Cocoa farms in the Mount Cameroon region: biological and cultural diversity in local livelihoods

A study was undertaken around Mt Cameroon to examine the role of biological and cultural diversity in the livelihood strategies of indigenous villagers and migrants to the region. Surveys of resources consumed and sold by 118 households were undertaken in five villages over the course of 1 year, the perspectives and practices of cocoa farmers documented, and useful tree species retained or planted on six cocoa farms mapped. Cocoa farms in this region generate more significant benefits for biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods than commercial plantations, but also place pressure on forest reserves and require chemical inputs. Roughly 50 tree species are commonly retained or planted on cocoa farms, primarily for timber or food, with many of these having high conservation value. Average tree density of non-cocoa trees was 15 trees per hectare, with tree densities higher, and a larger percentage of species used, on indigenous Bomboko farms than migrant farms. Both migrant and indigenous households rely on forest as a complement to farm income, but indigenous households do this to a far greater extent, while also making extensive use of fallow and home gardens. Indigenous households also derive roughly four times the income from wild and native species compared to migrants. While diversified cocoa farms contribute to conservation and livelihoods in the region, indigenous livelihoods grow from and require the conservation of a broader range of species and habitats, including natural forest.     

Macro-Micro Linkages and Structural Transformation: The Move from Full-Time to Part-Time Farming in a North Florida Agricultural Community

Recent research has focused on the effects of macro-level structural forces on local cultures and agricultural systems of production. While indigenous systems can be dramatically altered by these forces, local institutions can also try to adopt strategies for survival. In this article I focus on how the shade tobacco farmers of North Florida adapted to the market collapse of their major money crop. In order to remain in agriculture, farmers who were established in a full-time farming tradition had to consider strategies that included part-time farming and off-farm work. The part-time farmers are compared to those who have tried to remain full time to find how successful the adjustment process has been.     

Indigenous names of fish and fishing gear in the Cuvelai,Kavango and Caprivi regions of Namibia

This study discusses the local names of the inland fresh water fish species of the Cuvelai, Kavango and Caprivi regions of Namibia, in five indigenous languages: OshiWambo/OshiNdonga, RuKwangali, RuGciriku, SiLosi and SiSubia. It also discusses local names of the indigenous types of fishing gear currently used in the inland water fishing practices in those regions. In the Cuvelai systems 24 fish species have OshiWambo/OshiNdonga names, in the Kavango systems 60 have RuKwangali and RuGciriku names and in the Caprivi systems 68 have SiLosi and SiSubia names. Twenty types of fishing gear are recorded to have indigenous names in the Cuvelai, 25 in Kavango and 22 in Caprivi. Fifteen commonly available indigenous types of gear are exclusively used by women, who therefore play a crucial role in the exploitation and conservation of freshwater fish in Namibia.     

Indigenous Knowledge and Management of Araucaria Araucana Forest in the Chilean Andes: Implications for Native Forest Conservation

Southern Chile experienced serious deforestation during the past century and it is projected that by the year 2025 Chile will be devoid of native forests. One of the most important endemic tree species of the country and at the same time one of the most endangered ones is Araucaria araucana (Mol.) C. Koch, the monkey-puzzle tree. It grows in the Andes Mountains, homeland of the indigenous Mapuche Pewenche people who depend on this tree. This paper is based on participatory field research with a Mapuche Pewenche community in the southern Chilean Andes on their ecological knowledge, values, use and management of the Araucaria araucana forest. It attempts to reveal how indigenous people and their knowledge contribute to the sustainable management of these forests. The paper (1) illustrates the complexity of indigenous ecological knowledge of Araucaria araucana and its efficacy in native forest management, (2) explores the link between the conservation and use of biodiversity by the indigenous people, and (3) provides answers relevant to native forest management and conservation strategies ex-situ and in-situ incorporating indigenous and scientific knowledge, thus providing a contribution towards integrated natural resource management.     

