Showing papers in "Ethnobotany Research and Applications in 2004"

A Review of Recent Molecular Genetics Evidence for Sugarcane Evolution and Domestication

Abstract: In 1987, J. Daniels and B. T. Roach published an exhaustive multidisciplinary review of evidence permitting the domestication and the early evolution of sugarcane to be traced. We try here to synthesize the new data that have been produced since, and their contribution to the understanding of the global picture. It is now highly probable that sugarcane evolved from a specific lineage restricted to current genus Saccharum and independent from lineages that conducted to genera Miscanthus and Erianthus. The scenario established by E. W. Brandes in 1958 is very likely the right one: Noble cultivars (ie. Saccharum officinarum) arose from S. robustum in New Guinea. Humans then spread these cultigens over large distances. In mainland Asia, natural hybridization with S. spontaneum occurred, and gave rise to the North Indian (S. barberi) and Chinese (S. sinense) cultivars. Relationships between S. spontaneum and S. robustum in situations of sympatry are still not well understood.

Genetic Diversity in Taro, and the Preservation of Culinary Knowledge

Abstract: The origins, domestication and dispersal of taro are outlined, as far as they are known, and recent surveys of genetic variation are reviewed. These surveys have established that taro, an ancient root crop in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, is genetically very diverse. Across the full geographical range of taro, very little is known about what forms of taro are grown for what economic and culinary purposes. Ethnographic research on taro as a food, and the preservation of culinary knowledge associated with taro, are needed for the preservation of genetic diversity in this crop. Much will depend on how the crop is developed and promoted commercially, and on active interest and support for the crop among local growers, cooks, distributors and consumers. 本論文は、現在明らかになっている限りのサトイモの起 源、栽培、拡散について概説し、遺伝的多様性に関する 最新の調査結果を検討している。これら最新の調査によ り、アジア、アフリカ、太平洋諸島で古くから栽培され てきた根菜作物であるサトイモが遺伝子的に非常に多様 であることが立証されてきた。サトイモが分布する全地 理的範囲においても、どんな品種のサトイモがいかなる 経済的目的、料理目的で栽培されているのかほとんど知 られていない。遺伝的多様性を持続させるためには、食 物としてのサトイモについての民族学的調査、サトイモ 関連料理の知識の保存は不可欠であるが、サトイモをい かに開発し商品として促進するか、また地元栽培者、料 理関係者、卸業者、消費者が積極的に関心を持ち支援す ることに依拠するところが非常に大きいであろう。

Ethnobotanical Research in Homegardens of Small Farmers In the Alpine Region of Osttirol (Austria): An example for bridges built and building bridges

Abstract: The importance of farmers’ activities in the management of natural resources in the diverse and risk prone area of the Alps is discussed frequently in public. But, analysis of the development of the alpine farming system with focus on traditional ecological knowledge of the rural population has not been realized yet. This paper presents traditional knowledge on the management of alpine homegardens, and shows its development in the context of the mosaic of farmers’ activities.

Floating, Boating and Introgression: Molecular techniques and the ancestry of coconut palm populations on Pacific Islands

Abstract: It has previously been suggested that the coconut popu- lations of Pacific islands arose by introgression between wild types that disseminated by floating from an ancestral center of origin and domestic types that were brought in small boats from a center of domestication. This simplistic model is complicated by the subsequent movement of the introgressed germ plasm in large boats, particularly fol- lowing the industrialization of coconut growing for copra in the late 19th century. Although copra is no longer an attractive article of trade, the coconut palm continues to be an attractive eco-amenity for the tourist industry. The occurrence of epidemic lethal diseases in previously im- portant copra producing areas, and the increasing oppor- tunity for pathogens and vectors to be transmitted by in- nocent tourists and uninformed landscape developers is a potential threat to coconuts and other palm species. It has also been suggested that disease resistance arose during domestication. If that is so, then the ability to use molecu- lar techniques to characterize coconut varieties will help accelerate selection, which presently can only be based on survival in long-term field exposure trials. Flotacion, Navegacion e Introgresion: las Tecnicas Mo- leculares y el Antepasados del Cocotero en las Islas del Pacifico. Se ha sugerido previamente que las poblacio- nes de cocotero en las islas del Pacifico surgieron por introgresion entre tipos silvestres que se diseminaron por flotacion desde un centro de origen ancestral, y tipos do- mesticados que se trajeron en barcos pequenos desde un centro de domesticacion. Este modelo simplista se complica por la diseminacion en embarcaciones grandes del germoplasma derivado de tal introgresion, particular- mente a raiz de la industrializacion de la copra a finales del siglo XIX. Aunque la copra ya ha perdido su atractivo comercial, la palma del coco se ha mantenido como un elemento importante del entorno ecologico y el paisaje de zonas turisticas. La aparicion de enfermedades letales epidemicas en zonas cultivadas con cocotero, y la opor- tunidad creciente para que los patogenos y vectores invo- lucrados sean dispersados accidentalmente por turistas y paisajistas, representan una amenaza potencial para esta y otras especies de palmas. Se ha sugerido tambien que la resistencia a enfermedades en el cocotero surgio durante su domesticacion. Si este es el caso, entonces la aplicacion de tecnicas de genetica molecular en la carac- terizacion de variedades de cocotero ayudar a acelerar los procesos de seleccion convencionales en este culti- vo, los cuales actualmente dependen de la realizacion de pruebas de exposicion a largo plazo en el campo.

