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.

Mikania Micrantha是一种快速生长的葡萄藤，原产于中美洲和南美洲，但已遍布整个热带地区。 该物种对世界几个地区的经济和环境产生了重大影响，尤其是在南亚，东南亚和整个太平洋岛屿。 尤其是在南亚，该植物是对造林的主要威胁，世界许多地区的研究人员正在寻找生物控制。 在萨摩亚，该物种出现在1920年代，现在是群岛中最常见的杂草。 然而，这里的农民将M. Microntha M. M. M. Mictantha纳入了转变的种植系统，在那里它被用作覆盖，覆盖物和牛饲料。 此外，人们用药物使用该物种。 实施生物控制的风险剥夺了农村人口的宝贵自然资源。 有了保护和土著用途的目标，本研究将介入文化，政治和景观生态学的理论和方法，以回答几个问题。 首先，该项目将评估M. Micrantha是否对Samoa的各种栖息地类型构成风险，还是主要限于人类干扰地区。 这将通过每种植被类型中的分层随机采样来评估。 航拍照片，现场映射和GIS也将用于构建栖息地斑块和走廊的镶嵌物，并将与采样结合使用，用于构建M. Microntha分布的可测试模型。 其次，该研究将评估人类使用该物种的维度。 这里的调查将收集生物物理和人种学数据。 研究村的每个领域都将进行映射，并将采集植被和土壤样本，以评估植物群落和土壤之间的反馈。 将对每个农民进行访谈，以评估他们如何管理其领域的植物群落，尤其是M. Micrantha是否因其具体优势而积极管理，并积极管理为不良的杂草，或者只是简单地适应了最好的情况。 最后，该研究将利用人种学技术来研究每个农民如何在电力上载有社交网络，以及这如何融入农民的决策。 该研究将检查网络获取土地（土地权限的形式），获取投入，处理农业产出（通过生存和/或营销）以及知识（无论是传统，教育还是政府扩展）。 这项研究跨越了几个生物物理和社会量表，从微观（田间，斑块，家庭）到中尺度（村庄，景观镶嵌）和MacRoscale（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体决策者联系起来。MikaniaMicrontha是一种影响了几个热带国家的环境和经济的物种，但对此知之甚少。 这项在萨摩亚的研究是研究该物种的独特机会，从而将其从不同的角度为各种学科提供信息。 这项调查将为入侵物种的更广泛的研究提供信息，特别是在研究这种生物学侵袭的情况下，在人类统治的生态系统的背景下以及在几个互动范围内统治这种统治的社会维度。 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是否是良性甚至有益的因素；仅仅是因为它们是入侵物种的控制，就可以对社会施加比必要的更大的成本。 最后，该研究将揭示该物种周围的当地知识和实践，这些知识和实践可以为更公平的环境政策提供信息。 作为博士学位论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立强大的独立研究职业。