Doctoral Dissertation Research: Management of Useful Palms: Ethnobotany of the Waorani in Eastern Ecuador

博士论文研究：有用棕榈树的管理：厄瓜多尔东部瓦拉尼人的民族植物学

• 批准号: 0002367
• 负责人: William Doolittle
• 金额: $ 0.47万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-01 至 2002-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0002367&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Management; Useful

The concept that people act as plant managers, actively manipulating their resources instead of just gathering them for use, is becoming a central theme in ethnobotanical studies. Of particular interest to many researchers have been the study of indigenous people in the Amazon Basin, where a series of studies has built a comparative framework for examining how different societies have managed and used different plant resources. For example, with respect to palm resources, many of which are derived from wild stands, researchers have identified at least nine specific plant-management practices. This doctoral dissertation research project will focus on a case study of management and use of the chambira palm (Astrocaryum chambira) by the Waorani (Huaorani) people in the Amazon lowlands of eastern Ecuador. Drawing on previous studies, this project hypothesizes that the Waorani manage their palm resources through both conscious and inadvertent manipulation. The study will address the general premise of economic geography that people will travel farther (although less frequently) to obtain products of relatively high value than they will to obtain products of lesser value that may be needed more frequently. The project will examine the amount of time that Waorani people spend caring for particular palms, relating its productivity with its distance from home, paths, or other places of human activity. Data will be gathered through household surveys as well as through informal interviews with different kinds of plant managers. Ecological data on chambira palms in a series of stratified plots around the Waorani settlement also will collected and analyzed. Plant specimens gathered during this part of the project will remain at the herbariums of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the University of Texas at Austin. This project will provide valuable new insights into the use of palms and their significance for the livelihood of an indigenous people who manage and use palms, a plant that provides products in many different locales through the world. The project also will provide insights into the spatial behavior of a group of people who traditionally have been resistant to outside influence. Analyses of the plant-management practices of the Waorani provides a valuable setting for exploring a broader range of policies encouraging or dissuading similar kinds of activities regarding flora manipulation in any country in which people use natural plant materials. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

人们充当植物管理者，积极操纵他们的资源，而不仅仅是收集资源以供使用，这一概念正在成为民族植物学研究的中心主题。 许多研究人员特别感兴趣的是对亚马逊河流域土著人民的研究，其中一系列研究建立了一个比较框架，用于研究不同社会如何管理和使用不同的植物资源。 例如，对于棕榈资源（其中许多来自野生林），研究人员已经确定了至少九种具体的植物管理做法。 本博士论文研究项目将重点关注厄瓜多尔东部亚马逊低地的瓦拉尼人 (Huaorani) 对钱比拉棕榈 (Astrocaryum chambira) 的管理和使用的案例研究。 根据之前的研究，该项目假设瓦欧拉尼人通过有意识和无意的操纵来管理他们的棕榈资源。 这项研究将阐述经济地理学的一般前提，即人们为了获得相对较高价值的产品而旅行的距离（尽管频率较低）比为了获得可能更频繁需要的价值较低的产品要走得更远（尽管频率较低）。 该项目将检查瓦拉尼人花在照料特定棕榈树上的时间，将其生产力与距家、道路或其他人类活动场所的距离联系起来。 数据将通过家庭调查以及对不同类型工厂经理的非正式访谈来收集。 瓦拉尼定居点周围一系列分层地块中的查比拉棕榈树的生态数据也将被收集和分析。 在该项目的这一部分中收集的植物标本将保存在旧金山基多大学和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的植物标本室中。 该项目将为棕榈树的使用及其对管理和使用棕榈树的土著人民的生计提供宝贵的新见解，棕榈树为世界许多不同地区提供产品。 该项目还将深入了解传统上抵制外界影响的一群人的空间行为。 对瓦拉尼人植物管理实践的分析为探索更广泛的政策提供了宝贵的背景，这些政策鼓励或劝阻在任何使用天然植物材料的国家进行类似的植物区系操纵活动。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生建立强大的独立研究生涯提供支持。