Showing papers in "Human Ecology in 2011"
TL;DR: Field surveys were conducted with migrant and autochthon farmers in four districts of Ghana, including some measurements at the farm plot level and satellite images in a fifth district, and an analytical grid shows how factors interact.
Abstract: Most researchers defend cocoa agroforests as a model, which guarantees sustainable cocoa production while protecting biodiversity. However, in most countries, farmers’ strategies favour “full sun” cocoa farms, close to the concept of monoculture. Why this apparent paradox? Field surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2008 with 180 migrant and autochthon farmers in four districts of Ghana, including some measurements at the farm plot level and satellite images in a fifth district. An analytical grid shows how factors interact. Adoption of sun-loving hybrids; farmers’ negative perception of ecological services in relation to hybrids; legislation excluding smallholders from the legal timber market; recent expansion of the timber industry; and the migratory phenomenon. Most smallholders consider complex cocoa agroforests as a thing of the past. They were designed at a time when land and forests were abundant. The future of cocoa and timber may lie in ‘light commercial-oriented agroforests’ or a kind of mosaic landscape.
158 citations
TL;DR: The findings demonstrate that the two communities, although having lived in close proximity to each other during the past three centuries and in a relatively low biodiverse environment, have maintained or developed unique phytotherapeutical trajectories.
Abstract: An ethnobiological study concerning the medical ethnobotany and ethnozoology of two neighbouring communities of Serbians and Albanians living in the Pester plateau (south-western Serbia) was conducted, the latter representing a diasporic community that immigrated to the area approximately three centuries ago. Sixty-two botanical taxa used in 129 plant-based remedies and 204 folk plant uses were recorded. In addition, 31 animal-derived remedies and 27 mineral or non-indigenous products were also documented. Approximately half of the recorded phytotherepeutical uses have been recorded for the first time in the ethnobotany of the Western Balkans and more than one-third of these uses have no correlation with Western evidence-based phytotherapy. Moreover, while both communities use approximately the same number of medicinal plants, two-thirds of the botanical taxa, but only one-third of plant folk medical uses are found in common among the two communities. These findings demonstrate that the two communities, although having lived in close proximity to each other during the past three centuries and in a relatively low biodiverse environment, have maintained or developed unique phytotherapeutical trajectories. The differences between the two folk medical biologies of these communities are reflective of the specific history of the Albanian diaspora, and of the complex processes of its cultural adaptation over the last three centuries.
127 citations
TL;DR: This paper used agent-based modeling to study osotua, a gift giving system used by the Maasai of East Africa, and found that it can dramatically increase herd longevity through a limited pooling of risk.
Abstract: We use agent-based modeling to study osotua, a gift giving system used by the Maasai of East Africa. Osotua’s literal meaning is “umbilical cord,” but it is used metaphorically to refer to a specific type of gift-giving relationship. Osotua relationships are characterized by respect, responsibility and restraint. Osotua partners ask each other for help only if they are in need and provide help only when asked and only if they are able. We hypothesize that under the ecologically volatile conditions in which Maasai pastoralists have traditionally lived, such a system is particularly suited to risk pooling. Here we explore whether osotua increases the viability of herds by comparing herd survivorship and stability under osotua rules to a) no exchange and b) probabilistic rules for requesting and giving livestock. Results from this model suggest that this gift-giving system can dramatically increase herd longevity through a limited pooling of risk.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the transmission of environmental knowledge and land skills among Inuit men in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada was studied among 14 active hunters and elders, and examined with a sample of 47 men.
Abstract: The transmission of environmental knowledge and land skills was studied among Inuit men in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. A list of 83 skills important for safe and successful harvesting was generated with 14 active hunters and elders, and examined with a sample of 47 men. This research found that land skills continue to be transmitted most often from older to younger generations through observation and apprenticeship in the environment. However there is a difference in the rate of skills transmission among generations, with average transmission rates lowest among younger respondents. Some skills were transmitted well among younger respondents including general hunting and camp-related skills, but others such as traveling on the sea ice and traditional navigation skills were not. Loss of certain skills and incomplete transmission of others were related to the absence of skills teachers, loss of native language, and changes in the educational environment.