Ethnobotanical and Floristic Research in Belize: Accomplishments, Challenges and Lessons Learned

Abstract: Ethnobotanical and floristic research in Belize was con- ducted through the Belize Ethnobotany Project which was launched in 1988 as a multi-disciplinary effort of a number of individuals and institutions in Belize and internationally. The objectives of the project were the preservation of cul- tural and traditional knowledge, natural products research (through the National Cancer Institute), technology trans- fer, institutional strengthening and student training. This paper discusses the implementation of the project com- ponents, highlighting its accomplishments, challenges and lessons learned. A checklist of the flora has been pro- duced, and includes 3,408 native and cultivated species found in Belize. The multiple use curve is introduced as a way of determining the most appropriate sample size for ethnobotanical interviews/collections. Valuation studies of medicinal plants found in two areas of local forest are de- scribed, and compared with values of traditional uses for farming, using a net present value analysis. Studies on the ecology, propagation and sustainable levels of harvest of medicinal plants were also initiated in Belize. Our expe- rience with the production of a traditional healer’s manual is detailed, and we describe details on the benefit-sharing approach utilized to recognize intellectual property that it contains. Various local efforts at developing forest-based traditional medicine products are described, as is the nat- ural products research and teaching program based on Belizean plants. The authors will relate an example of how negative events can be transformed to have positive re- sults. Specifically, in the case of conflict over the man- agement of the region’s first ethnobiomedical reserve, two competing groups claimed responsibility for its manage- ment. However, the conflict was eventually resolved and resulted in two such reserves being established, together representing over 50,000 acres of land set aside for con- servation and use by traditional healers. The perspective of local participants and communities will also be present- ed, including a short video presentation.

The Neglected Key to Successful Biodiversity Conservation and Appropriate Development: Local Traditional Knowledge

Abstract: The need to conserve the worlds’ biodiversity is no longer a controversial issue. However, the question of how to conserve biodiversity is a pressing issue. The evidence of this is seen in the continued loss of biodiversity, especially in the rich biodiversity countries of the world, despite the efforts by many governments and non-governmental or- ganizations and individuals. Similarly, the need for coun- tries to develop is not an issue but which types of develop- ment and how development is implemented are important issues. So how do we arrive at successfully conserving biodiversity and achieve appropriate development pro- grams? This paper presents local traditional knowledge as the neglected key to successful biodiversity conservation as well as appropriate development programs. Successful biodiversity conservation and the implementation of ap- propriate development programs, it is suggested, may be ccomplished by consciously targeting and harnessing lo- cal traditional knowledge. The effectiveness is based on the various relationships that exist between people of di- verse cultures and the other elements of biodiversity in their respective areas.

Bananas in New Caledonian Kanak Society: Their socio-cultural value in relation with their origins

Abstract: The introduction of bananas into New Caledonia is directly linked with the arrival of various peoples on the islands of the Pacific. The genetic characterisation of bananas culti- vated in Asia and in the Pacific (Carreel 1993,1994, Lebot et al. 1993) has enabled their relation with wild species to be demonstrated which in turn can be used to put forward strong hypotheses concerning the various migrations of people in the Pacific area and to better understand the so- cio-cultural role that the banana cultivars Maoli and Popou- lou occupy in New Caledonia’s Kanak society some 3500 years after their introduction. At the present time there are still “true” bananas and “ others”. The former which were introduced by the first people to arrive have a sacred an- cestral value as well as a social role, while the latter, in- troduced during the period of colonisation have gradually become revenue generating crops. Abstract in Xâracuu language Ke pe jati nâ re pwi to xu nei a Caledonie, e ge wâ ke fade re deeri me ba towâ mii wâ nei bwa to Pacifique. Wâ ke bware ne re, pwâ re me kwio wâ pwi dobwa e na nâu re to nepwe kete Asie me Pacifique (Carreel 1993,1994, Lebot et al. 1993) fa ba gwere ke na bwa re pwi e nau me pwi bwa e tue cicoo. E du ke te gwere ke fade nâ re deeri to nepwe kete Pacifique, ne du ke te xwae tepe re pwi Maoli me Popoulou towâ muru re ka nguru ke Caledonie, 3500 xwâda neduu ke toa nâre pwi. Nâmwâ e xwi nâ « dopwi »me pwi pwângara. « Dopwi » u pe me nâ re ke deeri bwa ri toa mââ nâ to xu nei a, e baa nâ kwio segu me tepe re to wâ xwâ segu re kaa nguru. Mii pwi de, e toa nâ wi re ka pwângara, e na pwâwâ nau re ri nâ ke xwiri nge pwâ re.

