Abstract
Fieldwork conducted in new and old swiddens in the Maring territory of the Bismarck Mountains of Papua New Guinea indicated a successional sequence of crop composition, diversity, and biomass regulated by human and ecological processes. With increasing swidden age, the number of cultivated species, individuals, varieties, and net productivity decreased. In contrast to new swiddens, old swiddens were characterized by a simplified crop composition and a distinct vertical stratification. While a 3-month-old garden contained 10 cultivar species, 43.5 plantings of taro, a cultivar biomass content of 2.54 kg/25 m2, and a net productivity of 1.13 gm/m2/day, a 2-year-old garden contained six cultivar species, no taro plantings, a cultivar biomass content of 13.80 kg/25 m2, and a net productivity of 0.77 gm/m2/day. Differences in the life histories of cultivars help determine cultivar succession. This study quantitatively defines these changing characteristics of old and new swiddens. It concludes that the Kauwatyi system of subsistence, which emphasizes diversity and conservation practices, such as the planting and protection of certain forest regrowth species, ensures the regeneration of forest.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bormann, F. H., and Likens, G. E. (1967). Nutrient cycling.Science 55: 424–429.
Brookfield, H. C. (1962). Local study and comparative method: An example from central New Guinea.Annals of the Association of American Geographers 52: 242–254.
Brookfield, H. C., with Hart, D. (1971).Melanesia: A Geographical Interpretation of an Island World. Methuen, London.
Clarke, W. C. (1966). From extensive to intensive shifting cultivation: A succession from New Guinea.Ethnology 5: 347–359.
Clarke, W. C. (1971).Place and People: An Ecology of a New Guinea Community. Australian Nat. Univ. Press, Canberra.
Clarke, W. C. (1977). The structure of permanence: The relevance of self-subsistence communities for world ecosystem management. In Bayliss-Smith, T., and Feachem, R. (eds.),Subsistence and Survival: Rural Ecology in the Pacific, Academic Press, London, pp. 363–384.
Clarke, W. C., and Street, J. M. (1967). Soil fertility and cultivation practices in New Guinea.Journal of Tropical Geography 24: 7–11.
Conklin, H. C. (1961). The study of shifting cultivation.Current Anthropology 2(1): 27–61.
Drury, W. H., and Nisbet, I. C. T. (1973). Succession.Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 54(3): 331–368.
Geertz, C. (1963).Agricultural Involution: The Process of Ecological Change in Indonesia. Univ. California Press, Berkeley.
Grandstaff, T. (1978). The development of swidden agriculture (shifting cultivation).Development and Change 9: 547–579.
Harris, D. R. (1972). The origins of agriculture in the tropics.American Scientist 60(2): 180–193.
Manner, H. I. (1976). The effects of shifting cultivation and fire on vegetation and soils in the montane tropics of New Guinea. PhD thesis in geography, Univ. Hawaii.
Manner, H. I. (1977). Biomass: Its determination and implications in tropical agroecosystems: An example from montane New Guinea. In Bayliss-Smith, T., and Feachem, R. (eds.),Subsistence and Survival: Rural Ecology in the Pacific, Academic Press, London, pp. 215–242.
Margalef, R. (1963). On certain unifying principles in ecology.American Naturalist 97: 357–374.
Nye, P. H., and Greenland, D. J. (1960).The Soil Under Shifting Cultivation. Technical Communication No. 51, Commonwealth Bureau of Soils, Harpenden.
Odum, E. P. (1959).Fundamentals of Ecology. Saunders, Philadelphia.
Odum, E. P. (1969). The strategy of ecosystem development.Science 164: 262–270.
Pickett, S. T. A. (1976). Succession: An evolutionary interpretation.American Naturalist 110(971): 107–119.
Rappaport, R. (1967).Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven.
Rappaport, R. (1971). The flow of energy in an agricultural society.Scientific American 225(3): 117–132.
Robbins, R. G. (1962). The anthropogenic grasslands of Papua and New Guinea. InSymposium on the Impact of Man on Humid Tropics Vegetation (Goroka), UNESCO Science Cooperation Office of Southeast Asia, Djakarta, pp. 313–329.
Robbins, R. G. (1970). Vegetation of the Goroka-Mount Hagen area. InLands of the Goroka-Mt Hagen Area. Papua New Guinea, Land Research Series, 27. CSIRO, Australia, pp. 104–118.
Seavoy, R. E. (1973). The shading cycle in shifting cultivation.Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 63(4): 522–528.
Spencer, J. E. (1966). Shifting cultivation in Southeastern Asia.University of California Publications in Geography, 19, Univ. California Press, Berkeley.
Waddell, E. (1972).The Mound Builders: Agricultural Practices, Environment and Society in the Central Highlands of New Guinea. Univ. Washington Press, Seattle.
Watters, R. F. (1960). The nature of shifting cultivation: A review of recent literature.Pacific Viewpoint 1: 59–99.
Whittaker, R. H. (1970).Communities and Ecosystems. Collier-Macmillan, London.
Whittaker, R. H., and Woodwell, G. M. (1971). Measurement of net primary productivity of forests. InProductivity of Forest Ecosystems. Proceedings of the Brussels Symposium, UNESCO, Paris, pp. 159–175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Manner, H.I. Ecological succession in new and old swiddens of montane Papua New Guinea. Hum Ecol 9, 359–377 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00890742
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00890742