90 citations
TL;DR: Shifts in land-use strategies changed the opportunities for social and biological interaction among Late Pleistocene hominins in western Eurasia with a cascade of consequences for cultural and biological evolution, including the disappearance of Neanderthals from the fossil and archaeological records.
Abstract: Given the complex and multidimensional nature of human evolution, we need to develop theoretical and methodological frameworks to account for and model the dynamic feedbacks between co-operational biological and cultural evolutionary systems to better understand the processes that produced modern human behavior. Equally important is the generation of explicit theory-based models that can be tested against the empirical paleoanthropological record. We present a case study that examines evidence for culturally-driven behavioral change among Late Pleistocene hominins that altered the social niche occupied by hominins in western Eurasia, with consequences for subsequent biological and cultural evolution. We draw on a large sample of 167 Pleistocene assemblages across western Eurasia and employ mathematical and computational modeling to explore the feedbacks between cultural and biological inheritance. Shifts in land-use strategies changed the opportunities for social and biological interaction among Late Pleistocene hominins in western Eurasia with a cascade of consequences for cultural and biological evolution, including the disappearance of Neanderthals from the fossil and archaeological records, and the acceleration of cultural evolution among ancestors of modern humans.
84 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the intensity of disturbances caused by human activities in Brazil nut stands (castanhais) is positively related with the regeneration of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa H.K., Lecythidaceae) and consequently with a younger population structure of this species.
Abstract: Here we hypothesize that the intensity of disturbances caused by human activities in Brazil nut stands (castanhais) is positively related with the regeneration of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K., Lecythidaceae) and consequently with a younger population structure of this species. In order to test this hypothesis we compared the population structure of Brazil nut trees in two areas of the Brazilian Amazon with different histories of land usage by humans. Archeological and historical data suggest that the region surrounding the Trombetas River was densely occupied in pre-Columbian times and experienced depopulation after European contact with Amerindian populations, especially in the 16th century. The 25 Brazil nut stands sampled in this region were dominated by old B. excelsa trees and had scarce recruitment in the understory. These very mature stands likely owe their origins to the interval between the depopulation of the indigenous peoples in the 16th-17th centuries and the establishment of quilombos at the beginning of the 19th century. The second study area was in the vicinity of the Madeira River (Capana Grande Lake), where the castanhais were more accessible and disturbed. In this site, a younger population structure and abundant regeneration of B. excelsa were observed in the 10 sampled stands. Historical data from this region indicate that indigenous populations were replaced gradually beginning in the 18th century, with no evidence of severe depopulation. We suggest that the different historical and contemporary land use patterns contributed to the current contrasting population structures of the castanhais at the two locations. The data also support the idea that the castanhais, even the ones considered to be pristine and “native” forests, result from anthropogenic influences. We found no evidence to support restrictions on seed harvesting as a means to improve regeneration rates of Brazil nut stands.
70 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the resilience of farm households in relation to climate change in the village of Vals, Switzerland using ethnographic methods, and investigate farming households' resilience to environmental change from two perspectives: 1) an assessment of traditional ecological knowledge in the household and its social networks; and 2) the assets of the various livelihood strategies of the farms.
Abstract: The cultural landscape of the European Alps was formed over centuries through human agricultural activities. Smallholder family farms, made famous in the cultural ecological literature by Robert Netting (1993), are still the predominant socioeconomic unit of agriculture. This study assesses the resilience of farm households in relation to climate change in the village of Vals, Switzerland. Using ethnographic methods, farming households’ resilience to environmental change was investigated from two perspectives: 1) an assessment of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in the household and its social networks; and 2) the assets of the various livelihood strategies of the farms. TEK was found to be of vital significance for management of the local environment, despite its reduced integrity due to contraction of farmland holdings, mechanization of certain tasks, and fragmentation of the agricultural ecosystem into different jurisdictions. Today the strongest and most critical areas of TEK are centered on production of agricultural goods and hazard management. Households’ TEK, in combination with their flexible structure, gives them a high degree of adaptive capacity that nevertheless must be viewed in the context of an environment including not only significant natural constraints and variability, but also local and non-local sociopolitical factors, including state subsidies, which constitute a significant share of farmers’ income, and political directives to maintain biodiversity. TEK must also be responsive to these constraints and the premises of biodiversity conservation and landscape and livelihood maintenance that underlie them.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study from southern Kenya employs a spatially and temporally explicit mixed-methods approach to understand and evaluate the herding strategies of pastoralists around a protected area.
