Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE 12-2013 For Logs, For Traditional Purposes and For Food: Identification of Multiple-Use Plant Species of Northern Amazonia and an Assessment of Factors Associated with Their Distribution Anthony Ravindra Cummings Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Cummings, Anthony Ravindra, "For Logs, For Traditional Purposes and For Food: Identification of Multiple- Use Plant Species of Northern Amazonia and an Assessment of Factors Associated with Their Distribution" (2013). Dissertations - ALL. 17. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/17 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the multiplicity of uses associated with tree and palm species of the Rupununi, Southern Guyana and the factors associated with their distribution. As tropical forests continue to decline the most significant response has been to understand the implications for the carbon cycle, with the impacts on forest dwelling peoples and wildlife, inadequately addressed. Multiple-use plants, individual species which at their most critical level provide food for wildlife, non-timber forest products and are commercially logged, provide a suitable lens for appreciating additional ecosystem services that may be compromised as tropical forests decline. I completed a plant inventory in the Rupununi and drew on the traditional knowledge of Amerindians to define multiple-use plants, describe their multiplicity of uses, describe vegetation types and assess multiple-use species distribution relative to land tenure classes and herbivores. I found four classes of multiple-use plants: wildlife food and commercial timber; commercial timber and traditional uses; wildlife food and traditional uses; and, wildlife food, commercial timber and traditional uses, each representing a unique dimension of ecosystem services such plants provide. A map created with descriptions of vegetation from Amerindian hunters showed that multiple-use plants are distributed in forest types that are critical for Amerindian livelihood activities. Further, as policies towards the extraction or protection of plant species are dictated by land tenure holdings, my assessments showed that strategies aimed at sustaining ecosystem services provided by multiple-use plants must consider the ideals for resource management within tenure classes. As expected, the distribution of a key disperser of multiple-use plants fruits and seeds - spider monkeys (Ateles paniscus), was closely related to the distribution of their food sources. My results show that land-use change impacting multiple-use plants will have implications for wildlife, and as a consequence traditional activities of forest dwelling peoples. FOR LOGS, FOR TRADITIONAL PURPOSES AND FOR FOOD: IDENTIFICATION OF MULTIPLE-USE PLANT SPECIES OF NORTHERN AMAZONIA AND AN ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR DISTRIBUTION by Anthony R. Cummings B.Sc. University of Guyana, 1999 M.Sc. University of the West Indies, 2002 M.Phil. University of Cambridge, 2003 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography in the Graduate School of Syracuse University December 2013 Copyright © Anthony Ravindra Cummings 2013 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to a number of people who made this study possible. In the Rupununi, I am grateful for the support of Persaud, Danford, Carro, Ricky and Seigmond Moses, for welcoming me to their villages and homes, and freely sharing their knowledge of their forests with me. Sydney, Bryan, Bradford, Jackie, Fred and Madonna Allicock have always supported my work in the Rupununi and they were no different during data collection for this research. Mike Williams, Emily Allicock and Ivor Marslow at the North Rupununi District Development Board and the Bina Hill Institute provided critical support in the field. Across the Rupununi as I travelled from one village to another, I was welcomed and supported by persons too numerous to mention. I am particularly grateful to Allan Harley and Fred Atkinson and their families in Werimoor. Duane and Sandy DeFreitas’ home at Dadanawa was the source of many welcomed meals and stimulating conversations. In Lethem, special thanks to Ketlen Williams and Orin Grimmond for their assistance. Roxroy Bollers, Raquel Thomas and Ken Rodney at Iwokrama International Center for Rainforest Conservation and Development, and David Singh and Curtis Bernard at Conservation International provided logistical support and data at various stages. Naseem Nasir at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission and Donald Singh at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission provided data, offered encouragement and clarity on land-use and gold mining matters in Guyana. Damian Fernandes and his team at the Environmental Protection Agency (Guyana) gave permission for this research and multiple other non-research