Agroforestry form and ecological adaptation in ancient Hawai'i: Extent of the pākukui swidden system of Hāmākua, Hawai'i Island

Noa Kekuewa Lincoln

Agricultural Systems, 2020, vol. 181, issue C

Abstract: Agricultural strategies in ancient Hawai'i were adaptive, occasionally unique, and increasingly being shown to have strongly related to the local environmental opportunities and constraints. However, little is known about the extent of arboriculture and forest modification due to the lack of physical infrastructure and remains associated with these forms of agriculture. We utilize historical ethnography and remote sensing to examine the form and function of agroforestry along the Hāmākua coast on Hawai'i Island. Mapping over 26,000 remnant trees of two species used in Hawaiian agroforestry systems, we identify two distinct applications of arboriculture: A permanent arboricultural system with substantial breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg) and a shifting cultivation system based on candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus (L.) Willd). The distributions of these systems on the landscape appear to be constrained by soil fertility and temperature, with the swidden agricultural system occurring on the more fertile portion of the landscape and the permanent arboricultural system occupying the less fertile lands. Experimentation demonstrating the nitrogen accumulation and fixation associated with candlenut compost suggests that the swidden system would be maximized if the rotation occurred in the range of 6–12 years

Keywords: Agroforestry; Candlenut; Breadfruit; Agroecology; Arboriculture; Indigenous agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X19309576
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agisys:v:181:y:2020:i:c:s0308521x19309576

DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102808

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Systems is currently edited by J.W. Hansen, P.K. Thornton and P.B.M. Berentsen

More articles in Agricultural Systems from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().