Abstract: A large number of East African pastoralists reside around protected areas (PAs). Over the last few decades pastoralists have been affected by the loss of grazing lands and increasing climatic variability. Many pastoralists who reside around PAs have resorted to grazing inside PAs to counter environmental variability. However, there is little information on how PAs influence the herding strategies of pastoralists. This case study from southern Kenya employs a spatially and temporally explicit mixed-methods approach to understand and evaluate the herding strategies of pastoralists around a PA. The results find that pastoralists access PAs on a regular basis, regardless of seasonality or herd size. Movement into PAs was partly driven by the loss of grazing land to conservancies. PAs affected pastoral herding by presenting differential opportunity costs to disparate groups. However, households with large herd sizes utilized the most flexible strategies to counter environmental variability and uncertainty.
54 citations
TL;DR: The most prevalent reasons for illegal poaching of sea turtles were direct economic benefits, lack of law enforcement and ease of escape from or bribery of authorities, and strong family tradition as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Despite complete legal protection, improvements in infrastructure, and market conditions that provide easier access to other protein sources, illegal poaching of sea turtles for consumption in Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico remains a major threat to their recovery. Few studies have focused on understanding the economic and social drivers behind this activity, which is fundamental to determining best practices for discouraging it. From June 2007 to April 2008 we conducted eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews with sea turtle poachers at five coastal communities in BCS to determine the drivers influencing them. The most prevalent reasons for illegal poaching were direct economic benefits, lack of law enforcement and ease of escape from or bribery of authorities, and strong family tradition. Our results suggest that to reduce illegal poaching it will be necessary to better enforce existing environmental laws, reduce social acceptance of sea turtle hunting throughout the region, educate fishers on the ecological importance of sea turtles, and show fishers direct economic benefits from non-consumptive use of sea turtles, such as ecotourism.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the benefits of the two management patterns using a field investigation and a social survey, and found that the MMP has greater economic benefits compared with the SMP because multi-household cooperation was more likely to reduce production costs and so reduce resource expenditures.
Abstract: Two grassland management patterns, multi-household and single-household, have developed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China since grasslands came under household control. In the multi-household management pattern (MMP), grassland is jointly managed by two or more households without fences between individual household pastures. The single-household management pattern (SMP) refers to a system in which grassland is separately managed by an individual household with fences separating these pastures from those of other households. This paper compares the benefits of the two management patterns using a field investigation and a social survey. We found that the MMP has greater economic benefits compared with the SMP because multi-household cooperation was more likely to reduce production costs and so reduce resource expenditures. Furthermore, the social benefits from MMP collaboration were also important. The results also indicated that the SMP was more likely to cause grassland degradation. In conclusion, the comprehensive benefits created under the MMP were greater as a result of social learning in this coupled human and natural ecosystem. The MMP has important policy implications for conservation and development initiatives in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and other similar areas.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the emic perspective of the subak members on water scarcity caused by a lack of coordination between privatized and previously centralized water resource management based on economic priorities for the tourism sector and urban regions and water use for agriculture.
Abstract: The overexploitation of water resources in the region of South Bali, near one of the island’s tourist centres, is exemplified by a subak in Sanur at the tail end of an irrigation system. Tensions between the social institutions for local water management and powerful, state-backed stakeholders in water distribution from the river Ayung have caused rural–urban water conflicts for the last 10–15 years. The case presented here illustrates how water shortages are ascribed to the dominance of the tourism industry, private companies selling bottled drinking water and regional water delivery services, all of which peasants hold responsible for crop failure in dry years. I focus on the emic perspective of the subak members on water scarcity caused by a lack of coordination between privatized and previously centralized water resource management based on economic priorities for the tourism sector and urban regions and water use for agriculture.
TL;DR: In this article, an archaeological sample from a fifth century BC house at the site of Roquepertuse produced a concentration of carbonized barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains.