related queries. At Syracuse University, the support and guidance of my advisor was unwavering. Even in moments when I may have given up on me (and there were many) Professor Jane Read kept a steady hand in guiding me through this process. The words to express my gratefulness are iv beyond me. My committee members, Professors Jake Bendix and Peng Gao stood by me through some very difficult moments. I will always be grateful. During my tenure at Syracuse University Steve Stehman became a mentor and supporter, while James Gibbs and Susan Millar were most supportive of my work. I am grateful for the friendship and mentorship of John Western. Don Mitchell took time away from his work to talk to me about landscapes and landscape politics at a critical stage in the development of this dissertation. In the Geography Department, everyone was supportive and allowed me to develop wonderful memories. Chris, Jackie, and Janet, and later Margie, provided the orientation for navigating my new surroundings, and get my work completed. I will always be grateful for the friendship and support of Lucy, Joaquin, Elvin, Tina, Effie, Kate, Katie, Elaine, Barbara, Kafui, Jonnell, Renee, Bethany, Pat, Anna and John. Special thanks to Manny for taking care of my office and his multiple questions that helped to keep my ideas simple and ensure I could explain my work to anyone. Brian, Mike and the ICT team always promptly responded to my computer-related requests – I am deeply appreciative of their help over the years. At Project Fauna, in addition to funding my research, Joe Fragoso, Kirsten Silvius, Han Overman, Jeff Luzar and Flamarrion provided an environment that allowed me to develop my work. Joe ensured I had the resources to get my research completed, while Han and Jeff were wonderful companions in Lethem and listened to and critiqued my ideas during data collection. My friends and extended family at Mount Carmel Seventh-day Adventist church in Syracuse gave my family and I support and love beyond our expectations and a view of life beyond the University. Daryl Banks, Bernice Wagner, Rohan Simpson, Wilfried Houtman and William v Mitchell offered encouragement and more. Andrew Fagon and Kezia Page shared generously with my family throughout this journey. Jack and Cindy Forsythe not only opened their home at Pulaski on many Sundays, but became my ‘foster parents’ and helped to navigate some tricky periods. I am grateful to my family, both immediate and extended, for stepping in at critical times and allowing me to keep my sanity. My aunts Roslyn, Didi, Tara and Marion, Uncles Gene, Suresh, Paul and Oliver, Cousins Terry and Rose helped in important ways and allowed me to fully appreciate the meaning of family. My brother Garvin and sister Faye supported me in ways too numerous to mention. My mom, Shako, loved and supported me even over the great distance that separated us, and more tangibly allowed me the freedom of responsibility from matters in Guyana. I shall always be indebted to my wife Rose, for the unselfish contributions she has made to every aspect of this very long journey. And then there is Aria, my daughter, and the changes that she brought to my life, above and most important of all, joy, hope and a reason to ask some of the questions this dissertation addresses. Aria’s arrival put a completely different perspective on my observations from the field, renewing my desire to understand the struggles of the people I had the great fortune of working with must endure for their own children. And finally, Lincoln Osborne, my stepdad, who passed away in December 2012 before I could get to the end of this journey. His support and love over the years allowed me to develop into what I am today. He would have been proud and I will remain grateful. vi DEDICATION To Aria Rose, Rosemary and Shako; and the People of the Rupununi. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Dedication vii List of Tables ix List of Figures xi Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Multiple-Use Plant Species of the Northern Amazon: 21 Identification, uses, abundance and population structure Chapter Three: Utilizing Amerindian Hunters’ Descriptions of Vegetation 100 to Guide the Production of a Vegetation Cover Map Chapter Four: Implications of Forest Types and Land Tenure for the 139 Sustainable Management of Multiple-Use Tree Species in Northern Amazonia Chapter Five: Assessing the Factors Influencing the Distribution and Presence 195 Of Herbivores Key to the Life Cycle Stages of Northern Amazonia’s Multiple-Use Plant Species Chapter Six: Conclusions and Future Research 229 Vita 237 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Study site characteristics and the number of plants sampled at each site. 44 Table 2.2: Distribution of trees into the eight resource-use classes, the percentage 48 of the sample in each class and the rank each class occupied in the overall sample.