Results of a recent lidar survey of northwestern Belize revealed a heavily modified anthropogenic landscape populated by dense ancient Maya settlement. Most surprising was the detection of an extensive network of landesque capital in form of linear stone features, with 87.8 linear km identified to date. While likely multifunctional, many of these features appear to delineate residential space and are similar in appearance to contemporary Maya houselots. This paper presents the results of a pilot project designed to collect preliminary data on houselots utilizing multiple research methods. Despite differences in land use and vegetation among the study loci, ground truthing results suggest the lidar data are high fidelity. Excavations produced mixed results, with architectural excavations providing the broadest array of data, including evidence that two of the houselots were occupied during the Late Classic (AD 600 - 850) period. Qualitative soil tests for available phosphorus detected elevated levels in areas that are consistent with middens and kitchen gardens. In addition, microtopographic anomalies were identified that may have represented an important household resource. A synthesis of the available data results in a view of large houselots with broad agricultural resource bases. Finally, settlement density and the ubiquity of demarcated houselots may signal the existence of a restricted-use land tenure system.

Here, we expand on the term “ecomimicry” to be an umbrella concept for an approach to adaptive ecosystem-based management of social-ecological systems that simultaneously optimizes multiple ecosystem services for the benefit of people and place. In this context, we define ecomimicry as a strategy for developing and managing cultural landscapes, built upon a deep understanding of the structure and function of ecosystems, that harnesses ecosystem processes for the purpose of balancing and sustaining key ecosystem services, rather than maximizing one service (e.g., food production) to the detriment of others. Ecomimicry arises through novel, place-based innovations or is adopted from elsewhere and adapted to local conditions. Similarly, precontact Hawaiian socialecological systems integrated a variety of ecomimicry schema to engender a complex system of adaptive resource management that enhanced biocultural diversity and supported resilient food systems, ultimately sustaining a thriving human population. In addition to presenting a synopsis of how ecomimicry was employed in the design and management of Hawaiian social-ecological systems, we identify and characterize specific ecomimicry applications. Within this context, we explore a revival of ecomimicry for biological conservation, biocultural restoration, resilience, and food security. We conclude with a discussion of how revitalizing such an approach in the restoration of social-ecological systems may address issues of conservation and sustainability in the Anthropocene.

This chapter briefly addresses some of the issue and concerns about documentation and preservation of traditional and local knowledge about the environment and biodiversity, particularly as conceptualized within human languages. Parallels between the practices of biological science and language documentation are discussed as models for thinking about issues in language preservation. Language legacies are described as being both the details and the context of persistent use within communities of humans living in specific locations where their languages evolved. Local language complexities are largely based upon long-term interactions with, and observations of, local environments with resulting interpretations becoming important structural details of the language legacy. Non-local expertise in sciences (or other specialties) may be helpful for documenting local language details held by local experts that would otherwise be difficult for a linguist to understand. Collaboration between linguists and other scientists through incorporation of traditional and local knowledge about biodiversity will enable the collaborating scholars to increase the quality and relevance of their work for conservation of languages and life on earth.

Background Many ethnobotanical studies have investigated selection criteria for medicinal and non-medicinal plants. In this paper we test several statistical methods using different ethnobotanical datasets in order to 1) define to which extent the nature of the datasets can affect the interpretation of results; 2) determine if the selection for different plant uses is based on phylogeny, or other selection criteria. Methods We considered three different ethnobotanical datasets: two datasets of medicinal plants and a dataset of non-medicinal plants (handicraft production, domestic and agro-pastoral practices) and two floras of the Amalfi Coast. We performed residual analysis from linear regression, the binomial test and the Bayesian approach for calculating under-used and over-used plant families within ethnobotanical datasets. Percentages of agreement were calculated to compare the results of the analyses. We also analyzed the relationship between plant selection and phylogeny, chorology, life form and habitat using the chi-square test. Pearson’s residuals for each of the significant chi-square analyses were examined for investigating alternative hypotheses of plant selection criteria. Results The three statistical analysis methods differed within the same dataset, and between different datasets and floras, but with some similarities. In the two medicinal datasets, only Lamiaceae was identified in both floras as an over-used family by all three statistical methods. All statistical methods in one flora agreed that Malvaceae was over-used and Poaceae under-used, but this was not found to be consistent with results of the second flora in which one statistical result was non-significant. All other families had some discrepancy in significance across methods, or floras. Significant over- or under-use was observed in only a minority of cases. The chi-square analyses were significant for phylogeny, life form and habitat. Pearson’s residuals indicated a non-random selection of woody species for non-medicinal uses and an under-use of plants of temperate forests for medicinal uses. Conclusions Our study showed that selection criteria for plant uses (including medicinal) are not always based on phylogeny. The comparison of different statistical methods (regression, binomial and Bayesian) under different conditions led to the conclusion that the most conservative results are obtained using regression analysis.

