“…We do not have sufficient evidence to determine whether this observation corresponds with purposeful maintenance of these palms for their goods and services, as has been recorded elsewhere in this species’ range [ 6 , 50 ]. However, A. butyracea is a long-lived species that matures slowly [ 6 , 9 , 10 ], and the identification of substantial mature individual palms (n = 1593) and nine clusters of mature A. butyracea in new forest growth less than 5 years old suggest that palms are retained or otherwise survive forest clearing in at least some areas (Table 3 ). Further research is needed to assess why mature A. butyracea palms in otherwise deforested areas remain in pastures and in close proximity to households, and to assess whether this occurrence is accidental or purposeful.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 89%
“…Mature palm crowns are readily distinguished on remotely sensed imagery, due to their distinctive starburst shape (Fig. 3 ) and characteristically large size [ 5 , 6 ]. Fig.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The A. butyracea palm (Fig. 1 ) is a dense-crowned species in the subtribe Attaleinae that ranges from Mexico to western Amazonia [ 5 , 6 ]. This palm is characterized by a large crown (individual fronds may reach up to 10 m in length), which contains dense organic material well suited to supporting the microclimate R. pallescens bugs require, as well as habitat for the arboreal mammals on which they preferentially feed [ 4 , 6 – 11 ].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…1 ) is a dense-crowned species in the subtribe Attaleinae that ranges from Mexico to western Amazonia [ 5 , 6 ]. This palm is characterized by a large crown (individual fronds may reach up to 10 m in length), which contains dense organic material well suited to supporting the microclimate R. pallescens bugs require, as well as habitat for the arboreal mammals on which they preferentially feed [ 4 , 6 – 11 ]. R. pallescens vectors are true palm specialists [ 7 ] and T. cruzi parasite transmission in Panama is typically confined to sylvatic transmission cycles within palm crowns [ 12 , 13 ]; however, adult R. pallescens in palms near households occasionally invade homes, either in search of potential food sources due to overcrowding of palm canopies [ 14 , 15 ], or through attraction to electric lights [ 16 , 17 ].…”
Background
Increased Attalea butyracea palm propagation, notable for its role as key habitat for the primary Chagas disease vector in Panama, has been linked to landscape disturbance in single-palm observations in this region. Close proximity of these palms to human dwellings is proposed to increase risk of Chagas disease transmission from sylvatic transmission cycles to domestic transmission involving human populations. This study examines the relationship between landscape disturbance and mature A. butyracea spatial distribution, density, and proximity to human populations and vector and reservoir species’ movement corridors at a regional scale in a 300 km2 heterogeneous tropical landscape in central Panama.
Methods
We remotely identified the locations of over 50,000 mature A. butyracea palms using high-resolution WorldView2 satellite imagery. A local Getis-Ord Gi* spatial analysis identified significant clusters of aggregated palms. Associations between palm and cluster abundance and a landscape disturbance gradient, derived from official Panama land cover data, were tested using Chi-square tests for Homogeneity and Z-test for proportions. Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance tests were run to assess whether palm cluster area varied by disturbance level, or whether disturbance was associated with proximity of palms and palm clusters to susceptible populations or vector movement corridors.
Results
Our findings indicate a regional relationship between landscape disturbance and A. butyracea occurrence. We observe a significant increase in both individual and clustered A. butyracea in secondary forest, but a reduction of palms in agricultural settings. We do not detect evidence of any reduction in abundance of palms in residential settings. The majority of residential and commercial buildings in our study area are within vector flight distance of potential vector habitat in palm crowns.
Conclusions
We observe probable anthropogenic elimination of A. butyracea palms in agricultural, but not residential, settings. Even in heavily deforested regions, significant concentrations of mature palms remain in close proximity to human establishments.
