Palms and People in the Amazon

484 Pages·2015·41.69 MB·English

by  Nigel Smith (auth.)

Geobotany Studies
Basics, Methods and Case Studies
Nigel Smith
Palms and
People in
the Amazon
Geobotany Studies
Basics, Methods and Case Studies
Editor
FrancoPedrotti
UniversityofCamerino
Camerino
Italy
EditorialBoard
S.Bartha,Vacratot,Hungary
F.Bioret,UniversityofBrest,France
E.O.Box,UniversityofGeorgia,Athens,USA
A.Cˇarni,SlovenianAcademyofSciences,Ljubljana(Slovenia)
K.Fujiwara,UniversityofYokohama,Japan
D.Gafta,University“Babes-Bolyai”ofCluj-Napoca(Romania)
J.-M.Ge´hu,Inter-Phyto,NouvionsurPonthieux,France
J.Loidi,UniversityofBilbao,Spain
L.Mucina,UniversityofPerth,Australia
S.Pignatti,UniversityofRome,Italy
R.Pott,UniversityofHannover,Germany
A.Velasquez,CentrodeInvestigacionenScienciasAmbientales,
Morelia,Mexico
R.Venanzoni,UniversityofPerugia,Italy
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesat
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About the Series
The series includes outstanding monographs and collections of papers on a given
topic in the following fields: Phytogeography, Phytosociology, Plant Community
Ecology,Biocoenology,VegetationScience,Eco-informatics,LandscapeEcology,
Vegetation Mapping, Plant Conservation Biology and Plant Diversity.
Contributions are expected to reflect the latest theoretical and methodological
developments or to present new applications at large spatial or temporal scales
that could reinforce our understanding of ecological processes acting at the
phytocoenosis and vegetation landscape level. Case studies based on large data
sets are also considered, provided they support habitat classification refinement,
plant diversity conservation or vegetation change prediction. Geobotany Studies:
Basics, Methodsand Case Studies is the successor to Braun-Blanquetia published
bytheUniversityofCamerinobetween1984and2011withcooperationofStation
Internationale de Phytosociologie (Bailleul-France) and Dipartimento di Botanica
ed Ecologia (Universite´ de Camerino - Italia) and under the aegis of Societe´
Amicale Francophone de Phytosociologie, Societe´ Francaise de Phytosociologie,
Rheinold Tuexen Gesellschaft and the Eastern Alpine and Dinaric Society for
Vegetation Ecology. This series aims to promote the expansion, evolution and
applicationoftheinvaluablescientificlegacyoftheBraun-Blanquetiaschool.
Nigel Smith
Palms and People in the
Amazon
NigelSmith
DepartmentofGeography
UniversityofFlorida
Gainesville,FL
USA
ISSN2198-2562 ISSN2198-2570(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-05508-4 ISBN978-3-319-05509-1(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-05509-1
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014948187
#SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015
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TothememoryofHilgardO’ReillySternberg
(1915–2011)
Brazilian geographer, mentor, and inspiring
teacher who introduced me to the Amazon in
1970 during a summer field course
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Preface
IhaveundertakenfieldworkintheAmazonsince1970.Mostofthefieldworkhas
beenconductedintheBrazilianportionofthebasin,butIhavealsovisitedpartsof
Amazonia in Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela. The Amazon Basin is vast, so this
ethnobotanical survey of palms is by no means exhaustive. And my field work has
beenmostlywithruralpeopleofmixedancestry,orwhonolongerspeakanynative
language.Ihaveonlyvisitedafewindigenousgroups–theAssuriniatPostoTrocara
alongthelowerTocantins,afewfamiliesofSatereˆ-Maue´livingoutsidetheirreservein
thewatershedoftheMaue´s,ShipibovillagesatSanFranciscoandNuevaCajamarca
alongtheUcayalivisitstoseveralTukanoandTuyukacommunitiesalongtheUaupe´s
and Tiquie´ Rivers, and a couple of Kichwa communities along the Alto Pastaza in
Ecuador – and then only for brief periods. For information on the use of palms by
indigenous peoples, I have therefore relied heavily on published sources. Appendix
2listsindigenousgroupsmentionedinthetextandsummarizestheirlocations.
Ihavenothadaresearchprojecttospecificallystudytheethnobotanyofpalms.
RatherIhavemadefieldnotesandtakenphotographsofpalmsduringthecourseof
other research endeavors stretching over four decades. A large number of
organizations have funded my field work in Amazonia or provided logistical
support since 1970 which enabled me to gain an appreciation for the importance
ofpalmsinthelivesofruralpeople. Thelistoforganizations thathavefundedor
providedlogisticalsupportformyfieldworkinAmazoniaincludes,inchronologi-
cal order: The Center for Latin American Studies, University of California,
Berkeley; MuseuParaenseEm´ılioGoeldi,Bele´m;InstitutoNacionaldePesquisas