Abstract: This article reports on an example of early archaeobotanical evidence for beer-making in Iron Age South-Eastern France. An archaeological sample from a fifth century BC house at the site of Roquepertuse produced a concentration of carbonized barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains. The sample was taken from the floor of the dwelling, close to a hearth and an oven. The barley grains are predominantly sprouted and we argue that the assemblage represents the remains of deliberate malting. Malt was most likely related to beer-brewing. The neighboring oven could have been used to stop the germination process at the desired level by drying or roasting the grain. Beer-making evidence in Roquepertuse is discussed in the context of the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the Iron Age Western Mediterranean using archaeological and historical data.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss rice biodiversity management strategies and the experimental skills and knowledge of Southern Guinea-Bissau farmers against the backdrop of failures by development interventions to introduce modern rice varieties, and conclude that the present cereal crises and environmental concerns should reshape researchers' exclusive priorities on genetic engineering in order to identify economically valued landraces, and promote their dissemination through participatory seed selfsufficiency approaches.
Abstract: In marginal and complex agricultural environments, modern varieties of rice have been scantily adopted by resource-poor farmers. This is due, on the one hand, to farmers’ nonexistent or reduced access to agro-chemicals, irrigation facilities, and seeds, and on the other hand, to the fact that they did not fulfil the farmers’ socioeconomic and cultural priorities and needs. An understanding of farmers’ criteria for variety selection is key to promoting effective plant breeding and achieving broader aims of food security and food sovereignty. Based on extensive ethnographic field research, this paper discusses rice biodiversity management strategies and the experimental skills and knowledge of Southern Guinea-Bissau farmers against the backdrop of failures by development interventions to introduce modern rice varieties. I conclude that the present cereal crises and environmental concerns should reshape researchers’ exclusive priorities on genetic engineering in order to identify economically valued landraces, and promote their dissemination through participatory seed self-sufficiency approaches.
TL;DR: The authors investigates the impact of human out-migration on long-standing commons institutions in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, showing how demographic and cultural change is impacting the two social institutions that underpin the highly autonomous form of governance the region is famed for.
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of human out-migration on long-standing commons institutions in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. Local communities have been increasingly engaged with national and international markets for wage labour, with many losing a significant percentage of their resident populations. This paper shows how demographic and cultural change is impacting the two social institutions—cargos and tequios—that underpin the highly autonomous form of governance the region is famed for. The loss of able-bodied men and women has meant that these customary systems are struggling to remain operational. A number of responses and institutional adaptations have been introduced by community authorities, including the forging of translocal ties that show potential for reducing the vulnerability of affected villages. While migration was temporary or circular from the 1970s to the 1990s, more permanent forms of migration have come to dominate since that time. Such a shift undermines adaptation efforts at the community level. Within this context, the lessons for commons theory are discussed, while a new layer of complexity is added to the body of work examining the consequences of rural depopulation on Mexican village life and landscapes.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the historic and current management and beliefs associated with the sacred forests and recommended a creative combination of policy approaches to conserve groves that respects their spiritual values.
Abstract: India is home to thousands of community-protected forests, called sacred groves. Sacred forests or groves are sites that have cultural or spiritual significance to the people who live around them. These areas may also be key reservoirs of biodiversity. In India, most sacred groves are managed by a community group, not by a government agency. They are often private or community land, not formal protected areas or parks. This poses an interesting challenge in terms of future management and possible policy relating to the sacred groves. On the international level, organizations such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and UNESCO have created guidelines for management of sacred sites. On the national level, India’s past Forest Acts and recent Forest Rights Act have relevance to the sacred groves. Local differences in land tenure also affect the groves. Ethnographic research conducted in 2009 and 2010 in the states of Meghalaya and Karnataka, India, evaluated the historic and current management and beliefs associated with sacred forests. Cultural change and pressure to use natural resources within the groves is leading to reduction of these forest areas. In the future, a creative combination of policy approaches to conserve groves that respects their spiritual values is recommended.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed 82 local leaders of 42 communities to understand whether these communities have succeeded in designing and implementing rules to manage their collective land and its resources, and found that the new property regime has not replaced individuals' informal land holdings which are still managed as de facto individual private property and are traded in the informal land market.
