Showing papers on "Native plant published in 1985"

Indigenous management of tropical forest ecosystems: the case of the Kayapó indians of the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract: The Kayapo Indians of Brazil's Amazon Basin are described as effective managers of tropical forest, utilizing an extensive inventory of useful native plants that are concentrated by human activity in special forest areas (resource islands, forest fields, forest openings, tuber gardens, agricultural plots, old fields, and trailsides). Long-term transplanting and selection of plants suggest semi-domestication of many species. The overall management strategies of forest also includes many manipulated animal species (birds, fish, bees, mammals) utilized as food and game. Forest patches (apete) are created by Indians from campo/cerrado using planting zones made from termite and ant nests mixed with mulch: formation and development of these is briefly discussed, including the implications for new ideas concerning reforestation and campo management. Finally an integrative cognitive model is presented showing the relationships between variants of forest and savanna recognized by the Kayapo. Indigenous knowledge of subtle similarities between conceptually distinct ecological units in the model allows for the interchange of botanical material between microclimates to increase biological diversity in managed areas. It is suggested that indigenous knowledge is extremely important in developing new strategies for forest and campo/cerrado conservation, while improving productiveness of these ecological systems. Such knowledge is not only applicable for Amazonian Indians, but also has far-reaching implications for human populations throughout the humid tropics.

Environmental influences on the vegetation of New Zealand

Abstract: This review develops three themes, the first of which assesses how far lhe environment is reflected in the form and functioning of native plants. It is shown that the mild New Zealand winters favour evergreen trees with limited cold-tolerance, as well as life-forms such as cushion plants and tussock grasses. Shrubs and juvenile trees, with small leaves and slender, divaricating branchlets, also characteristic of New Zealand, probably resulted from the combined selection pressures of browsing, drought, and wind on a floristic pool deficient in the kinds of plants that resist these pressures in other parts of the world. Slow growth of some native trees adapts them to infertile soils. The tendency of many species to flower at three-yearly or longer intervals, is also discussed. Next, the adjustment of native vegetation to the existing environment is considered. For the South Island. J. T. Holloway developed an hypothesis of recent climatic change, based on anomalous distribution patterns in the beec...

Alien and native plant response to release from feral sheep browsing on mauna kea

Abstract: Over 150 years of feral sheep damage to the subalpine woodlands on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, ended when "eradicationw of feral sheep (Ovis aries) was declared complete (even though a few sheep remained). Managers and others interested in conserving Mauna Kea's subalpine ecosystem are now concerned about the ability of native plants to reestablish dominance without the aid of humans in the absence of significant feral sheep grazing and browsing. Successful reestablishment will depend partly on the ability of native plants to compete with alien plants. Data from exclosures near tree line indicate that both herbaceous and woody native species establish in areas freed from sheep foraging pressure, in spite of alien plants, provided that the areas are not fully occupied by aliens. In areas that were densely populated by feral sheep before 1981, native and alien plants appear to be responding, as indicated in publications about earlier exclosure studies. Control of alien plants to favor native species does not now appear warranted. However, two noxious aliens, fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) and German ivy (Senecio mikanioides), are established in the subalpine woodland and could become management problems in the future.

Growing and Propagating Wild Flowers

Abstract: This book, the most complete and expert treatment of wild flower propagation and cultivation to date, offers a sure approach to gardening with native plants while practicing good conservation. Based on ten years of pioneering research at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Growing and Propagating Wild Flowers features practical, easy-to-follow methods for raising native plants from seeds, cuttings, and divisions specific instructions on the propagation and cultivation of plants representing nearly 100 genera of wild flowers, carnivorous plants, and ferns more than 250 illustrations, including 32 color photographs and 3 sample design plans for a perennial border For each species treated, the author includes descriptions of growth habits, flowers, fruits and seeds outstanding ornamental characteristics, flowering and fruiting times detailed directions on the collection, cleaning, storage, and germination of seed information on cultivation and use in the home landscape notes on related species and their propagation The native plants cited as examples are found primarily in the eastern United States. The propagation and handling techniques, however, will be useful throughout the temperate areas of the country.

The spread of native australian plants as weeds

Abstract: The native vegetation of South Australia is ill-adapted to survive disturbance such as that imposed by agriculture. Yet 10 species unintentionally introduced and 16 species deliberately introduced from other parts of Australia are established to a greater or lesser extent in South Australia. Furthermore, IS species native to South Australia have survived the disturbance caused by agriculture and in some cases have become minor weeds. Apart from the intentionally introduced species which are mainly woody ornamentals, the other groups consist entirely of plants having herbaceous habits. Of the SO Australian native plants established successfully in areas overseas with a Mediterranean climate similar to that of South Australia, the majority are woody ornamentals. The reasons for this are discussed in the paper.

