Edible Plants of the Chinantla, Oaxaca, Mexico with an Emphasis on the Participatory Domestication Prospects of Persea Schiedeana

Edible Plants of the Chinantla, Oaxaca, Mexico with an Emphasis on the Participatory Domestication Prospects of Persea Schiedeana

EDIBLE PLANTS OF THE CHINANTLA, OAXACA, MEXICO WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE PARTICIPATORY DOMESTICATION PROSPECTS OF PERSEA SCHIEDEANA By JAY BENJAMIN BOST A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2009 1 © 2009 Jay Benjamin Bost 2 To the fruits of the past and future 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my parents and grandparents for their support and encouragement. My American, French, and Mexican friends and families have both been inspiring and distracting, I thank them for both. Great acknowledgements to the wonderful faculty members at the University of Florida who have guided my thinking, especially Dr. Hugh Popenoe, Dr. Nigel Smith, Dr. Walter Judd, Dr. P.K. Nair, and Dr. Jonathan Crane. Dr. Richard Campbell at Fairchild Botanical Garden encouraged a focus on Persea schiedeana. Thanks to the Ethnoecology Society and the Ethnoecology Garden group for fun and inspiration. Thanks to Dr. Juan Guillermo Cruz Castillo for his inspiration and collaboration and Juan Jose Fernandez for his grafting help. Also to GDF Mesoamerica: Carlos, Claudia, Ana and Megan for their aid and inspiring hard work. I am indebted to the communities in the Chinantla who have shared their lands, fruits, foods, and knowledge with me. And thanks to Nora Rodli for playing, gardening, traveling, and learning with me during these years. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. 8 ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 CONTEXT: THE CHINANTLA, OAXACA ........................................................................... 11 The Geography of the Chinantla ................................................................................................ 11 Ecology ........................................................................................................................................ 13 Culture.......................................................................................................................................... 15 Study Sites ................................................................................................................................... 18 San Mateo Yetla................................................................................................................... 19 Consejo Regional de Recursos de la Chinantla (CORENCHI) ........................................ 19 Context of Research .................................................................................................................... 20 2 AGROFORESTRY, NTFPs/AFTPs AND “CINDERELLA SPECIES” ................................ 22 3 EDIBLE PLANTS OF THE CHINANTLA .............................................................................. 32 Freelists ........................................................................................................................................ 32 Inventories ................................................................................................................................... 36 Agroecosystems ................................................................................................................... 36 Edible Species Catagories ................................................................................................... 39 Cinderella Species of the Chinantla.................................................................................... 41 4 PERSEA SCHIEDEANA (CHINENE): ETHNOBOTANY, LOCAL MANAGEMENT, AND MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ................................................. 45 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 57 Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 57 Fruit Morphology and Diversity ......................................................................................... 57 Results .......................................................................................................................................... 59 Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 59 Ethnoecology and management .................................................................................. 59 Local importance.......................................................................................................... 59 Management ................................................................................................................. 60 Diversity of fruit characters ......................................................................................... 61 Management ................................................................................................................. 62 Phenology/ecology ....................................................................................................... 63 5 Ecological and Morphological Field Observations ........................................................... 64 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 74 5 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 78 APPENDIX A COMPLETE FREE LIST OF “FRUITS”.................................................................................. 80 B SPECIES INVENTORY OF SAN MATEO YETLA, OAXACA .......................................... 82 C PERCENT PRESENSE OF EACH SPECIES IN EACH AGROECOSYSTEM ................... 87 D NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS OF EACH SPECIES ENCOUNTERED BY AGROECOSYSTEM ................................................................................................................. 92 E ETHNOECOLOGY/MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW............................................................. 98 F TREE/FRUIT DATA SHEETS................................................................................................ 102 LITERATURE CITED..................................................................................................................... 103 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................................... 113 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Most frequently mentioned fruits .......................................................................................... 34 3-2 Quelites mentioned during free listing .................................................................................. 35 3-3 Economically important species............................................................................................ 36 3-4 Fruits encountered in inventory in order of abundance ....................................................... 39 3-5 Quelites encountered in inventory in order of abundance ................................................... 40 4-1 Summary of local importance data ....................................................................................... 60 4-2 Percent respondents reporting P. schiedeana in ecosystem ................................................ 60 4-3 Animal species mentioned in interviews to distribute P. schiedeana seeds ....................... 61 4-4 Characters elicited in interviews as defining the best P. schiedeana fruits ........................ 62 4-5 Criteria listed as selective basis for deciding what seed of P. schiedeana to plant ........... 62 4-6 Summary of tree data ............................................................................................................. 65 4-7 Ecological characteristics of sites where P. schiedeana were encountered ....................... 66 4-8 Quantitative fruit characters of the Chinantla ...................................................................... 67 4-9 Qualitative fruit characters .................................................................................................... 68 4-10 Data on quantitative characters of fruits from various municipalities in Veracruz, Mexico .................................................................................................................................... 69 4.-11 Comparison of planted and self sown fruits ......................................................................... 72 4-12 Fruits from “best” trees selected during “Chinene Fairs” compared to all others ............. 73 A-1 Fruits listed in freelists exercise. ........................................................................................... 80 B-1 Species inventory ................................................................................................................... 83 C-1 Species presense in agroecosystems ..................................................................................... 88 D-1 Species inventory numbers ...................................................................................................

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