Abstract: This research is an empirical examination of institutional developments in Afro-Colombian communities that have occurred since the change in the property rights regime in 1991. I surveyed 82 local leaders of 42 communities to understand whether these communities have succeeded in designing and implementing rules to manage their collective land and its resources. I found that the new property regime has not replaced individuals’ informal land holdings, which are still managed as de facto individual private property and are traded in the informal land market. However, the process of collective titling has changed local environmental governance by creating local rules and legal tools to guard against encroachment by intruders. Beyond the establishment of formal property rights, the process of community and authority building based on the expectation of collective titling has begun to formalize the management of the territory. Communities with and without collective titles have promoted new rules and procedures to manage their resources. However, monitoring and enforcement of the rules are weaker than expected.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss issues of agrarian change in southcentral Bali and discuss the subak which unites farmers in the irrigation and cultivation of the rice crop.
Abstract: This paper discusses issues of agrarian change in south-central Bali. The proximity to urban areas, especially the tourist centers along the southern coast, provides many off-farm employment opportunities for small-scale farming households. Although rice farming continues, for many households it has become a side business. The flexible nature of rice farming in terms of labor input and available casual off-farm work allows farming households to allocate their available labor to a variety of on-farm and off-farm income generating activities. The subak which unites farmers in the irrigation and cultivation of the rice crop plays an important role in supporting this flexibility. Still, the future of rice farming and the organization behind it looks rather dim with a younger generation unwilling to work in the “mud” and little appreciation of the many benefits the subak provides not only to the farming but to the wider community.
TL;DR: The authors investigated the issue of deliberate by-catch and illegal hunting of the protected Minke J-stock population in Korean waters using grounded theory, an approach that allows theories and understanding to emerge from the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data.
Abstract: Whaling remains one of the most contentious issues in global conservation. In South Korea, where commercial and subsistence whaling are both illegal, domestic sales of cetacean products such as skin, blubber and red meat are allowed if they are accidently caught. However, environmental groups have claimed that the high price of meat may be acting as an incentive for illegal hunting and ‘deliberate by-catch’ where whales are intentionally killed or left to die by fishermen when they become trapped in their nets. In this paper we investigate the issue of deliberate by-catch and illegal hunting of the protected Minke J-stock population in Korean waters using grounded theory, an approach that allows theories and understanding to emerge from the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. Our research suggests that deliberate by-catch is almost certainly taking place but that illegal hunting and/or illegal importation from Japan may be far more significant sources of Minke whale meat. We discuss possible measures to reduce incentives for deliberate by-catch and illegal hunting such as the introduction of mandatory reporting of quantities supplied and consumed in restaurants and a tax on meat sales at auction. More generally, our research illustrates how the analysis of price movements can shed light on the scale of illegal wildlife trade and how a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies can provide understanding of a complex, multifaceted conservation issue.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that crop species and landrace populations diverge on anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic soils as a result of the interaction between human selection and management, soil physical and chemical properties, and plant responses over time.
Abstract: A recent archaeological survey demonstrates that one of the most durable of all forms of pre-Columbian landscape transformation, Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE; soils formed by pre-Columbian settlement), are widespread along the course of the Madeira River, Central Amazonia, Brazil. We hypothesize that processes of crop cultivation and management by human populations today in landscapes that were intensively transformed during the pre-Columbian period will diverge from those in environments where human agency has not left such a heavy footprint. In order to test this hypothesis, we compare bitter manioc fields, homegardens and secondary forests on ADE with those on non-anthropogenic soils along the lower and middle Madeira River. We demonstrate that crop species and landrace populations diverge on anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic soils as a result of the interaction between human selection and management, soil physical and chemical properties, and plant responses over time. Hence, crop species selection and abundance and therefore agrobiodiversity is contingent on anthropogenic soils in Central Amazonia.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on Khumbu Sherpa ecological knowledge and its relation to environmental decision-making and find that individuals who lived on the tourist route and younger generations had less knowledge of these domains.
Abstract: The ecological knowledge and understanding of indigenous peoples and long-term settlers is heterogeneous and continually in flux as they adapt to ecological, political and economic changes. This research focuses on Khumbu Sherpa ecological knowledge and its relation to environmental decision-making. The Sherpa, Tibetan Buddhists who practice agro-pastoralism, provide tourism services to visitors of Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone. Utilizing mixed quantitative and qualitative methods, I selected a stratified random sample of 100 individuals to assess spiritual values, and species and landscape knowledge. The results generally showed that individuals who lived on the tourist route and younger generations had less knowledge of these domains. These findings suggest that some Sherpa ecological knowledge and understanding had shifted from spiritual and agro-pastoralist socioeconomic values to a more tourism-centered economic logic. Future environmental decisions may be influenced by these changes.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how local Berber populations have actively shaped their forest areas through endogenous management systems at different scales: 1) at individual tree level by differential cutting or trimming which lead to specific conformations of the tree, 2) at tree stand level, by determining the type, structure and level of resources, and 3) at the landscape level in which complementary patches of forest areas with particular functions are consciously organized within the overall territory.
