University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-1993 The Palm Landscape of Belize: Human Interaction with the Cohune Palm (Orbignya cohune) Kendra McSweeney University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Geography Commons Recommended Citation McSweeney, Kendra, "The Palm Landscape of Belize: Human Interaction with the Cohune Palm (Orbignya cohune). " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1993. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4837 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Kendra McSweeney entitled "The Palm Landscape of Belize: Human Interaction with the Cohune Palm (Orbignya cohune)." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Geography. Sally P. Horn, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Ronald Foresta, Lydia M. Pulsipher Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Kendra Mcsweeney entitled "The Palm Landscape of Belize: Human Interaction with the Cohune Palm (Orbignya cohune) ." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Geography. Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's degree at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extensive quotation from or reproduction of this thesis in whole or in parts may be granted by the copyright holder. Signature Date The Palm Landscape of Belize: Human Interaction with the Cohune Palm (Orbignya cohune) A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Kendra Mcsweeney May 1993 Copyright © Kendra Mcsweeney, 1993 All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor, Professor Sally Horn, for her enthusiastic interest in this project and helpful criticism of earlier drafts of this thesis. The other members of my committee, Dr. Lydia Pulsipher and Dr. Ron Foresta, were also helpful and encouraging. I am indebted to Professor W.V. Davidson of Louisiana State University for originally drawing my attention to the cohune's role in rural Central America. In Belize, my work was made much more enjoyable by the help and good humor of my friend and research assistant, Phil Leclerc. Kim Pilarski was also helpful in the field and as an ever­ supportive and outgoing office mate. Among other Geography graduate students -- all of whom contributed to a pleasant and supportive academic milieu -- I am particularly grateful to Lisa Northrop and Michael Daly for their advice and encouragement, and to Tom Wallin for his patience and cartographic expertise in the production of the thesis' figures. I am particularly appreciative of the friendly helpfulness of the people I met in Belize, who made my experience of their country a very positive one. I would particularly like to thank the August family of San Ignacio, Lou Thomas of Teakettle, and the residents of Bullet Tree Falls, Santa Familia, and Maypen. Last but not least, I am grateful as always for the unwavering interest and encouragement of my family in Montreal and elsewhere, and particularly my parents, Susanne and Kerry. iii ABSTRACT The cohune palm (Orbignya cohune) is a common and conspicuous member of the subtropical lowland forests of Belize, central America. The palm also thrives in the open areas of human settlement; combined, the palm's dominance in both settings creates a rural "palm landscape". This thesis examines that landscape, addressing two ways in which humans and the cohune palm interact. First, apparently anomalous high-density cohune forests are examined for the role of ancient Mayan agriculture in their genesis. Data from this study show these stands may reach densities of 21,640 conspecific stems/ha. Cohune stands all over Belize were identified, their densities quantified, and their prehistoric and post-Columbian histories reconstructed. Did Mayan encouragement of this palm contribute to its present monodominance on edaphically rich sites in Belize? Despite the popularity of this anthropogenic explanation, the findings of this study revealed no uniquely similar histories among comparably dense cohune stands. Combined with an examination of their population size structures, it is argued here that such monodominant stands should be interpreted as natural expressions of particularly fertile edaphic conditions, and not as a "cultural" vegetation. The second aspect examined of cohune-human interaction was the degree to which human use of the cohune matches its abundance in rural areas. Within the context of popular interest in extractive forest products, the cohune appears an ideal example: thatch, oil, and heart-of-palm are all extracted from cohune forests. This study reveals, however, that the degree to which these activities are still carried out is negligible, and typically makes use of forests slated iv to be felled anyway. Although the study's survey was most thorough in the Cayo District, the results show a general pattern of very low use in Belize that is most defined at socio-economic extremes, with rural populations relying on cohune products in times of need, and urbanites occasionally "treating themselves" to cohune oil or palmit;o. V TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION •• • • • • • •• • • •• • • •• • •• •• • •• •• •• • •• •• • 1 THE SETTING •• • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • •• •• •• • •• • •• •• •• •• • 4 2. THE COHUNE PALM . • . • . • . • . • . 21 TAXONOMY AND ECOLOGY OF THE COHUNE PALM•••.••.. 21 COHUNES IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS .•.••.•.•.•••.. 31 BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE COHUNE PALM....••.•••••.... 37 3. HUMAN ROLE IN THE GENESIS OF HIGH DENSITY COHUNE FOREST ...........••..•..........•...•.. 42 EXPLANATION OF HIGH-DENSITY COHUNE FORESTS: THE MAYA/MILPA HYPOTHESIS ••••••...••.......• 43 TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: LAND USE HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY HIGH-DENSITY COHUNE FORESTS ...• 48 DISCUSSION •• • •• • • • •• •• • • • •• • •• • •• • •• •• • •• •• •• • 62 CONCLUSION •• • •• • • • • • •• •• • •• • •• •• •• • • •• •• •• • •• • 71 4. HUMAN USE OF THE COHUNE PALM IN BELIZE ...•..•• 75 INTRODUCTION .. .. .• . .• . .. • • . •. •• •. • • 7 5 THE SURVEY .. .. • • . .. • • • •. .• . .• •• • .• .• .. .. 7 7 SURVEY RESULTS •. • • . .. .. • .• •. • .• •• . •• .• • •• .• . 7 9 DISCUSSION •• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • •• • • • •• • •• •• •• • •• • • 120 ANCIENT MAYA USE OF THE COHUNE ............... 124 CONCLUSION •• • • • • • • • • • • • •• • •• • • • •• •• •• • •• •• • •• 125 5. SUMMARY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 128 LITERATURE CITED .. .. .. .. • .• .. •. • .. .. .. 13 0 APPENDIX • •• • • • •• • • •• •• • • • • •• • • • • • • •• • •• • • • •• • •• • •• • •• •• 14 9 VITA • •• •• •• •• •• •• • •• • • • • •• • • • • •• • • • •• •• • • • •• • • •• •• •• • •• 152 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Location map of Belize in Central America ............ 5 2. Physical map of Belize................•••.....•...•.. 6 3. Political map of Belize ....•.....••..•••....•....... 9 4. Ecotourism destinations in Belize, Central America . 14 5. The cohune palm: a) mature fruit; b) cross-section of fruit ......•.•.•.•......•...... 23 6. Cohune palm seedling exhibiting cryptogeal growth . 2 7 7. Distribution of cohune palm (Orbignya cohune) in Central America . 37 8. Location of six study sites (high density cohune forest) in Belize ........................... 52 9. Size distribution graphs of five high- density cohune forests in Belize ................... 57 10. The distribution of cohune oil production and sale in Belize . 87 11. The manufacture of cohune oil ....•.•.......•....... 92 12. Cohune palmito: Distribution and consumption in Belize . 112 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Regrowth of Cohune at Churchyard, Belize ...••.••... 29 2. Recorded cohune densities of the cohune palm (Orbignya cohune) in Belize •••.•.••...••...... 44 3. Cohune palm (Orbignya cohune) stem densities at six study sites in Belize, 1992 ......•..•.•..... 55 4. Land use history at six study sites in Belize, Central America ...•.....•..••.•............ 56 5. Monodominant palm forests of the neotropics: species density .................................... 72 6. Confirmed uses of the cohune palm (Orbignya cohune) in Belize, 1992 ............................ 80 7. Production and sale of cohune oil by town,