The spread of native australian plants as weeds in south australia and in other mediterranean regions

Abstract: The native vegetation of South Australia is ill-adapted to survive disturbance such as that imposed by agriculture. Yet 10 species unintentionally introduced and 16 species deliberately introduced from other parts of Australia are established to a greater or lesser extent in South Australia. Furthermore, 15 species native to South Australia have survived the disturbance caused by agriculture and in some cases have become minor weeds. Apart from the intentionally introduced species which are mainly woody omamentaLs, the other groups consist entirely of plants having herbaceous habits. Of the 50 Australian native plants established surrisfully in areas overseas with a Mediterranean climate similar to that of South Australia, the majority are woody ornamentals. The reasons for this are discussed in the paper. Introduction The native flora of Australia is ill-adapted to withstand most of the changes wrought by cultivation, fertilizing, grazing by ruminants and rodents and competition provided by alien plants. Consequently, native plants are not a prominent part of the weed flora, in marked contrast to the importance of native plants as weeds of agriculture in North America (Reed and Hughes, 1970) and South Africa (Wells et aL, 1982). In this paper plants native to Australia which have become established in South Australia, or persisting after land clearing to become regarded as adapted to present farming patterns, are compared with the Australian species which are now established in some other regions of the world enjoying a Mediterranean climate similar to that of South Australia. The degradation of native vegetation The inability of many native Australian plants to tolerate the levels of soil phosphate produced by the application of superphosphate has been discussed by many authors (e.g. Specht, 1963) and will not be re-examined here. The severe grazing effects of ruminants on native grasses have been ascribed to their elevated growing points which are eaten or trampled. In contrast the growing point of species adapted for grazing are at or below the ground surface, beneath the level at which animals normally graze (Moore, 1957). Whilst the native grasses survive the browsing of the native Australian marsupials, they are vulnerable to the grazing of rodents and ruminants, particularly rabbits and sheep, and there are many records of the disappearance of native grasses following European settlement of the grasslands of southem Australia (e.g. Tiver and Crocker, 1951; Moore, 1957). The effects of cultivation per se have not been documented to any extent, but Moore (1957) presented data obtained from native pasture near Goulburn, N.S.W., showing that cultivation of the native perennial grasslands resulted in the elimination of the native species and their replacement by aliens. He also commented that the area is likely to regenerate if the disturbance is removed before erosion occurs. In practice this would mean virtually no disturbance beyond the initial clearing. Analyses of lists of native and introduced species in various plant associations in South Australia reveal that the native vegetation is predominantly perennial, but the successful

Australian Aboriginal bushfoods: The nutritional composition of plants from arid and semi-arid areas

Abstract: 'A heavy, tasteless, evil-looking but nourishing cake' was Meggitt's (1957) description of a damper produced by a group of Warlpiri Aborigines in Central Australia. Over 100 years ago, the English botanist J.D. Hooker, writing of Australian edible plants, suggested that many of them were 'eatable but not worth eating' (Cribb and Cribb 1974). Europeans in Australia have generally shown little interest in native plants as food, probably because most have held views similar to that of Meggitt and Hooker. Those same native plants, however, provided food for Aboriginal Australians for at least 40 000 years and were an important part of their successful adaptation to a generally harsh environment. The food composition data presented here for plants of the desert regions confirms Meggitt's impression that they were indeed nourishing. T he objective of this paper is to bring together the nutritional data on the native food plants of the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia, drawing on the work of others scattered throughout the literature and published and unpublished data of our own. Before 1980, there was only fragmentary information on the nutritional composition of bushfoods but since then our work and that of the Armed Forces (James 1983) has increased considerably the number of species analysed. Our study began in 1981 in an effort to meet the needs of dietitians, health workers, anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists and others for nutrient data on Australia's bushfoods. Since then we have analysed over 300 food samples and built up an Australia-wide network of collectors. Aboriginal informants play an essential role in the collection and identification of the plants and their preparation and cooking. Details of collection, and methods of nutrient analysis used, have been described elsewhere (Brand et al 1983). The accompanying tables list all available nutrient information on plant species from arid and semi-arid areas. This list represents about half of the 60-100 known edible plant species from these regions (Peterson 1978). Although there is only limited evidence of the composition of the diet it appears that up to a dozen species were staples for one or other desert group, ie they constituted at least 3 0 % of the total diet by weight at the time of collection (Gould's (1980) definition). The staples varied from region to region, edible roots and tubers, for example being completely absent from the Western Desert (Pate, in press), but many species were common throughout the desert regions. Staples included the seeds of various Acacia, Eragrostis, Fimbristylis, Panicum and Portulaca species, the rootstocks of Ipomoea costata, Vigna lanceolata and Cyperus bulbosus and the fruits of various Solanum spp., Ficus platypoda and Santalum acuminatum. Other species were certainly important and could be staples for varying periods depending on rainfall.