Skip to main content
Log in

Indigenous agroforestry of Pohnpei

1.Plant species and cultivars

  • Published:
Agroforestry Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Plant species and cultivars of the indigenous agroforestry system of Pohnpei were surveyed in transects through 54 randomly-selected farms. The agroforestry system was characterized by extensive cultivation of yams (Dioscorea), aroids (Alocasia), and Piper methysticum under a permanent overstory of breadfruit, coconut, and forest remnant trees and a middle canopy of Hibiscus tiliaceus, Musa spp., and Morinda citrifolia. In the 10 ha of survey plots, 161 species were found, of which 102 were trees, shrubs, and crops and 59 were uncultivated herbaceous plants. Numbers of tree, shrub, and crop species per farm ranged from 16 to 37 with an average of 26. Twenty-eight breadfruit and 38 yam cultivars were found in the survey plots, showing that cultivar diversity is an important component of the biological diversity maintained and utilized in Pohnpeian agroforests.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Abdoellah, OS and Martin, GG (1986) The complementary roles of homegardens, upland fields, and rice fields for meeting nutritional needs in West Java. In: Marten, GG, ed, Traditional Agriculture in Southeast Asia, pp 293–325. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press

    Google Scholar 

  2. Barrau J (1961) Subsistence Agriculture in Polynesia and Micronesia. Bishop Museum Bulletin 223, Honolulu, Hawaii, 94 pp

  3. Bascom, WR (1965) Ponape: a Pacific Economy in Transition. Antropological Records, Vol. 22. Berkeley, University of California Press, 157 pp

    Google Scholar 

  4. Christanty, L, Abdoellah, OS, Marten, GG and Iksander, J (1986) Traditional agroforestry in West Java: the pekarangan (homegarden) and kebun-talun (annual-perennial rotation) cropping systems. In: Marten, GG, ed, Traditional Agriculture in Southeast Asia, pp 132–158. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press

    Google Scholar 

  5. Eden, MJ (1988) Crop diversity in tropical swidden cultivation: comparative data from Columbia and Papua New Guinea. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 20: 127–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Falanruw MV, Cole TG and Whitesell CD (1987) Vegetation types on acid soils of Micronesia. In: Proceedings of the Third International Soil Management Workshop on the Management and Utilization of Acid Soils in Oceania, Republic of Palau, February 2–6, 1987, pp 235–245

  7. Falanruw, MV, Maka, JE, Cole, TG and Whitesell, CD (1990) Common and Scientific Names of Trees and Shrubs of Marina, Caroline, and Marshall Islands. Resource Bulletin PSW-26. Berkeley, California. Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 91 pp

    Google Scholar 

  8. Fernandes, ECM and Nair, PK (1986) An evaluation of the structure and function of tropical homegardens. Agricultural Systems 21: 279–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Fownes JH and Raynor WC (in press) Seasonality and yield of breadfruit cultivars in the indigenous agroforestry system of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Tropical Agriculture

  10. Glassman SF (1952) The Flora of Ponape. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 209, Honolulu, 152 pp

  11. Haun A (1984) Prehistoric Subsistence, Population, and Socio-political Evolution on Ponape, Micronesia. PhD dissertation, University of Oregon, 311 pp

  12. Keating, BH, Mattey, DP, Naughton, J, Helsley, CE, Epp, D, Lazarewicz, A and Schwank, D (1984) Evidence for a hot spot origin of the Caroline Islands. J Geophysical Res 89: 9937–9948

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Laird WE (1983) Soil Survey of Island of Ponape, Federated States of Micronesia. USDA Soil Conservation Service, 81 pp, w/maps

  14. Lebot, V and Lévesque, J (1989) The origin and distribution of kava (Piper methysticum Forst.f., Piperaceae): a phytochemical approach. Allertonia 5: 223–281

    Google Scholar 

  15. MacLean CD, Cole TG, Whitesell CD, Falanruw MV and Ambacher AH (1986) Vegetation Survey of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. USDA Forest Service, Resource Bulletin PSW-18, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, 9 pp, w/maps

  16. Manner, HI (1981) Ecological succession in new and old swiddens of montane Papua New Guinea. Human Ecology 9: 359–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Nair, PKR (1989) Food-producing trees in agroforestry systems. In: Nair, PKR, ed, Agroforestry Systems in the Tropics, pp 541–551. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  18. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1987) Local Climatological Data: Annual Summary with Comparative Data: Pohnpei, Eastern Caroline Islands, Pacific. NOAA, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina, 5 pp

    Google Scholar 

  19. Padoch, C and de Jong, W (1987) Traditional agroforestry practices of native and ribereno farmers in the lowland Peruvian Amazon. In: Gholz, HL, ed, Agroforestry: Realities, Possibilities, and Potentials, pp 179–194. Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (Kluwer Group)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Raynor, WC (1989) Structure, Production, and Seasonality in an Indigenous Pacific Island Agroforestry System: A Case Example on Pohnpei Island, F. S. M. MS Thesis, Department of Agronomy and Soil Science, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 121 pp

    Google Scholar 

  21. Raynor WC and Fownes J H (1991) Indigenous agroforestry of Pohpei: 2. Spatial and successional vegetation patterns. Agroforestry Systems (this issue)

  22. Rehg, K L and Sohl, D (1979) Ponapean-English Dictionary. Honolulu, University Press of Hawaii, 252 pp

    Google Scholar 

  23. Risch, SJ. Andow, D and Altieri, MA (1983) Agroecosystem diversity and pest control: data, tentative conclusions, and new research directions. Environmental Entomology 12: 625–629

    Google Scholar 

  24. Thaman R (1975) The Tongan Agricultural System: with Special Emphasis on Plant Assemblies. PhD dissertation, UCLA, 433 pp

  25. Van der Brug, O (1984) Water Resources of Ponape, Caroline Islands. Water-Resources Investigations Report 83–4149, USGS, Honolulu, HI, 171 pp

    Google Scholar 

  26. Vergara, NT and PKR Nair (1985) Agroforestry in the South Pacific region — an overview. Agroforestry Systems 3: 363–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wiersum, KF (1982) Tree gardening and taungya on Java: examples of agroforestry techniques in the humid tropics. Agroforesty Systems 1: 53–70

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Raynor, W.C., Fownes, J.H. Indigenous agroforestry of Pohnpei. Agroforest Syst 16, 139–157 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00129745

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00129745

Key words

Navigation