Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A dynamic nonlinear optimization study of Mountain Pima subsistence technology

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A dynamic nonlinear optimization analysis of subsistence patterns of the Mountain Pima of Chihuahua, Mexico, included requirements for adequate amounts of calories, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and balanced protein. Two methods of incorporating nonenergy nutritional needs into a time minimization program were compared. The first was a constraint model with sharp boundaries between adequacy and fatality. The second involved multiplying the total work time by a series of nutrient indexing factors. Each factor was calculated as a function of the ratio between the recommended and actual rates of intake for all months and nutrients considered. Oxalate composition of some resources and seasonal variation in resource availability were taken into account. Two sets of data were analyzed, one for a year of adequate rainfall, the other for a year of severe drought. The predictions of the indexing model agreed more closely with observed intake patterns than did the predictions of the constraint model.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

  • Anderson, B. A. (1983). Composition of foods: Pork products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–10.

  • Anderson, B. A. (1989). Composition of foods: Lamb, veal, and game products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–17.

  • Anderson, B. A., Lauderdale, J. L., and Hake, I. M. (1986). Composition of foods: Beef products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–13.

  • Bellman, R. E., and Dreyfus, S. E. (1962).Applied Dynamic Programming. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belovsky, G. E. (1978). Diet optimization in a generalist herbivore: The moose.Theoretical Population Biology 14: 105–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belovsky, G. E. (1987). Hunter-gatherer foraging: A linear programming approach.Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6: 29–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belovsky, G. E. (1990). How important are nutrient constraints in optimal foraging models or are spatial/temporal factors more important? In Hughes, R. N. (ed.),Behavioural Mechanisms of Food Selection. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 255–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Box, M. J. (1965). A new method of constrained optimization and a a comparison with other methods.Computer Journal 8: 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunday, B. D. (1984).Basic Optimization Methods. Edward Arnold, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bye, R. A. (1981). Quelites: Ethnoecology of edible greens, past, present, and future.Journal of Ethnobiology 1: 109–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerqueira, M. T., Fry, M. M., and Connor, W. E. (1979). The food and nutrient intake of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexcio.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 32: 905–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor, W. E., Cerqueira, M. T., Connor, R. W., Wallace, R. B. Malinow, M. R., and Casdorph, R. (1978). The plasma lipid, lipoprotein, and diet of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 31: 1131–1142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, D. L., Gebhardt, S. E., and Matthews, R. H. (1989). Composition of foods: Cereal grains and pasta.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–20.

  • Duke, J. A. (1985).CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunnigan, T. (1970).Subsistence and Reciprocity Patterns Among the Mountain Pimas of Sonora, Mexico. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunnigan, T. (1981a). Adaptive strategies of peasant Indians in a biethnic Mexican community: A study of Mountain Pima assimilation.Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona 38: 36–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunnigan, T. (1981b). Ritual as interethnic competition: indito versus blanco in Mountain Pima Easter ceremonies. In Castile, G. P., and Kushner, G. (eds.),Persistent Peoples: Cultural Enclaves in Perspective. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunnigan, T. (1983). Lower Pima. In Ortiz, A., and Sturtevant, W. C. (eds.),Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 10). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, pp. 217–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, R. (1985). Optimality theory in anthropology.Man (n.s.) 20: 222–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • French, R. B., and Abbott, O. D. (1948). Levels of carotene and ascorbic acid in Florida-grown foods.University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 444: 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebhardt, S. E., Cutrufelli, R., and Matthews, R. H. (1982). Composition of foods: Fruits and fruit juices.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–9.

  • Haytowitz, D. B., and Matthews, R. H. (1984a). Composition of foods: Vegetables and vegetable products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–11.

  • Haytowitz, D. B., and Matthews, R. H. (1984b). Composition of foods: Legumes and legume products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–16.