“…We do not have sufficient evidence to determine whether this observation corresponds with purposeful maintenance of these palms for their goods and services, as has been recorded elsewhere in this species’ range [ 6 , 50 ]. However, A. butyracea is a long-lived species that matures slowly [ 6 , 9 , 10 ], and the identification of substantial mature individual palms (n = 1593) and nine clusters of mature A. butyracea in new forest growth less than 5 years old suggest that palms are retained or otherwise survive forest clearing in at least some areas (Table 3 ). Further research is needed to assess why mature A. butyracea palms in otherwise deforested areas remain in pastures and in close proximity to households, and to assess whether this occurrence is accidental or purposeful.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 89%
“…Mature palm crowns are readily distinguished on remotely sensed imagery, due to their distinctive starburst shape (Fig. 3 ) and characteristically large size [ 5 , 6 ]. Fig.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The A. butyracea palm (Fig. 1 ) is a dense-crowned species in the subtribe Attaleinae that ranges from Mexico to western Amazonia [ 5 , 6 ]. This palm is characterized by a large crown (individual fronds may reach up to 10 m in length), which contains dense organic material well suited to supporting the microclimate R. pallescens bugs require, as well as habitat for the arboreal mammals on which they preferentially feed [ 4 , 6 – 11 ].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…1 ) is a dense-crowned species in the subtribe Attaleinae that ranges from Mexico to western Amazonia [ 5 , 6 ]. This palm is characterized by a large crown (individual fronds may reach up to 10 m in length), which contains dense organic material well suited to supporting the microclimate R. pallescens bugs require, as well as habitat for the arboreal mammals on which they preferentially feed [ 4 , 6 – 11 ]. R. pallescens vectors are true palm specialists [ 7 ] and T. cruzi parasite transmission in Panama is typically confined to sylvatic transmission cycles within palm crowns [ 12 , 13 ]; however, adult R. pallescens in palms near households occasionally invade homes, either in search of potential food sources due to overcrowding of palm canopies [ 14 , 15 ], or through attraction to electric lights [ 16 , 17 ].…”
Background
Increased Attalea butyracea palm propagation, notable for its role as key habitat for the primary Chagas disease vector in Panama, has been linked to landscape disturbance in single-palm observations in this region. Close proximity of these palms to human dwellings is proposed to increase risk of Chagas disease transmission from sylvatic transmission cycles to domestic transmission involving human populations. This study examines the relationship between landscape disturbance and mature A. butyracea spatial distribution, density, and proximity to human populations and vector and reservoir species’ movement corridors at a regional scale in a 300 km2 heterogeneous tropical landscape in central Panama.
Methods
We remotely identified the locations of over 50,000 mature A. butyracea palms using high-resolution WorldView2 satellite imagery. A local Getis-Ord Gi* spatial analysis identified significant clusters of aggregated palms. Associations between palm and cluster abundance and a landscape disturbance gradient, derived from official Panama land cover data, were tested using Chi-square tests for Homogeneity and Z-test for proportions. Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance tests were run to assess whether palm cluster area varied by disturbance level, or whether disturbance was associated with proximity of palms and palm clusters to susceptible populations or vector movement corridors.
Results
Our findings indicate a regional relationship between landscape disturbance and A. butyracea occurrence. We observe a significant increase in both individual and clustered A. butyracea in secondary forest, but a reduction of palms in agricultural settings. We do not detect evidence of any reduction in abundance of palms in residential settings. The majority of residential and commercial buildings in our study area are within vector flight distance of potential vector habitat in palm crowns.
Conclusions
We observe probable anthropogenic elimination of A. butyracea palms in agricultural, but not residential, settings. Even in heavily deforested regions, significant concentrations of mature palms remain in close proximity to human establishments.
“…The shebón or Attalea butyracea fronds are wider and last longer than Attalea phalerata . For this reason, even today, these palm types are transported hundreds of kilometers to supply villages and towns in the Peruvian Amazon (Smith, 2015). In Amazonian urban enclaves such as Iquitos, until the 20th century, the thatched-palm was sold as a construction component (Mejia, 1988: 132).…”
In the Northwestern Amazon, resilience in construction has been traditionally conceived as a capacity for social, climatic, and spatial adaptability. Through methods of seasonal reconstruction based on lightweight enclosures made mainly from palms, vernacular housing, or malocas, in the region have proven efficient from environmental, human comfort, and cultural perspectives. Intricately woven palms, layered to shape roofs and walls, form enclosures that repel water, insulate heat, and reflect light while embodying specific projections of the body in space as the basis of unique cosmological perspectives of spatial organization. The palm-weave is the very root of the construction ethos of Northwestern Amazon housing. In the last few decades, these complex woven enclosures have been progressively replaced with industrial panels made of materials such as galvanized steel or cement, simply because of their low economic cost and availability. The loss of the palm-weave in roof-walls is not a mere replacement but a supplantation of material culture and has profound environmental, human comfort, and social implications. In a context where resilience has been shaped cognitively and physically through a plant-based material culture of adaptability, what is the extent of a potential craft disruption? The supplantation of the palm-weave technical practice implies a loss of social engagement in a craft that has defined an understanding of belonging and inhabitation. This article addresses how the geometric, scale, and spatial characteristics originating from the distinctive palm-weave craft of the Western Amazon malocas of the Bora, Miraña, Muiname (Witoto), Murui (Witoto), Yukuna, Tikuna, and Makuna groups perform as a living entity. By questioning the differences between craft preservation vis-à-vis reclamation, the author explores the specific architectural and social characteristics that are locally valued in the inherited craft to create a path for discussing future generations of palm-weave in the Northwestern Amazon.
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