The Influence of Science Communication on Indigenous Climate Change Perception: Theoretical and Practical Implications

Citizens receive information on global climate change through both observation of local impacts and reception of climate science. This article presents a quantitative analysis of the interplay of these two sources of information in an indigenous population: residents of Majuro, the capital city of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. While Majuro residents’ reports of local environmental change are partly the result of firsthand observation of changing conditions, survey data robustly demonstrates that environmental change reports are also strongly influenced by awareness of climate science; scientific awareness is a better predictor of environmental change reports than exposure to the environment. This provides a rare quantitative demonstration of the openness of ‘local’ knowledge to foreign scientific information; challenges research methodologies for the study of indigenous climate change perceptions that exclude the role of scientific communication; and suggests a novel, and overlooked, rationale for the dissemination of climate science to frontline communities.     

Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems are strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practices or to coexistence of the two healing traditions. Methodology: Interviews were conducted between June 2006 and December 2008 with 18 households at each study site. Qualitative identification and analysis of households' therapeutic strategies and use of remedies was complemented by quantitative assessment of the incidence of culture-bound illnesses in local ethnobiological inventories. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that the health-seeking behavior of Andean households is independent of the degree of availability of biomedical facilities in terms of quality of services provided, physical accessibility, and financial affordability, except for specific practices such as childbirth. Preference for natural remedies over pharmaceuticals coexisted with biomedical healthcare that was both accessible and affordable. Furthermore, our results show that greater access to biomedicine does not lead to less prevalence of Andean indigenous medical knowledge, as represented by the levels of knowledge about culture-bound illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: The take-home lesson for health policy-makers from this study is that the main obstacle to improved use of biomedicine in resource-poor rural areas might not be infrastructural or economic alone. Rather, it may lie in lack of sufficient recognition by biomedical practitioners of the value and importance of indigenous medical systems. We propose that the implementation of health care in indigenous communities be designed as a process of joint development of complementary knowledge and practices from indigenous and biomedical health traditions.     

Combining native instant photography and photo‐elicitation

The purpose of this study was to explore a combination of two visual strategies to arrive at an emic view of what it is like to be a female re‐entry college student. Both native instant photography and photo‐elicitation were necessary to arrive at the conclusion that re‐entry women have three different types of temporal rhythms in their lives which in turn lead to role overload and guilt. Entering college after having spent many years taking care of a spouse and children creates a role conflict which must be resolved if a woman is to be a successful student. The visual strategies provided an intimate view of this role conflict. Suggestions are made for employing a similar approach to study individuals who are experiencing other types of transition or role conflict.     

Food Aversions and Cravings during Pregnancy on Yasawa Island,Fiji

Women often experience novel food aversions and cravings during pregnancy. These appetite changes have been hypothesized to work alongside cultural strategies as adaptive responses to the challenges posed by pregnancy (e.g., maternal immune suppression). Here, we report a study that assessed whether data from an indigenous population in Fiji are consistent with the predictions of this hypothesis. We found that aversions focus predominantly on foods expected to exacerbate the challenges of pregnancy. Cravings focus on foods that provide calories and micronutrients while posing few threats to mothers and fetuses. We also found that women who experience aversions to specific foods are more likely to crave foods that meet nutritional needs similar to those provided by the aversive foods. These findings are in line with the predictions of the hypothesis. This adds further weight to the argument that appetite changes may function in parallel with cultural mechanisms to solve pregnancy challenges.     