  • Hodgkinson, A. (1977).Oxalic Acid in Biology and Medicine. Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Intrilligator, M. D. (1971).Mathematical Optimization and Economic Theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A., and Behrens, C. A. (1982). Nutritional criteria in Machiguenga food production: A linear-programming analysis.Human Ecology 10: 167–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keegan, W. F. (1986). The optimal foraging analysis of horticultural production.American Anthropologist 88: 92–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keene, A. S. (1982).Prehistoric Foraging in a Temperate Forest: A Linear Programming Model. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kharitonova, L. A. (1986). Biochemical characterization of fruits from someBerberis spp.Rastastitel'nye Resursy 22: 510–513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1987). A central location method for selecting random plots for vegetation surveys.Vegetatio 71: 75–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1988a). Non-linear optimization with concave functions: A modification of Box's complex method.Science Software 4: 112–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1988b). Selecting and locating plots for vegetation surveys.Access 7(6): 17–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1989). A Basic program for computing the area of irregular polygons.Access 8(1): 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1990a).Hymenocallis pimana (Amaryllidaceae): A new species from northwestern Mexico.Phytologia 68: 255–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1990b). The taxonomy and ethnobotany ofYucca madrensis.Cactus and Succulent Journal [U.S.] 62: 95–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1991a).Optimal Use of Ethnobotanical Resources by the Mountain Pima of Chihuahua, Mexico. PhD dissertation, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1991b). Mountain Pima ethnomycology.Journal of Ethnobiology 11: 159–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1992a). Cultural and environmental response to drought among the Mountain Pima.Ecology of Food and Nutrition 28: 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1992b). Begonias as food and medicine.Economic Botany 46: 114–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E. (1994). Vegetation and flora of the Mountain Pima village of Nabogame, Chihuahua, Mexico.Phytologia 77: 102–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E., and Gilbertson, R. L. (1992). Fungi of Nabogame, Chihuahua, Mexico.Mycotaxon 44: 73–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E., and Van Asdall, W. (1991). Plant use in Mountain Pima holiday decorations.Kiva 57: 27–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E., and Van Asdall, W. (1992). Contemporary agricultural patterns in a Mountain Pima village.Kiva 58: 155–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E., Weber, C. W., and Kohlhepp, E. A. (1991a). Use and nutritional composition of some traditional Mountain Pima plant foods.Journal of Ethnobiology 11(1): 93–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laferrière, J. E., Weber, C. W., and Kohlhepp, E. A. (1991b). Mineral contributions from some traditional Mexican teas.Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 41: 277–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, W. W., and Flores, M., (1961).Food Composition Table for Use in Latin America. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, S. R. (1984). Iron. In Solomons, N. W., and Rosenberg, I. H. (eds.),Absorption and Malabsorption of Mineral Nutrients. Alan R. Liss, New York, pp. 89–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J. F. (1983). Optimal foraging theory: A review of some models and their applications.American Anthropologist 85: 612–629.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, M. A., and Matthews, R. H. (1984). Composition of foods: Nut and seed products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–12.

  • McCormick, G. P. (1983).Nonlinear Programming: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, W. A., and Valone, T. J. (1990). The optimization research program: Studying adaptations by their function.Quarterly Review of Biology 65: 43–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (1980).Recommended Daily Allowances (9th Ed). National Academy of Science, Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolasco Armas, M. (1969). Los Pimas Bajos de la Sierra Madre Occidental (Yécoras y Nébomes Altos).Anales del Instituto National de Antropología e Historía 7: 185–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, C. W. (1973). Plantas medicinales utilizadas por el pima montañés de Chihuahua.America Indígena 33: 213–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, C. W. (1980).The Pima Bajo of central Sonora, Mexico. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petcu, P. (1965). Phytochemische Untersuchungen anBerberis hauniensis Zab.Archiv der Pharmazie 298: 73–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petcu, P. (1966). Phytochemische Untersuchungen anBerberis virescens Hook.Pharmazie 21: 54–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petcu, P. (1968). Zur Kenntnis der in Rumänien akklimatisierten PflanzeBerberis crataegina DC.Archiv der Pharmazie 301: 680–682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, G. J., and Ollason, J. G. (1987). Eight reasons why optimal foraging theory is a complete waste of time.Oikos 49: 111–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posati, L. P. (1979). Composition of foods: poultry products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–5.

  • Posati, L. P., and Orr, M. L. (1976). Composition of foods: Dairy and egg products.USDA Agricultural Handbook 8–1.

  • Pyke, G. H. (1984). Optimal foraging theory: A critical review.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 15: 523–575.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reidhead, V. A. (1979). Linear programming models in archeology.Annual Review of Anthropology 8: 543–578.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, I. H., and Solomons, N. W. (1984) Physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms in mineral absorption. In Solomons, N. W., and Rosenberg, I. H. (eds.),Absorption and Malabsorption of Mineral Nutrients. Alan R. Liss, New York, pp. 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. A. (1983). Anthropological applications of optimal foraging theory: A critical review.Current Anthropology 24: 625–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, S. C., and Schmid-Hempel, P. (1987). Evolutionary insights should not be wasted.Oikos 49: 118–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trachtenberg, S., and Mayer, A. M. (1982). Mucilage cells, calcium oxalate crystals and coluble calcium init Opuntia ficus-indica.Annals of Botany (n.s.) 50: 549–557.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wierzchowski, Z., and Bubicz, M. (1959). Carotenoids of the berries ofHerberts vulgaris.Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska, Lublin-Polonia Sectio C 14: 383–405 [Chemical Abstracts 55, #22498].

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Herbarium, University of Arizona, 113 Shantz Bldg., 85721, Tucson, Arizona

    Joseph E. Laferrière

Authors
  1. Joseph E. Laferrière
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Laferrière, J.E. A dynamic nonlinear optimization study of Mountain Pima subsistence technology. Hum Ecol 23, 1–28 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01190096

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01190096

Key words

Search

Navigation