Doctoral Dissertation Research: Contesting Weeds: Conservation and Indigenous Knowledge and Use of the Environment in Samoa

博士论文研究：杂草竞争：萨摩亚环境的保护和本土知识以及利用

• 批准号: 0202002
• 负责人: William Doolittle
• 金额: $ 1万
• 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: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-06-01 至 2003-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0202002&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Contesting; Weeds

Mikania micrantha is a rapid growing vine that is native to Central and South America but which has spread throughout the tropics. This species has had a major impact on the economies and environments of several regions of the world, especially in South Asia, Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific islands. In South Asia especially, the plant is a major threat to silviculture, and researchers in many parts of the world are searching for biotic controls. In Samoa, this species appeared during the 1920s and is now the most common weed in the archipelago. Farmers here, however, have incorporated M. micrantha into the shifting cultivation system, where it is used as cover, mulch and cattle forage. Additionally, people use this species medicinally. Implementation of biotic controls risks depriving the rural population of a valuable natural resource. With the goals of conservation and indigenous use at odds, this study will engage the theory and methods from cultural, political and landscape ecology to answer several questions. First, the project will assess whether M. micrantha poses a risk to Samoa's various habitat types in general or whether it is restricted mainly to areas of human disturbance. This will be assessed through stratified random sampling in each vegetation type. Aerial photographs, field mapping and GIS will also be used to construct the mosaic of habitat patches and corridors and, in conjunction with the sampling, will be used to construct a testable model of the distribution of M. micrantha. Second, the study will assess the dimensions of human use of this species. The investigation here will gather both biophysical and ethnographic data. Each field in the study village will be mapped and vegetation and soil samples will be taken, to assess the feedbacks between plant communities and soil. Interviews with each of the farmers will be conducted to assess how they manage the plant communities in their fields, especially regarding whether M. micrantha is actively managed for its specific advantages, actively managed against as an undesirable weed, or simply adapted to as a means of making the best of a bad situation. Finally, the study will utilize ethnographic techniques to investigate how each farmer is situated in power laden social networks and how this feeds into the farmers' decision-making. The study will examine the networks for accessing land (form of land tenure), acquiring inputs, disposing of agricultural outputs (through subsistence and/or marketing), and knowledge (whether traditional, educational or government extension). The study crosses several biophysical and social scales, from the microscale (field, patch, household) to mesoscale (village, landscape mosaic) and macroscale (biological invasions, national and international environmental policy and discourse). This analysis links social, political and economic forces to the individual decision-makers that shape the landscape mosaic.Mikania micrantha is a species that is impacting the environment and economies of several tropical countries, but little is known about it. This study in Samoa serves as a unique opportunity to investigate this species such that it will inform a variety of disciplines from diverse perspectives. This investigation will inform the broader research into invasive species, especially in terms of studying this biological invasion in the context of human dominated ecosystems and the social dimensions of this domination across several scales of interaction. Furthermore, this study will elucidate factors that can be used to determine whether an invasive species is a threat that must be dealt with or whether it is benign or even beneficial; implementing control of invasive species simply because they are invasive species may impose a greater cost on society than is necessary. Finally, the study will bring to light the local knowledge and practices surrounding this species that can inform more equitable environmental policy. 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.

薇甘菊是一种生长迅速的藤本植物，原产于中美洲和南美洲，但现已遍布整个热带地区。 该物种对世界多个地区的经济和环境产生了重大影响，特别是南亚、东南亚和整个太平洋岛屿。 特别是在南亚，这种植物是造林业的主要威胁，世界许多地区的研究人员正在寻找生物控制方法。 在萨摩亚，这种杂草于 20 年代出现，现在是该群岛最常见的杂草。 然而，这里的农民已将微甘草纳入轮耕系统，用作覆盖物、覆盖物和牛饲料。 此外，人们还将该物种用于药用。 实施生物控制可能会剥夺农村人口宝贵的自然资源。 由于保护和本土利用的目标不一致，本研究将利用文化、政治和景观生态学的理论和方法来回答几个问题。 首先，该项目将评估微甘草是否对萨摩亚的各种栖息地类型总体构成风险，或者是否主要局限于人类干扰地区。 这将通过每种植被类型的分层随机抽样进行评估。 航空照片、实地测绘和地理信息系统也将用于构建栖息地斑块和廊道的镶嵌图，并与采样结合起来，用于构建微甘菊分布的可测试模型。 其次，该研究将评估人类对该物种的利用程度。 这里的调查将收集生物物理和人种学数据。 研究村的每个田地都将被绘制地图，并采集植被和土壤样本，以评估植物群落和土壤之间的反馈。 我们将与每位农民进行访谈，以评估他们如何管理田间的植物群落，特别是关于微甘草是否因其特定优势而被积极管理、作为不良杂草而被积极管理、或仅仅作为一种手段进行适应充分利用糟糕的情况。 最后，该研究将利用人种学技术来调查每个农民如何处于充满权力的社交网络中，以及这如何影响农民的决策。 该研究将考察获取土地（土地保有形式）、获取投入、处置农业产出（通过自给和/或营销）和知识（无论是传统、教育还是政府推广）的​​网络。 该研究跨越多个生物物理和社会尺度，从微观尺度（田地、斑块、家庭）到中尺度（村庄、景观马赛克）和宏观尺度（生物入侵、国家和国际环境政策和话语）。 该分析将社会、政治和经济力量与塑造景观马赛克的个人决策者联系起来。薇甘菊是一种正在影响多个热带国家的环境和经济的物种，但人们对其知之甚少。 萨摩亚的这项研究为研究该物种提供了一个独特的机会，以便从不同的角度为各种学科提供信息。 这项调查将为更广泛的入侵物种研究提供信息，特别是在人类主导的生态系统背景下研究这种生物入侵以及这种统治在多个相互作用尺度上的社会层面。 此外，这项研究将阐明可用于确定入侵物种是否是必须应对的威胁，或者是否是良性甚至有益的因素；仅仅因为入侵物种是入侵物种而对其实施控制可能会给社会带来不必要的更大成本。 最后，该研究将揭示有关该物种的当地知识和实践，为更公平的环境政策提供信息。 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。