."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2006.04.002","article-title":"Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social\u2013ecological systems analyses","volume":"16","author":"Folke","year":"2006","journal-title":"Glob. Environ. Chang."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093440","article-title":"Complex Adaptive Systems","volume":"32","author":"Lansing","year":"2003","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Anthropol."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Chelsea Green Publishing."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"151","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-anthro-092611-145754","article-title":"Evolution and Environmental Change in Early Human Prehistory","volume":"41","author":"Potts","year":"2012","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Anthropol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S299","DOI":"10.1086\/667704","article-title":"Environmental and Behavioral Evidence Pertaining to the Evolution of Early Homo","volume":"53","author":"Potts","year":"2012","journal-title":"Curr. Anthropol."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Cilliers, P. (1998). Complexity and Postmodernism: Understanding Complex Systems, Psychology Press."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Moran, E.F. (1990). The Ecosystem Approach in Anthropology: From Concept to Practice, University of Michigan Press.","DOI":"10.3998\/mpub.6885"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"63","article-title":"Why Is Human Niche Construction Transforming Planet Earth?","volume":"5","author":"Ellis","year":"2016","journal-title":"RCC Perspect."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.1038\/nature06937","article-title":"Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change","volume":"453","author":"Rosenzweig","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"739","DOI":"10.1007\/s13280-011-0185-x","article-title":"The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship","volume":"40","author":"Steffen","year":"2011","journal-title":"AMBIO"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1890\/14-2274.1","article-title":"Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere","volume":"85","author":"Ellis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Ecol. Monogr."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fuentes, A., and Baynes-Rock, M. (2017). Anthropogenic Landscapes, Human Action and the Process of Co-Construction with other Species: Making Anthromes in the Anthropocene. Land, 6.","DOI":"10.3390\/land6010015"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Latour, B. (2017). Anthropology at the Time of the Anthropocene: A Personal View of What Is to Be Studied. The Anthropology of Sustainability, Palgrave Macmillan.","DOI":"10.1057\/978-1-137-56636-2_2"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"614","DOI":"10.1579\/0044-7447(2007)36[614:TAAHNO]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature","volume":"36","author":"Steffen","year":"2007","journal-title":"AMBIO A J. Hum. Environ."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1259855","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1259855","article-title":"Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet","volume":"347","author":"Steffen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.3354\/cr007085","article-title":"Climate downscaling: Techniques and application","volume":"7","author":"Hewitson","year":"1996","journal-title":"Clim. Res."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carraro, C., and Metcalf, G.E. (2001). The Environmental Regime in Developing Countries. Behavioral and Distributional Effects of Environmental Policy, University of Chicago Press.","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226094809.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ruta, G., Blohmke, J., Edens, B., Ram, J., Sarhang, S., and Viju, I. (2010). Monitoring Environmental Sustainability, World Bank.","DOI":"10.1596\/27445"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"785","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2010.0306","article-title":"Human niche construction in interdisciplinary focus","volume":"366","author":"Kendal","year":"2011","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eist.2013.08.003","article-title":"Niche construction, innovation and complexity","volume":"11","author":"Laland","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. Innov. Soc. Transit."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1086\/669266","article-title":"Niche Construction Theory: A Practical Guide for Ecologists","volume":"88","author":"Erwin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Q. Rev. Biol."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"785","article-title":"Ecological Inheritance and Cultural Inheritance: What Are They and How Do They Differ?","volume":"6","author":"Laland","year":"2011","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S13","DOI":"10.1086\/685684","article-title":"The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, Ethnography, and the Human Niche: Toward an Integrated Anthropology","volume":"57","author":"Fuentes","year":"2016","journal-title":"Curr. Anthropol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1163\/19426720-02102004","article-title":"Governing Natural Resources for Peace: Lessons from Liberia and Sierra Leone","volume":"21","author":"Beevers","year":"2015","journal-title":"Glob. Gov."},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"70","article-title":"The agricultural impasse: Creating \u201cnormal\u201d post-war development in Northern Sierra Leone","volume":"16","author":"Bolten","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Political Ecol."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Richards, P., Bah, K., and Vincent, J. (2004). Social Capital and Survival: Prospects for Community Driven Development in Post-Confict Sierra Leone, Social Development Department, World Bank. Available online: http:\/\/library.wur.nl\/WebQuery\/wurpubs\/fulltext\/34897."},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"548","article-title":"Ebola Viral Disease Outbreak\u2014West Africa, 2014","volume":"63","author":"Dixon","year":"2014","journal-title":"Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jrurstud.2007.01.003","article-title":"\u2018Farming miners\u2019 or \u2018mining farmers\u2019?: Diamond mining and rural development in post-conflict Sierra Leone","volume":"23","author":"Maconachie","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Rural Stud."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"705","DOI":"10.1080\/02589001.2012.724872","article-title":"Diamond mining, urbanisation and social transformation in Sierra Leone","volume":"30","author":"Maconachie","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Contemp. Afr. Stud."