Differential Conservation of Two Species of Canarium (Burseraceae) among the Babatana and Ririo of Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands

McClatchey, Will; Sirikolo, Myknee; Kaleveke, Lazarus; Pitanapi, Carefree

doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[212:dcotso]2.0.co;2

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In recent years, informant-defined "folk" use-categories (and value scales) are presented more often (McClatchey et al 2006). Informant-defined categories provide another dimension to the data and improve reproducibility by reducing researcher bias.…”

Section: Use Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Importance Indices in Ethnobotany

Hoffman¹,

Gallaher²

2007

Ethnobot. Res. App.

295

218

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Measuring the "importance" of plants and vegetation to people is a central concern in quantitative ethnobotany. A common tool to quantify otherwise qualitative data in the biological and social sciences is an index. Relative cultural importance (RCI) indices such as the "use values" developed by Prance et al. (1987) and Phillips and Gentry (1993a, 1993b) are applied in ethnobotany to calculate a value per folk or biological plant taxon. These approaches can provide data amenable to hypothesis-testing, statistical validation, and comparative analysis. The use of RCI indices is a growing trend in ethnobotanical research, yet there have been few attempts to compile or standardize divergent methods. In this review, we compare RCI indices in four broad categories and present a step-by-step guide to some specific methods. Important background topics are addressed, including ethnographic methods, use categorization, sampling, and statistical analysis. We are concerned here only with "value" as a non-monetary concept. The aspiring and veteran researcher alike should find this paper a useful guide to the development and application of RCI indices. IntroductionThe scientific rigor of ethnobotanical research has increased dramatically in the past two decades due to the adoption of quantitative methods (Phillips 1996). By and large, ethnobotanists have recognized and responded to the need for research based upon hallmarks of the scientific method, including testable hypotheses, reproducible methods, and statistical measures of variation. A primary challenge in this quantitative trend is how to produce values that are reliable and comparable measures of less tangible qualitative data. Borrowing from the social sciences and ecology, considerable advances have been made through the development and application of relative cultural importance (RCI) 1 indices that produce numerical scales or values per plant taxon (Alexiades & Sheldon 1996, Kvist et al. 1995, Lykke et al. 2004, Martin 2004, Phillips & Gentry 1993a, 1993b, Phillips et al. 1994, Phillips 1996, Prance et al. 1987, Reyes-García et al. 2006a, Turner 1988).The application of RCI indices in ethnobotany began during the late 1980s. Boom (1990) determined the percentage of plants used by Panare indigenous informants within a 1 hectare forest plot in Venezuela. His research was an important starting point for quantitative inter-cultural comparisons of plant knowledge. Recognizing that not all uses are equal, Prance et al. (1987), applied weighted indices of 1.0 for "important" uses and 0.5 for "minor" uses. This approach was aimed at capturing relative degrees of "importance", but did not address informant variation. Gentry and Phillip's (1993aPhillip's ( , 1993b) publication on RCI "use values" was a watershed event in quantitative ethnobotany. These last authors evaluated variation among informants based upon use-citation frequencies, considering each as a statistical "event."Since the methods of Prance et al.

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Section: Use Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article is submitted in response to calls by the editor of this publication for clear explanations of current methods in ethnobotany to be made available to a larger audience (McClatchey 2006). We also explore competency levels for use of this method as recommended by Bridges and Lau (2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance Indices in Ethnobotany

Hoffman¹,

Gallaher²

2007

Ethnobot. Res. App.

295

218

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“…Canarium indicum is referred to as the canarium nut tree because of its nut-like fruits [15] and in the Solomon Islands C. indicum is known as the Canarum almond for the same reason, as is C. salomonense and C. harveyi. McClatchey et al [20] also notes a spiritual importance of C. salomonense in the northwest Solomon Islands, over other species including C. indicum, which is also commonly used in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. They found that C. salomonense held more importance than C. indicum not because it was more important as a food resource (C. indicum nuts were eaten more often) but because C. salomonense trees were considered 'sacred'.…”