Agricultural management systems are found at the intersection between human societies and environmental dynamics. Traditional apple orchards are fruit production systems that were developed in Eurasia and transferred to many other regions around the world including a wide range of temperate to subtropical climates. We interviewed 255 long-term (20+ years) apple orchard managers in nine European countries and seven other countries that were former colonies. Patterns and types of management observations were compiled to illustrate descriptive aspects of orchard manager's thinking. Observations and adaptive responses by orchard managers seem to share similarities that go beyond cultural and large-scale environmental differences. Orchard management systems appear to be adaptive responses by traditional orchardists not only for local environments but also for success in unknown, newly encountered environments and therefore might be expected to cope with climate change and functionally adapt to ecosystem variation due to that change.

This study quantifies the culinary and medicinal botanical knowledge of the Old Order or Plain Mennonites in eastern Pennsylvania, a religious group which chooses to reject certain elements of modern technology. The study tests the hypothesis that time, geography, and degree of religious conservatism impact the retention of botanical knowledge. Historical cookbooks and medical texts were combined with data from modern interviews to identify useful plants from a number of locations and times, allowing trends in botanical knowledge to be identified. The dominant pattern presented by these data is one of overall cultural conservatism, and the literate nature of this culture is the best explanatory factor for this pattern.

Terraces are traditional engineered ecosystems that affect the hydro-geological equilibrium, slope stability, and local communities. The aims of this paper are (i) identifying environmental factors that affect terrace stability in the Amalfi Coast, (ii) defining agriculturalists' observations on environmental changes within that system and (iii) exploring potentiality of these observations to better define conservation strategies. All available data on physical and ecological factors recognized to affect the terrace system were collected and analyzed. Interviews were conducted with agriculturalists to obtain long-term observations on environmental factors that interact with this system. Landslides are more frequent where rainfall is high and during winter. Fires have an uneven annual distribution, with higher frequency during summers. Agriculturalists detailed complex interactions among environmental factors, economic elements, and terraces. These observations represent a valuable resource for defining causes and effects of abandonment and for better addressing conservation strategies.

Climate change is projected to have severe changes in the Mediterranean area, however, few studies have investigated environmental resource managers’ perceptions and adaptations to climatic change in the area. Our research investigates the use of orchardists' observations for bioindicating climate variations and of their experience for defining possible coping and adaptation strategies. Interviews were conducted with orchardists cultivating apple orchards for at least 30 years in the Campania region (southern Italy) to obtain observations on climate, which were then compared with climate data analyses. Orchardists reported a more unpredictable seasonality and shifting climate conditions, perceived as beginning 20-30 years ago. Climate data analysis seems to corroborate orchardists' perceptions. Traditional Ecological Knowledge specifically addressed to climate and weather is here defined as Traditional Climatic Knowledge (TCK). TCK is a key factor in environmental management.

Agricultural societies partly depend upon wild foods. Relationships between an agricultural society and its wild foods can be explored by examining how the society responds through colonization of new lands that have not been previously inhabited. The oldest clear example of this phenomenon took place about 5000 years ago in the tropical Western Pacific at the "boundary" interface between Near and Remote Oceania. An inventory of wild and domesticated food plants used by people living along "the remote side of" that interface has been prepared from the literature. This was then assessed for the roles of plants at the time of original colonization of Remote Oceania. The majority of species are wild foods, and most of these are used as leafy vegetables and fruits. The wild food plants mostly serve as supplements to domesticated species, although there are a few that can be used as substitutes for traditional staples.