Chemo-biological suppression of root-infecting zoosporic pathogens in recirculating hydroponic systems

Zoosporic root-infecting pathogens are the most destructive organisms in enclosed environment agricultural systems which recycle irrigation water. Numerous strategies have been proposed for reducing or eliminating these pathogens from recycled irrigation water. These strategies include the following: filtration, sedimentation, chlorination, ozonation, heat, ultraviolet light, application of antimicrobial chemicals, suppressive potting substrates, and biological control agents. The latter strategy has been the focus of numerous investigations but consistency in performance in disease abatement following their application has not been realized. This has been attributed, in part, to the inability of these potential biocontrol bacteria to maintain a critical threshold population necessary for sustained biocontrol activity. That threshold population has been estimated at not less than 10⁶ CFU g^?1 of soil or root. Recently, we demonstrated that amending recycled irrigation water with specific carbon substrates (i.e., N-Serve® or Truban®) resulted in the selective enhancement of the indigenous fluorescent pseudomonad populations to levels at or above the presumed threshold levels necessary for disease control. In our current study, we verified the ubiquity of that response in different cultural systems involving two different host plants (i.e., cucumber and pepper) and, most significantly, we document, for the first time, significant and sustained disease abatement. Additionally, we demonstrated that nitrapyrin, the active ingredients in N-Serve® and Truban®, exerted direct antifungal activity whereas the inert ingredients had an indirect role in disease suppression. Specifically, the inert ingredients were responsible for the increase in the fluorescent pseudomonad population. Amending the recirculating nutrient solution with a representative fluorescent pseudomonad isolate verified and substantiated their role in disease control. Cumulatively, our results support the hypothesis that it is possible to modify the environment to make it more conducive to the multiplication and survival of indigenous biocontrol bacteria. The resident microflora in many, if not most, habitats already contain prospective biological control members who, if enhanced, could function as antagonists to other microorganisms in the same habitat.     

Garden Game: Shifting Cultivation,Indigenous Hunting and Wildlife Ecology in Western Panama

Participatory research documented the hunting yields of 59 households in five neighboring indigenous villages in western Panama. These households captured 2,580 kg of game over 8 months, with 47% of the harvest coming from agricultural areas. The quantity of game captured in anthropogenic habitats is influenced by the hunting strategies employed. Only 25% of game captured during hunting trips was captured in agricultural areas, as opposed to 93% while “awaiting” and 65% using traps. Reliance on different strategies is in turn dependent on age, gender, and access to firearms. I argue that garden hunting is not a response to game depletion, but rather a productive activity that is complementary to broader cultural and economic patterns, and that simultaneously protects crops from animal predation. The creation of heterogeneous habitat mosaics through shifting cultivation has played a key role in the relationship between people and wildlife in the humid neotropics, leading to adjustments in both animal foraging patterns and indigenous hunting practices.     

Communication of the three Rs within establishments: some problems and solutions. Report of a LASA Alternatives Section meeting. Laboratory Animal Science Association

A meeting was organised by the Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA) Alternatives Section to provide a forum in which ideas for strategies to raise awareness of the Three Rs could be discussed. One of the main objectives of the meeting was to identify effective strategies which could feasibly be implemented at establishments. In general, there are two main ways in which Three Rs information can be obtained and communicated. Individuals can be assigned to a role with specific responsibilities (for example, a named alternatives expert), or committees can be established, with a remit to find ways to reduce, refine and/or replace animal use (for example, an alternatives committee). The meeting involved invited speakers who are engaged in obtaining and communicating Three Rs information, and this report presents a summary of the advantages and limitations of various approaches that are being undertaken.     

The Role of Imported Cases and Favorable Meteorological Conditions in the Onset of Dengue Epidemics

Background

Travelers who acquire dengue infection are often routes for virus transmission to other regions. Nevertheless, the interplay between infected travelers, climate, vectors, and indigenous dengue incidence remains unclear. The role of foreign-origin cases on local dengue epidemics thus has been largely neglected by research. This study investigated the effect of both imported dengue and local meteorological factors on the occurrence of indigenous dengue in Taiwan.

Methods and Principal Findings

Using logistic and Poisson regression models, we analyzed bi-weekly, laboratory-confirmed dengue cases at their onset dates of illness from 1998 to 2007 to identify correlations between indigenous dengue and imported dengue cases (in the context of local meteorological factors) across different time lags. Our results revealed that the occurrence of indigenous dengue was significantly correlated with temporally-lagged cases of imported dengue (2–14 weeks), higher temperatures (6–14 weeks), and lower relative humidity (6–20 weeks). In addition, imported and indigenous dengue cases had a significant quantitative relationship in the onset of local epidemics. However, this relationship became less significant once indigenous epidemics progressed past the initial stage.