Abstract: On the basis of two case studies in rural Morocco, one in a mountainous area of the Central High Atlas and the other in the argan tree area of the southwest Atlantic coast, we show how local Berber populations have actively shaped their forest areas through endogenous management systems at different scales: 1) at the individual tree level by differential cutting or trimming which lead to specific conformations of the tree, 2) at the tree stand level, by determining the type, structure and level of resources, and 3) at the landscape level in which complementary patches of forest areas with particular functions are consciously organized within the overall territory. These practices are strongly linked with the overall socioeconomic organization of the local communities, and mix individual with common rights of access and uses. Forests are viewed as part of the domestic sphere of local livelihoods. Hence, they typically constitute what we refer to as rural or domestic forests since they integrate production and conservation with social, political and spiritual dimensions. These features are of importance for considering forester-local community relationships, and for developing alternative forest management policies.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined traditional resource management among the Sonjo in rural Northern Tanzania, with particular reference to catchment forest protection and water quality, and found significant differences among river basins within seasons and between seasons.
Abstract: Traditional resource management (TRM) is largely based on local ecological knowledge (LEK). In regions where formal institutional control of natural resources is limited due to a lack of coordination or stakeholder involvement, communities rely on TRM to manage common-pool resources. This paper examines TRM among the Sonjo in rural Northern Tanzania, with particular reference to catchment forest protection and water quality. We first document the ecological knowledge of traditional resource managers, and then describe the differences between traditionally managed water sources and formal, government managed resources. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine water use, perceptions of water quality, and bacterial water quality, significant differences were detected among river basins within seasons and between seasons. Our findings indicate that the Sonjo, well known for their traditional forest conservation practices and irrigation management, may also benefit from TRM through improved water quality. The examination of traditional methods of water conservation provides insight into how communities in resource-stressed regions thrive despite seasonal droughts and flooding.
TL;DR: The most common plant-based traditional handicrafts in several Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey) in order to document the rich diversity of plants used, the associated folk botanical knowledge, and contemporary knowledge and use of plants in study area in relation to available natural plant resources and local traditions as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Traditional handicrafts based on plant materials are components of folk culture throughout the world. Also known as craftworks, or simply crafts, these products are designed for particular purposes, and are hand-made or manufactured with the help of simple tools and often incorporate aesthetic or ornamental properties. Many of these items have notable cultural and/or religious significance. Most traditional handicrafts are connected with major household or community activities, such as food preparation, or are components of apparel, furniture, or houses. The plants employed in making these handicrafts are usually local and well known, and have historically served as major resources contributing to people’s comfort and living standards (Lewington and Roddick 1990; Balick and Cox 1996; Thomas et al. 2008). Some recent studies have focused on the contemporary economic importance of plant-based handicrafts (Ahmad and Javed 2007; Motti et al. 2009). The study region of the Balkans is characterized by abundant folk botanical knowledge. The identification of a large number of plant species and knowledge of their morphological and phenological characteristics and ecological requirements have been necessary prerequisites for their use in the manufacture of objects. Local knowledge accumulated over centuries is validated by modern scientific research, and many locally utilized materials have been applied to new and contemporary production activities, including cooperage and the manufacture of fabrics and ropes (Francis et al. 1992; Ribereau-Gayon 1994). The contemporary application of traditional knowledge and practice and their significance as a component of national, regional and world culture underline the importance of scientific examination and interpretation as an important step to their documentation for future generations. This study focuses on the most common plant-based traditional handicrafts in several Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey) in order to document the rich diversity of plants used, the associated folk botanical knowledge, and contemporary knowledge and use of plants in study area in relation to available natural plant resources and local traditions. An earlier study of traditional crafts in several Balkan countries (Dogan et al. 2008) highlighted the necessity for more detailed and extended research on the subject, which is the aim of the research we present here. Most currently available information on these topics has been derived from ethnographic and anthropological studies (see Borza 1968; Vakarelski 1977; Stoica et al. 2001). Botanical and ethnobotanical research, although not as common, also provide important data on contemporary plant-based handicrafts (Stojanov and Kitanov 1960; Stranski 1963; Borza 1968; Ketenoglu et al. 2003; Dogan
TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic study of individual subaks indicates that subaks are neither as homogeneous nor as harmonious as some other studies have suggested, and that processes of continuity and change co-exist in delicate dynamic equilibrium.