Survey of Medicinal Plants in the Main US Herbaria

Abstract: Plant identification has been waning during the recent ex- pansive study of medicinal plants. This has been partic- ularly true among manufacturers of products being mar- keted for natural heath care sectors. In an attempt to un- derstanding to why basic plant identification is lacking, an inventory of the main US herbaria was completed in 2002. The inventory included plants that are commonly in use for medicinal purposes and those considered as adulter- ants. The results identify the plants found in each herbar- ium collection, access to the collections, and future plans of the herbaria for virtual (computer based) access to the collections. Recommendations are made for usage of vir- tual herbaria and expanded usage of traditional herbaria for identification of plants used in health care.

Is the Quality of Kava ( Piper methysticum Forst. f.) Responsible for Different Geographical Patterns

Abstract: We argue that kava ( Piper methysticum Forst. f.) is a Pacific domesticate that originated in Melanesia. We provide botanical, chemical, genetic and cultural evidence to sug- gest that farmers in the northern part of Vanuatu were the first to select the species as an asexually reproduced root crop. From Vanuatu, cultivars were carried eastward into Polynesia and westward into areas of New Guinea and Micronesia. Using herbarium data, isozyme and AFLP markers, we correlate the information gained from field surveys to HPLC analyses and attempt to demonstrate that che- motypes result from a selection process that is still active. The selection of particular mutants by farmers must have been, and still is, a rational process to preserve new char- acters when they appeared. Growers have selected culti- vars to improve the chemical composition responsible for the physiological effects. Field experiments demonstrate that the chemotype is genetically controlled although the kavalactones content is determined by both genetics and environmental factors. The control and improvement of quality is therefore a cultural approach that aims at the identification of locations suitable for the cultivation of par- ticular kava varieties. The appreciation of quality, appears to reflect the different cultures within Melanesia and be- tween Micronesian, Polynesian and Melanesian consum- ers. Different ways of benefiting from the psychoactive properties of the plant explain the use of particular che- motypes and therefore the selection operated to preserve them. Clearly, the word kava refers to different beverages that produce different physiological effects according to what consumers desire.

Weaving Our Stories Worldwide: An Indigenous Approach to Global Economics and Ecology

Abstract: The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and the British Crown allowed British governance in New Zealand, while affirm- ing Māori authority over their traditional territories (Orange 1995). However, the establishment of a settler dominated parliament undermined Māori authority over customary re- sources (Orange 1995). In addition an aspect of coloniza- tion that has been termed ‘ecological imperialism’ (Cros- by 1996), characterized by the widespread dispersal of animal and plant species across the world, has distorted the environmental and cultural landscape of New Zealand and other countries. Displacement of native species by in- troduced species as well as land management practices that were highly destructive to existing ecosystems (Park 1995) has resulted in a major physical reconstruction of the natural landscapes. Furthermore, the practice of tak- ing natural resources from around the world, and repack- aging and distributing them primarily by functional value or potential economic opportunity, failed to recognise the cultural and spiritual associations between indigenous people and the environment. Long established ecological and human connections have been severed in deference to these demands and this is one of the legacies of our global marketplace.

Crops and Cultures in the Pacific: New Data and New Techniques for the Investigation of Old Questions

Abstract: Fifty years ago Carl Sauer suggested, controversially and on the basis of theory rather than evidence, that South- east Asia was the source area for agriculture throughout the Old World, including the Pacific. Since then, the ar- chaeobotanical record (macroscopic and microscopic) from the Pacific islands has increased, leading to sugges- tions, also still controversial, that Melanesia was a cen- ter of origin of agriculture independent of South-east Asia, based on tree fruits and nuts and vegetatively propagated starchy staples. Such crops generally lack morphologi- cal markers of domestication, so exploitation, cultivation and domestication cannot easily be distinguished in the archaeological record. Molecular studies involving tech- niques such as chromosome painting, DNA fingerprinting and DNA sequencing, can potentially complement the ar- chaeological record by suggesting where species which were spread through the Pacific by man originated and by what routes they attained their present distributions. A combination of archaeobotanical and molecular studies should therefore eventually enable the rival claims of Mel- anesia versus South-east Asia as independent centers of invention of agriculture to be assessed.