Book Review| November 01 2011 Review: Foods of Association: Biocultural Perspectives on Foods and Beverages That Mediate Sociability, by Nina L. Etkin Foods of Association: Biocultural Perspectives on Foods and Beverages That Mediate Sociability. Nina L. Etkin. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2009. xi + 249 pp. Illustrations. $24.95 (cloth). Will McClatchey Will McClatchey Botanical Research Institute of Texas Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Gastronomica (2011) 11 (4): 133. https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2012.11.4.133 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Will McClatchey; Review: Foods of Association: Biocultural Perspectives on Foods and Beverages That Mediate Sociability, by Nina L. Etkin. Gastronomica 1 November 2011; 11 (4): 133. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2012.11.4.133 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentGastronomica Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2012 The Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved.2012 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Ethno-classification is a science dealing with a search for order, or a pattern, in the ways in which people name and categorize plants and animals. An experiment was conducted in the Botany class during the 2008-2009 academic year at the University of Roma Tre to collect data on the naming and classifying process of students not aware of the Linnaean system of classification. Forty plant specimens were shown to students who were divided into small groups and asked to name and classify the plants as they like. This paper shows the results of this experiment which was inspired by a very similar class exercise conducted at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa during the 2007-2008 Fall semester. Differences and similarities between the two experiences are analyzed here. The hypothesis tested is if the naming and classification process may be influenced by differences in language or culture. The use of binomial terms for plant names was predominant in both experiments even if the Italian language construction may have affected this result reducing the related percentage. Plant names are mainly constructed using morphological features of the specimen, among which color prevailed. This same result was observed in Hawai'i. Some differences were highlighted in the percentage of used terms, which may sometimes be traced back to experimental settings, while the overall results of the experiments are very similar.

The people of Rongelap atoll have always been survivors. For centuries they survived in one of the most extreme environments in the world by making the most of the resources available to them. Life was further complicated when they were exposed to fallout from nuclear testing by the U.S. Consequently they have suffered horrible medical ailments and exile from their island home. With plans now in the works for repatriation to Rongelap atoll, safety is the first concern. We believe that the risk of consuming traditional plant-based remedies on Rongelap has been underestimated. Women and infants are particularly at risk because they utilize far more traditional remedies than the rest of the community. Some returning Rongelap Islanders may be consuming more than 60 times the number of remedies than was previously thought. We make some suggestions of ways to make the consumption of traditional remedies safe while still maintaining important cultural traditions.

Will C. McClatchey & David Reedy. 2010. A mouthful of water: Do cider producers recognize the ancient clean water potential of their products? Potable water is the most critical of human needs and until a few hundred years ago was the focus of much daily effort. Now, in most modern societies it is taken for granted. We present an argument that in the past, whole fresh fruit and fermented fruit beverages served dual roles as sources of safe water. Furthermore, biodiverse orchards of cider apples were an important example of this phenomenon that were planted around the world in order to provide a well service of mining and purifying water in contaminated environments. Over the last three years interviews were conducted with cider makers and orchardists in order to indirectly identify if they were aware of the water value of apples and specifically of fermented apple juice (cider). Cider apples and orchards were often found as illustrating cultural and biodiversity conservation efforts. However, none of the 105 informants interviewed in eight countries provided any indication that cider is considered useful as a water source.

Daniel F. Austin, 93, 102, 216, 218, 222, 320, 321, 323 Anbreen Bashir, 327 Dorothea Bedigian, 220, 446, 454 Brett M. Bennett, 221 Joost Bogemans, 97, 103, 221, 327 Mary Theresa Bonhage-Freund, 101, 319, 451 Thomas Brendler, 447 Rainer W. Bussmann, 215 Alejandro Casas, 443 David A. Cleveland, 442 Walter R. Courtenay, Jr., 452 Ardeshir (Adi) B. Damania, 219 Jessica M. Dolan, 217 Eckart Eich, 444, 445 Mary Eubanks, 324, 441 Anil K. Goel, 96, 102, 327 Tasha Goldberg, 95 Douglas Goldman, 94 Alan Hamilton, 326 Neil A. Harriman, 225, 329, 450 Amy Keller, 449 Robert J. Krueger, 446 Aaron M. Lampman, 322 Pesach Lubinsky, 215, 322 Will C. McClatchey, 95 Kimberly E. Medley, 103, 325 Lytton John Musselman, 451 Michael Newberry, 453 My Lien Nguyen, 98, 99, 223 Concepción Obón, 223, 224 Diego Rivera, 223, 224 Claudia Segovia-Salcedo, 100 Stephen F. Siebert, 94, 329 Patrick Van Damme, 328, 448,449 Alejandra E. Vilela, 320 Justin K. Williams, 99