da Amazoˆnia (INPA), Manaus; Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecua´ria
(EMBRAPA), Bele´m, Macapa´, and Manaus; World Bank Research Committee;
theJohnD.andCatherineT.MacArthurFoundation;theGordonandBettyMoore
Foundation; the National Geographic Research Committee; ProNaturaleza, Lima
and Iquitos, Peru; Instituto Mamiraua´ in Tefe´; Instituto Socioambiental in Sa˜o
Paulo and Sa˜o Gabriel da Cachoeira; and the Fulbright Council for International
Exchange of Scholars. My findings and opinions expressed in this book are my
own,however,andarenotnecessarilyendorsedbyanyoftheaboveorganizations.
For years, Andrew Henderson of the Institute for Economic Botany at the
New York Botanical Garden has helped me sort out the identity of some Amazo-
nian palms based on my photographs as well as to better understand their
distributions and habitats. Voucher specimens were collected for only a few of
vii
viii Preface
the palms examined here because it can be difficult and very time consuming to
obtainauthorizationstoobtainbiologicalspecimens.Idid,however,receiveautho-
rizationtoobtainplantspecimensinthePeruvianAmazonwiththecollaborationof
Rodolfo Va´squez (Appendix 1). Rodolfo Va´squez, a Peruvian plant taxonomist,
accompaniedmeinthefieldandsentoneofhisassistantsonseveraltripsImadeto
thePacaya-SamiriaNationalReserveinLoreto,Peru,andhishelpwasindispens-
ableinidentifyingofsomeofthelesserknownpalmsoftheregion.
The taxonomy of palms, as with many other botanical families, is periodically
revisedandsomegeneraofpalmsIwasfamiliarwithduringtheearlydaysofmy
field work, such as Orbygnia and Scheelea, are no longer recognized. Plant
taxonomistsusuallymakefewifanyethnobotanicalobservationswhentheygather
specimens for herbaria, and few ethnobotanists or ethnographers working in
Amazonia systematically gather voucher specimens. While reading informative
ethnographies I was often frustrated when turning to a page with a spectacular
photograph of a communal house (maloca) thatched with palm fronds only to
discover that the authors do not even mention the common name of the palm
usedforthatch,letalonegivethescientificname.
Several individuals have helped me arrange field trips in Amazonia, or have
takenthe troubletoreadparts ofthismanuscript.InBrazil,EduardoNevesat the
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography at the University of Sa˜o Paulo was a
valuedcolleagueandcounterpartduringmyfourmonthFulbrightAwardinBrazil
in2012.Dr.NeveskindlyinvitedmetovisitthearchaeologyfieldschoolnearTefe´
whichwasablyadministeredbyoneofhisstudents,JacquelineBelletti.Jacqueline
helpedme organizeseveral fieldexcursionsintheTefe´ area.AngelaStewardand
herhusbandRafaelSantosattheInstitutoMamiraua´didthesameformeintheTefe´
regionin2012.HelenaLimaoftheMuseuParaenseEmilioGoeldiandherhusband
BrunoMoraesintroducedmetothefascinatingprehistoryoftheUrubuRiverwhere
Ivisitedvariousarchaeologicalsiteswiththemin2010and2012.CarlosDuriganof
theFundac¸a˜oVitoriaRegiainManauskindlyorganizedandaccompaniedmeona
fieldtriptotheJau´ NationalParkalongthelowerRioNegroin2012.Pietervander
VeldoftheInstitutoSocioambientalinvitedmetospend3weeksintheUpperRio
Negro region, mainly along the Tiquie´ River, a wonderful opportunity for me to
learn some of the culture of the Tuyuka and Tukano. Charles Clement of the
InstitutoNacionaldePesquisasdaAmazonia(INPA)inManauskindlycommented
onadraftofthepeachpalmchapter.
In Peru, Walter Wust, a Peruvian naturalist and superb photographer helped
organize numerous field trips to the Andes and Amazon region during the 2003–
2006 period. I learned much from his photographic expertise. Professor Augusto
Oyuela-Caycedo of the Anthropology Department at the University of Florida
graciously invited me to participate in a reconnaissance of the northern part of
the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in Loreto in 2010 and also allowed me to
borrow many books from his extensive collection of ethnographic literature on
Amazonia.
InBolivia,Lois“Lucho”Jammes,aFrenchbushpilot,flewmeseveralthousand
kilometersovermanypartsoftheBolivianAmazonin2005inhiscanvas-bodied,
Preface ix
single-engined plane that had a window I could open for unobstructed shots. His
manycontactsatlandingstripsandtownsintheregionwereenormouslyhelpful.
InEcuador,IamparticularlygratefultoSte´phenRostainoftheInstitutoFrance´s
deEstudiosAndinosforhelpingarrangeafieldtripformeinSeptember2013tothe
AltoPastazawhereIwasablyassistedbyhisEcuadoriancolleagueCarlosDuche.
I would also like to thank Cicero Cardoso Augusto, Coordinator of the
Geoprocessing Department at the Instituto Sociambiental (ISA) in Sa˜o Paulo,
Brazil,forprovidingthemapoftheAmazonBasin.
Gainesville,FL,USA NigelSmith