Abstract: Detailed ethnographic studies of individual subaks indicate that subaks are neither as homogeneous nor as harmonious as some other studies have suggested. Their internal workings are complex and often contradictory and contested. Processes of continuity and change co-exist in delicate dynamic equilibrium. These studies signal a need for wariness about generalization and a need for close study of specific cases. This paper is just such a study, not of a subak as such, but of an innovative and (to date) extraordinarily successful localized project to develop rice-cultivation in a more sustainable direction through a shift away from petrochemical-based agriculture toward a more organic approach based on locally produced compost. We use this case also to address questions about the relevance and role of the subak in such developments.
TL;DR: Interestingly, the analysis revealed that field crop cultivation and gardening were more common among households in the low and medium SES groups while those in the high SES group were more likely to keep livestock.
Abstract: This study explores the relation between household socioeconomic status (SES) and participation in urban and periurban agriculture (UPA) in three West African cities. We used a structured questionnaire to survey 700 randomly selected households: 250 in Kano, Nigeria, 250 in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and 200 in Sikasso, Mali. Multiple correspondence analysis was applied on household asset variables to create an index of assets which was used as a proxy for household SES. The results showed no significant differences in households’ rate of participation in UPA across socioeconomic groups. Participation in UPA was rather significantly (P < 0.001) and positively related to household size. Interestingly, the analysis revealed that field crop cultivation and gardening were more common among households in the low and medium SES groups while those in the high SES group were more likely to keep livestock.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the methodology and data used to describe this woodfuel crisis through a comparison with regional and historical data, and find that the results of the energy gap analyses are challenged by using different estimates of woody resource availability and woodfuel consumption to create best and worst case scenarios.
Abstract: Fear of an upcoming woodfuel crisis caused by increasing woodfuel consumption in Bamako has had great influence on forestry policies aiming to reduce the impacts of urban woodfuel consumption. During the last 20 years, energy gap analyses—the relationship between supply and demand of woodfuels—have been produced by the government of Mali to prove the impacts of woodfuel consumption in Bamako on surrounding woodlands. This study evaluates the methodology and data used to describe this woodfuel crisis through a comparison with regional and historical data. The results of the energy gap analyses are challenged by using different estimates of woody resource availability and woodfuel consumption to create best and worst case scenarios. These show either high surpluses or high deficits with a difference of 2.7 million tons/yr. The woodfuel system of Bamako is highly dynamic and it is very difficult to evaluate its sustainability using a simple methodology such as the energy gap analysis. Trends over the last 20 years show a highly efficient woodfuel system that has adapted to changing circumstances, ensuring a continued affordable woodfuel supply for the urban residents. Better data on the productivity of West African woodlands and urban consumption are needed to avoid misinterpretations of the impacts of woodfuel harvesting on woody resources.
TL;DR: To test the hypothesis that humans may have developed anadaptive sense of “animal attractiveness” and preference to animal species that became part of the human mind beforegeographic and cultural diversification of the authors' kind, aesthetic preferences within an integral taxonomic group, boid snakes are studied.