Section: Indigenous Resin Use In Australia and Papua New Guineamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that C. salomonense held more importance than C. indicum not because it was more important as a food resource (C. indicum nuts were eaten more often) but because C. salomonense trees were considered 'sacred'. "Generally, C. salomonense is viewed as a critical resource but C. indicum can serve as a substitute in some but not all situations" [20] and McClatchey et al noted that there was much more discrimination between use and importance of the species' for healing, religious/ceremonial/ritualistic occasions, warfare, food storage/harvest/preparation and property ownership in favour of C. salomonense.…”

Section: Indigenous Resin Use In Australia and Papua New Guineamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fact that the tobacco could be substituted for [24] suggests that the resin is as important as, if not more so than the tobacco for the narcotic or otherwise desired effect. The sacred aspect of C. salomonense in parts of the Solomon Islands [20] also needs to be considered with respect to the selection of resin used to produce the 'cool smoke' , although this was not referred to by Blackwood [24] on collection of the artefact.…”

Section: Sample Prm29mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical characterisation of museum-curated ethnographic resins from Australia and New Guinea used as adhesives, medicines and narcotics

Bradshaw

2013

Heritage Science

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Background: Six ethnographic museum resins with documented adhesive, medicinal and narcotic uses have been analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as a step towards understanding the role of specific resins in 20 th century Australia and New Guinea. Curated in the Pitt Rivers Museum for over a hundred years, these specimens are examples of resin used for three different purposes, some accompanied by ethnographic accounts from the collectors themselves. Results: The six ethnographic resins have been chemically characterised and identified to species where possible: an adhesive resin from New South Wales is identified as Xanthorrhoea resinosa Pers.; adhesives from New Guinea are tentatively identified as Canarium luzonicum Miq. and beeswax mixed with Canarium spp.; a narcotic resin from New Guinea is identified as Canarium salomonense B.L.Burtt; and the characterisation of spinifex resin from West Australian 'medicine shells' hypothesised to be Triodia irritans R.Br is presented. Conclusions: This study concludes that molecular differentiation between resins from different species is still possible after a hundred years of aging in a museum environment and demonstrates the potential of resin analysis on such aged museum items. These data alongside re-visited ethnographic accounts can confirm, correct, or provide new information to museum records. Furthermore, they can shed new light on the study of the role of these particular resins and mixtures that were used in Indigenous Sahul and contribute towards a framework of analysis and understanding of archaeological resins from this region.

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Exploring Biocultural Contexts: Comparative Woody Plant Knowledge of an Indigenous and Afro-American Maroon Community in Suriname, South America

Hoffman

2012

African Ethnobotany in the Americas

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Despite the increasing use of quantitative methods in ethnobotany, there has been relatively little advance in understanding of cross-cultural patterns. Within three tropical forest vegetation zones, I documented and compared local plant knowledge, categorical use, and resource selection for a short-resident (±300 years) Afro-American Saramacca "Maroon" community and an indigenous Caribanspeaking Trio community. For 3-4 male specialists at each site, the "recognition" and use of stems ³ 10 cm dbh in forest plots (0.5-1 ha) was recorded. Comparative methods included quantitative use value indices and categorized uses (construction, edible, medicine, technology, and trade). The Trio emphasized medicinal uses regardless of vegetation zone. Saramacca use value was greatest within fallow forest, exceeded Trio knowledge for "construction" and "trade," and emphasized timber and carving species. For both groups, the use value of most taxa (family and species) was correlated with "apparency" (abundance, species richness), with the exception of palms and major cultural species. As hypothesized, Trio indigenous knowledge was greater -with more biological species named (97.3% vs. 83.9%) and utilized (87.7% vs. 66.9%) and more uses cited per species. However, the shorter-resident Saramacca Maroon participants still revealed a robust knowledge and use of woody plant diversity.

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Differential Conservation of Two Species of Canarium (Burseraceae) among the Babatana and Ririo of Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Importance Indices in Ethnobotany

Importance Indices in Ethnobotany

Chemical characterisation of museum-curated ethnographic resins from Australia and New Guinea used as adhesives, medicines and narcotics

Exploring Biocultural Contexts: Comparative Woody Plant Knowledge of an Indigenous and Afro-American Maroon Community in Suriname, South America

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