Conclusions

These findings imply that imported dengue cases are able to initiate indigenous epidemics when appropriate weather conditions are present. Early detection and case management of imported cases through rapid diagnosis may avert large-scale epidemics of dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever. The deployment of an early-warning surveillance system, with the capacity to integrate meteorological data, will be an invaluable tool for successful prevention and control of dengue, particularly in non-endemic countries.     

Compromised: Making Institutions and Indigenous Medicine in Mysore State,Circa 1908–1940

This is a study of the emergence of new institutional arenas for ayurveda and yunani medicine, collectivized at the time as ‘indigenous medicine,’ in a semi-autonomous State (Mysore) in late colonial India. The study argues that the characteristic dimensions of this process were compromise and misalignment between ideals of governance and modes of pedagogy and practice. Running counter to a narrative that the Princely States such as Mysore were instrumental for the ‘preservation’ of ayurveda, this study analyzes the process of negotiation and struggle between a variety of actors engaged with shaping the direction of institutionalized ‘indigenous medicine’. In examining the entanglements over the priorities of the state administration and the conflicting desires and ideals of protagonists, the study problematizes the idea of studying the encounter between the ‘state’ and ‘indigenous medicine,’ in order rather to highlight their co-production and the tensions which were generated in the process. While institution-making for ayurveda and yunani in Mysore State assumed distinctive translocal forms, themes of divergence that were unresolved during the time of this study, over the role of the state, the politics of validation, appropriate curricula and pedagogy, and their relation to practice and employment, continue to inform the trajectories of state-directed health provision through ‘indigenous medicine’ on larger scales [India, health-care, ayurveda, yunani, education].     

Genetic Diversity in the Lesser Antilles and Its Implications for the Settlement of the Caribbean Basin

Historical discourses about the Caribbean often chronicle West African and European influence to the general neglect of indigenous people’s contributions to the contemporary region. Consequently, demographic histories of Caribbean people prior to and after European contact are not well understood. Although archeological evidence suggests that the Lesser Antilles were populated in a series of northward and eastern migratory waves, many questions remain regarding the relationship of the Caribbean migrants to other indigenous people of South and Central America and changes to the demography of indigenous communities post-European contact. To explore these issues, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome diversity in 12 unrelated individuals from the First Peoples Community in Arima, Trinidad, and 43 unrelated Garifuna individuals residing in St. Vincent. In this community-sanctioned research, we detected maternal indigenous ancestry in 42% of the participants, with the remainder having haplotypes indicative of African and South Asian maternal ancestry. Analysis of Y-chromosome variation revealed paternal indigenous American ancestry indicated by the presence of haplogroup Q-M3 in 28% of the male participants from both communities, with the remainder possessing either African or European haplogroups. This finding is the first report of indigenous American paternal ancestry among indigenous populations in this region of the Caribbean. Overall, this study illustrates the role of the region’s first peoples in shaping the genetic diversity seen in contemporary Caribbean populations.     

Espanto: A dialogue with the Gods

Espanto or susto has been analysed from various points of view in the last fifteen years. From a survey covering 109 case analyses collected in Nicolas Ruiz (Chiapas, Mexico), we reached the conclusion that this folk illness cannot be conceived of as a syndrome in the medical sense. A semiological analysis showed that espanto can be better described as an indigenous theory whose function is to relate illness events to other levels of reality.According to indigenous belief, the Holy Earth and the chtonian spirits of the underworld play an important role in the origin of the illness. This origin is associated with an opening of the earth as is illustrated in the earthquakes or the volcanic eruptions forming the prototype of a fright experience leading to espanto; or, it is attributed to agents who inhabit locations where the earth presents a fissure (river, ravine, cave). It is through these holes that the Holy Earth exerts her power. Concomitantly, the body of the victim is believed to open itself to the influences of the bad winds of espanto. Trembling is another aspect of the phenomenon which is observed at numerous levels: first, during the fright experience; second, when the victim falls ill (chills jumping in bed); and third, when the curandera takes the pulse of the patient to see if the blood is afraid. These multiple analogies lead to the assumption that there is a meaning shared by these separate manifestations.     