A Mouthful of Diversity: Knowledge of Cider Apple Cultivars in the United Kingdom and Northwest United States. There is a general assumption in the study of folk taxonomy that those people who have been interacting with a given crop the longest have the most knowledge about the crop’s names. We treated this as an hypothesis which can be tested with knowledge of cider apples. This use of apples extends back many generations in some places, while in other regions people are just learning to make cider. The experimental design is to assess quantitatively the cider apple diversity being used compared to the knowledge of this diversity by cider makers. The test involves two populations of cider makers: those who come from a long-standing tradition of cider making and those who recently learned to make cider. Research was conducted in parts of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Washington State, U.S.A. Semistructured interviews and questionnaires were used to elicit cider apple variety names. Traditional knowledge associated with cider production was also collected. Eighty-two cider apple variety names were obtained. In addition, it is estimated that between 111 and 328 varieties were recognized but could not be named. There was a significant difference between the cider apple cultivars that cider makers could name and those that they could discern. On average, cider makers could name eight varieties, but discern 16 varieties of cider apples largely on the basis of appearance, taste, and smell. There was no significant difference in the knowledge of cider apple variety names between long-standing cider makers and those that recently learned to make cider. As with cider apples, we would expect that farmers of other culturally-significant crops would not always know named diversity if there are other cues to let them track varietal difference, such as appearance, taste, or smell.

The science of ethnobotany is reviewed in light of its multi-disciplinary contributions to natural product research for the development of pharmaceuticals and pharmacological tools. Some of the issues reviewed involve ethical and cultural perspectives of healthcare and medicinal plants. While these are not usually part of the discussion of pharmacology, cultural concerns potentially provide both challenges and insight for field and laboratory researchers. Plant evolutionary issues are also considered as they relate to development of plant chemistry and accessing this through ethnobotanical methods. The discussion includes presentation of a range of CNS-active medicinal plants that have been recently examined in the field, laboratory and/or clinic. Each of these plants is used to illustrate one or more aspects about the valuable roles of ethnobotany in pharmacological research. We conclude with consideration of mutually beneficial future collaborations between field ethnobotanists and pharmacologists.

Education Abstract A class exercise to introduce plant taxonomy to non-sci- ence majors was conducted as part of the botany segue (introduction to botanical sciences) of our introductory eth- nobotany course at the University of Hawaii in fall 2007. Students were given the opportunity to name and develop their own classification schemes for forty plant materials. This paper discusses the results of the class exercise. Bi- nomials were used more often than monomials for plant names and the pattern was reversed for category names. Students used many adjectives and terms related to plant parts to name plants and categories. Of all the adjectives used, color and texture were used most often by students to name plants and categories respectively. In general, students were well aware of the different functional roles of plant and category names and illustrated this frequently by using binomials consisting of noun-adjective combina- tions to name plants and monomial nouns to name cat- egories.

Rongelap and Ailinginae atolls are best known as the home of Rongelap islanders who were displaced following exposure to nuclear radiation in 1954. As a result, the atolls have experienced various levels of habitation in the last fifty years. Consequently, a thorough survey of the flora of the atolls has not been undertaken since William Randolph taylor visited the area in 1946 prior to the nuclear tests in the area. our chief research objectives were to document the terrestrial vascular plant species richness of both Rongelap and Ailinginae atolls and to provide baseline data on distribution between islets within the atolls. The flora of the atolls was investigated using transect methodologies and plant checklist surveys. Sixty-three vascular plant species were found on Rongelap atoll and 29 species were identified on Ailinginae atoll. The repatriation of the Rongelap community provides a wonderful opportunity for future research examining changes in species diversity and abundance throughout and following construction within the atoll. Taylor’s work provided a snapshot of the flora of Rongelap prior to the changes invoked by nuclear testing and the evacuation of the community. this work provides a baseline of data (prior to the construction of most of the community) that we hope others will build upon by examining both terrestrial and marine species.