Genomic diversity of rat root (Acorus calamus) - Part 2

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Indigenous knowledge of plant diversity is based on generations of accumulated experience, and in some cases,indigenous people recognize a greater level of variation within certain plant groups than is discerned byscience. However, indigenous plant knowledge is rarely considered when managing and conservingbiodiversity. In Canada, development projects undergoing federal review are required to consider traditionalknowledge, but the regulations on how to do so are overly broad, and there are few stipulations on how toconsider traditional knowledge in reclamation planning. As a result, First Nations and Métis people struggle tohave their knowledge represented in land use planning. Integral Ecology Group (IEG) is a consulting companythat works with First Nation and Métis communities in northern Alberta to examine impacts of development intheir traditional territories. The aim of this research is to partner with IEG to explore variation of rat root(Acorus calamus) in the context of traditional and scientific knowledge. Rat root is a traditional medicine andkeystone species of many First Nations and Métis communities in Canada, and it is recognized by the scientificcommunity as a single species. However, there are many First Nation and Métis members who recognize twotypes of rat root, suggesting that there may be variation within the species that is not captured by science. Thisstudy is using DNA barcoding to determine if rat root comprises two distinct species. Currently, furtherresearch is required to sample and analyze additional populations to increase our statistical confidence to betterunderstand intraspecific variation. We also want to expand the genomic research to include Genome Scans andNuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) for all the samples collected. This will allow us to bridge genomics withmetabolomics. The research could lead to the identification of a new species, which would assist the efforts ofIEG and First Nation and Métis communities in demonstrating the need to include traditional knowledge inland use and reclamation planning. Furthermore, the study is globally relevant in that it represents a novelapproach at bridging traditional and scientific knowledge to expand our understanding of biodiversity.