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Richards, P. (1996). Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth & Resources in Sierra Leone, International African Institute."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"HRW (2014). Whose Development? Human Rights Abuses in Sierra Leone\u2019s Mining Boom, Human Rights Watch."},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"704","article-title":"Corporate social responsibility and power relations: Impediments to community development in post-war Sierra Leone diamond and rutile mining areas","volume":"2","author":"Wilson","year":"2015","journal-title":"Extr. Ind. Soc."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Sierra Leone Environmental Protection Agency (2008). Environmental Protection Agency Act of 2008, Government of Sierra Leone."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Chimange, A. (2018). Landless: Impacts of Mining on the Environment and Local Population, University of Makeni."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"152","DOI":"10.1016\/j.resourpol.2014.05.005","article-title":"Environmental governance in Sierra Leone\u2019s mining sector: A critical analysis","volume":"41","author":"Mason","year":"2014","journal-title":"Resour. Policy"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.1007\/s10745-012-9528-x","article-title":"Maintaining or abandoning African rice: Lessons for understanding processes of seed innovation","volume":"40","author":"Teeken","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hum. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"AMCOW (2011). Water Supply and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, African Ministers Council on Water."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"SL MTA (2007). National Action Programme of Action, Government of Sierra Leone: Ministry of Transport and Aviation."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"Edenhofer, O., Pichs-Madruga, R., Sokona, Y., Farahani, E., Kadner, S., Seyboth, K., Adler, A., Baum, I., Brunner, S., and Eickemeier, P. (2014). Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"IAid (2015). Sierra Leone Climate Action Report, Irish Aid."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"UNDP (2016). Human Development for Everyone, United Nations Development Programme."},{"key":"ref_53","unstructured":"Chen, C., Noble, I., Hellmann, J., Coffee, J., Murillo, M., and Chawla, N. (2016). University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index Country Index Technical Report, ND-GAIN."},{"key":"ref_54","unstructured":"Pasqualino, M.M., Thilsted, S.H., Phillips, M.J., and Koroma, A.S. (2016). Food and Nutrition Security in Sierra Leone with a Focus on Fish in Tonkolili District, WorldFish. World Fish Program Report."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10242","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.96.18.10242","article-title":"Evolutionary consequences of niche construction and their implications for ecology","volume":"96","author":"Laland","year":"1999","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20151019","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2015.1019","article-title":"The extended evolutionary synthesis: Its structure, assumptions and predictions","volume":"282","author":"Laland","year":"2015","journal-title":"Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"296","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.12030","article-title":"Developmental Niche Construction","volume":"16","author":"Flynn","year":"2013","journal-title":"Dev. Sci."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1080\/21693293.2016.1153773","article-title":"From peacebuilding to sustaining peace: Implications of complexity for resilience and sustainability","volume":"4","year":"2016","journal-title":"Resilience"},{"key":"ref_59","unstructured":"(2019). Google Earth: Sierra Leone Satellite Imagery, Google."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1080\/10641260091129198","article-title":"Effects of Sedimentation and Turbidity on Lotic Food Webs: A Concise Review for Natural Resource Managers","volume":"8","author":"Henley","year":"2000","journal-title":"Rev. Fish. Sci."},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00045937","article-title":"The effects of suspensoids on fish","volume":"125","author":"Bruton","year":"1985","journal-title":"Hydrobiologia"},{"key":"ref_62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bolten, C. (2012). I Did It to Save My Life: Love and Survival in Sierra Leone, University of California Press.","DOI":"10.1525\/california\/9780520273788.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"773","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2013.12.078","article-title":"Strangers and Sierra Leone mining: Cultural heritage and sustainable development challenges","volume":"84","author":"Akiwumi","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-007-9930-9","article-title":"Mining and environmental change in Sierra Leone, West Africa: A remote sensing and hydrogeomorphological study","volume":"142","author":"Akiwumi","year":"2008","journal-title":"Environ. Monit. Assess."},{"key":"ref_65","unstructured":"Awoko (2018, February 07). Sierra Leone News: Save Lake Sonfon Project Meets the Communities. Awoko Newspaper 2016. Available online: https:\/\/awoko.org\/2016\/10\/28\/sierra-leone-newssave-lake-sonfon-project-meets-the-communities\/."},{"key":"ref_66","unstructured":"World Bank (2016). Country Historical Climate\u2014Sierra Leone, The World Bank."},{"key":"ref_67","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hauer, F.R., and Lamberti, G. (2017). Methods in Stream Ecology: Volume 1: Ecosystem Structure, Academic Press.","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-813047-6.02001-5"},{"key":"ref_68","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1016\/j.njas.2010.11.002","article-title":"Adaptation to climate change and climate variability: The importance of understanding agriculture as performance","volume":"57","author":"Crane","year":"2011","journal-title":"NJAS Wagening. J. Life Sci."}],"container-title":["Land"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-445X\/9\/3\/72\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:03:08Z","timestamp":1760173388000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-445X\/9\/3\/72"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]]},"references-count":68,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3]]}},"alternative-id":["land9030072"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/land9030072","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-445X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-445X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,1]]}}}