Distribution patterns of infection with multiple types of human papillomaviruses and their association with risk factors

Background

Infection with multiple types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the main risk factors associated with the development of cervical lesions. In this study, cervical samples collected from 1,810 women with diverse sociocultural backgrounds, who attended to their cervical screening program in different geographical regions of Colombia, were examined for the presence of cervical lesions and HPV by Papanicolau testing and DNA PCR detection, respectively.

Principal Findings

The negative binomial distribution model used in this study showed differences between the observed and expected values within some risk factor categories analyzed. Particularly in the case of single infection and coinfection with more than 4 HPV types, observed frequencies were smaller than expected, while the number of women infected with 2 to 4 viral types were higher than expected. Data analysis according to a negative binomial regression showed an increase in the risk of acquiring more HPV types in women who were of indigenous ethnicity (+37.8%), while this risk decreased in women who had given birth more than 4 times (−31.1%), or were of mestizo (−24.6%) or black (−40.9%) ethnicity.

Conclusions

According to a theoretical probability distribution, the observed number of women having either a single infection or more than 4 viral types was smaller than expected, while for those infected with 2–4 HPV types it was larger than expected. Taking into account that this study showed a higher HPV coinfection rate in the indigenous ethnicity, the role of underlying factors should be assessed in detail in future studies.     

Labrador metis ethnogenesis*

Recent claims to Aboriginal (native or indigenous) identity include new peoples who may not have had an historical consciousness as distinct peoples. This paper presents such a case from Canada, the recent ethnogenesis of the Labrador Metis. These Metis claim Inuit ancestry. Their claim is opposed by Labrador's two established Aboriginal associations and government. Yet Labrador Metis have incorporated under the Labrador Metis Association, filed a land claim with the Canadian government, and are pressing their case before the public. The paper discusses how the Metis are attempting to negotiate Aboriginality, some of the sociocultural consequences of Metis ethnic mobilization, and why Metis are claiming to be Aboriginal at this time.     

Zapotec and Mixe use of Tropical Habitats for securing medicinal plants in MéXico

Medicinal plants are essential in the medical systems of the Mixe and Zapotec. In this study ethno-ecological strategies, employed by the two neighboring Indian groups in Mexico, for obtaining medicinal plants are analyzed. The indigenous classification of the environment is notably different from the Western one and distinguishes six dissimilar principal “zones” or land use types. Most ethnomedically important species are cultivated in the “house garden” or gathered in the community or its immediate surroundings. The house garden, for example, contributes 31.8% and 26.2% of all medical taxa for the Mixe and Zapotec, respectively. These ethnobotanical data on the indigenous uses indicate that anthropogenic types of vegetation yield the largest percentage of medicinal taxa.     

微生物强化修复石油污染土壤的研究进展

微生物修复被认为是去除石油污染物和修复石油污染土壤的一种经济、高效且无二次污染的绿色清洁技术。受土壤环境条件和石油污染物性质等因素制约,土壤中土著石油降解微生物常存在数量不足、活性偏低、生长缓慢等问题,导致修复效果不佳、修复周期偏长。微生物强化修复技术可有效提高微生物降解效能,通过投加具有降解效能的功能菌株或菌剂、营养物质、表面活性剂、生长基质及固定化微生物等手段,可改善提升土著微生物对石油污染土壤的修复效果。文中梳理了已报道的石油降解微生物的种类,总结了微生物修复石油污染土壤的主要影响因素,阐述了微生物强化修复石油土壤的多种有效策略,提出了微生物强化修复石油污染的未来发展方向。