Abstract: IntroductionHumans seem to have evolved relatively universal cogni-tive, perceptual and emotional mechanisms that enablethem to appropriately react to other animal species. Strongevidence has been accumulated that they even share aninnate concept of the structure of living world. Peoplepossessing very distant cultures and different levels ofscientific knowledge are able to name and categorizeanimal species in a very similar way (Berlin 1992)employing universal principles (Berlin et al. 1973). Evenyoung children view animal categories as objectivelydefined (Rhodes and Gelman 2009), and these are lessinfluenced by linguistic and cultural factors than human orartefact categories (see review Diesendruck 2003). Humansdevote considerably more attention to animals as opposedto other stimuli (Lipp et al. 2004; New et al. 2007) andhave literally the same object processing efficiency (accu-racy and speed) of animals and human faces (Rousselet etal. 2004). People also inherently tend to affiliate with otherspecies (e.g. the “biophilia” theory) and employ aestheticjudgements in their attitude to animals (Thornhill 1993).Animals are vital stimuli to humans, and adaptiveexplanations are readily available. Particular emotionaland perceptual mechanisms may be inherited from earlyhumans, whose fitness and social status increased withpossession and identification of certain animals or theirbody parts. Our ancestors thus may have developed anadaptive sense of “animal attractiveness” and preference toanimal species that became part of the human mind beforegeographic and cultural diversification of our kind (Barkowet al. 1992). To test this hypothesis we study aestheticpreferences within an integral taxonomic group, boid snakes,in several distant cultures: Bolivia, Philippines, India –Rajasthan and Delhi, Malawi and Morocco, and comparethem to our previous results from the Czech Republic andPapuaNewGuinea(Maresova et al. 2009a and new data). Sofar only a few studies on human attitude to animal specieshave been conducted cross-culturally and they focused mostlyon negative emotions such as fear and disgust (Davey et al.1998). Moreover, animals representing distant taxa werecompared with each other (e.g. a leech versus a bat).We chose boid snakes to test human preferences within acoherent animal group because they vary in appearance(color and pattern), and lack anthropomorphic features thatare known to modify human preferences. Importantly,snakes represent valid biological stimuli; according toIsbell (2006) snakes, especially the constrictors, were theprimary source of predation in early primate evolution.Large constrictors still represent a potential threat tomembers of some indigenous cultures and snakes in general
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia explores how the terms "wild" and "feral" distract from the underlying issues at stake in management of horses and the landscape: different ways of valuing, understanding and relating to land and animals.
Abstract: Use of the terms “wild” and “feral” characterizes ongoing debate over management of free-ranging horses. However, the focus on terminology tends to obscure complex differences in meanings and cultural perception. Examining a case study in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia, we explore how the terms “wild” and “feral” distract from the underlying issues at stake in management of horses and the landscape: different ways of valuing, understanding, and relating to land and animals. To be effective in the long term, and to avoid an unwitting continuation of outdated culturally biased land management practices, future decisions regarding management of lands and free-roaming horses in the Chilcotin would benefit from an integrated process informed by both ecological and socio-cultural information.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present findings of a study conducted in the Tibetan communities of southwest China to assess the current status of mountain pastoralism and its future viability, which made it possible to analyze livestock distribution.
Abstract: Vertical mobile grazing is typical in undulating mountain landscapes. However, recent social, economic, and political changes in China are impacting these traditional practices. This paper presents findings of a study conducted in the Tibetan communities of southwest China to assess the current status of mountain pastoralism and its future viability. Rangeland environment, livestock variety, and grazing form were found to be significantly related factors, which made it possible to analyze livestock distribution. The yak population—the main mobile grazer in alpine pasture— is currently stagnating while the population of cattle raised around settlements is steadily increasing. This situation is likely closely related to labor shortages in households, which have triggered the imbalanced distribution of livestock. The fact that the key to rangeland sustainability is to stimulate mobile grazing runs counter to current privatization policies.
TL;DR: The main finding in this study is thatpredation compensation had a positive effect on husbandry units’ future herd size, and the effect of predation compensation was positive after controlling for reindeer density.
Abstract: Previously it has been found that an important risk buffering strategy in the Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway is the accumulation of large herds of reindeer as this increases long-term household viability. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated how official policies, such as economic compensation for livestock losses, can influence pastoral strategies. This study investigated the effect of received predation compensation on individual husbandry units’ future herd size. The main finding in this study is that predation compensation had a positive effect on husbandry units’ future herd size. The effect of predation compensation, however, was nonlinear in some years, indicating that predation compensation had a positive effect on future herd size only up to a certain threshold whereby adding additional predation compensation had little effect on future herd size. More importantly, the effect of predation compensation was positive after controlling for reindeer density, indicating that for a given reindeer density husbandry units receiving more predation compensation performed better (measured as the size of future herds) compared to husbandry units receiving less compensation.