The Legacy of the Hawaiian Cultivator in Windward Valleys of Hawaii. (Volumes I and II).

The composition of a forest of relicts of cultivation in four uninhabited valleys in Kohala, Hawaii, is documented. A general hypothesis is made that arboreal distribution patterns are a function of both historical land use and ecological interaction since abandonment. The physical and historical geography of the valleys was investigated. Climate varies little, but distinct geomorphic zones offer differing biological environments. Prehistoric land use consisted of taro patches with intercropped banks. Talus slope gardens supported the Polynesian tree crops \u27ohi\u27a \u27ai (Eugenia malaccensis), kukui (Aleurites moluccana), \u27ulu, (Artocarpus incisus), ti (Cordyline terminalis), and noni (Morinda citrifolia), important in today\u27s flora. Gathering took place on slopes. Western contact with Hawaii, initiated in 1778, brought new crops. Papaya (Carica papaya), mango (Mangifera indica), guava (Psidium guajava), and coffee (Coffea arabica) were important adoptions in Kohala. As land use changed, the region also suffered depopulation, losing half its numbers between 1830 and 1870. Chinese rice-growing forestalled complete abandonment, which finally occurred after 1920. Current vegetation was assessed by creating 15 sampling units containing 554 quadrats. Inside quadrats, the size-class and species of each tree was recorded, yielding measures of frequency, density, cover, importance, and richness. Four environmental conditions were also assessed. The resulting variables were mapped and inter-correlated. Guava, kukui, noni, \u27ohi\u27a \u27ai, ti, hala (Pandanus odoratissimus), and coffee proved the most numerous species. Rarer species were often localized, illuminating historical land use. The data were examined and reformatted into matrices suitable for cross-classification analysis. Consistent relationships included the association of guava with low-slope and \u27ohi\u27a \u27ai with high-slope. Richness showed association with high-slope and cliff proximity. The mark of Hawaiian cultivators is apparent. Polynesian species accounted for 48.2% of the importance value. Size-class histograms revealed a stable structure for most species. Certain Western exotics had spotty distributions or size-class structures that indicate impending extinction. Native species are rare except for hala. There are indications that they were probably scarce during prehistory as well. This study exemplifies historical biogeography. It synthesizes methods of geography, ecology, and archaeology for the purpose of better interpreting cultural vegetation

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

The purpose of the Sourcebook is to act as a guide for practitioners and technical staff in addressing gender issues and integrating gender-responsive actions in the design and implementation of agricultural projects and programs. It speaks not with gender specialists on how to improve their skills but rather reaches out to technical experts to guide them in thinking through how to integrate gender dimensions into their operations. The Sourcebook aims to deliver practical advice, guidelines, principles, and descriptions and illustrations of approaches that have worked so far to achieve the goal of effective gender mainstreaming in the agricultural operations of development agencies. It captures and expands the main messages of the World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development and is considered an important tool to facilitate the operationalization and implementation of the report's key principles on gender equality and women's empowerment

Science-based restoration monitoring of coastal habitats, Volume Two: Tools for monitoring coastal habitats

Healthy coastal habitats are not only important ecologically; they also support healthy coastal communities and improve the quality of people’s lives. Despite their many benefits and values, coastal habitats have been systematically modified, degraded, and destroyed throughout the United States and its protectorates beginning with European colonization in the 1600’s (Dahl 1990). As a result, many coastal habitats around the United States are in desperate need of restoration. The monitoring of restoration projects, the focus of this document, is necessary to ensure that restoration efforts are successful, to further the science, and to increase the efficiency of future restoration efforts

Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas,

Not AvailableAgroforestry provides a unique opportunity to achieve the objectives of enhancing the productivity and improving the soil quality. Tree systems can also play an important role towards adapting to the climate variability and important carbon sinks which helps to decrease the pressure on natural forests. Realizing the importance of the agroforestry in meeting the twin objectives of mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as making rainfed agriculture more climate resilient, the ICAR-CRIDA has taken up the challenge in pursuance of National Agroforestry Policy 2014, in preparing a book on Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas at ICAR-CRIDA to sharpen the skills of all stakeholders at national, state and district level in rainfed areas to increase agricultural productivity in response to climate changeNot Availabl

Examining Urban Heat Island Effect and Its Public Health Implications with Remotely Sensed Data

The Urban heat island (UHI) as a byproduct of urbanization has long been studied utilizing remote sensing technologies. However, issues remain to be addressed. Land surface temperature (LST) as the indicator of surface UHI can be retrieved from remotely sensed data, but its accuracy is limited as existing studies neglect the neighboring effect. Further, while LST serves well as an indicator of surface thermal condition, it lacks the ability to reveal human heat stress, which is an environmental hazard that can seriously affect productivity, health or even survival of individuals. Although human heat stress has long been studied and can be quantified by many heat stress indices, it has never been explored across continuous spaces. Aiming to address these issues, the objectives of this research include: (1) taking into account the neighboring effect during LST retrieval using a moving window method; (2) revealing human heat stress with remotely sensed data; and (3) exploring the relationship between heat stress and land cover composition and configuration. My results indicate that the accuracy of LST estimation is improved when neighboring effect is considered. Discomfort index (DI) as an indicator of human heat stress can be retrieved from remotely sensed data, and its spatial distribution and relationship with land cover composition is largely affected by relative humidity. Spatial configuration of different land covers has an impact on DI, which may provide insights for policy makers and urban designers on mitigating hazardous environmental effect brought by urbanization

A River Runs Through It: Re-imagining Kuta's Neglected River

Water plays a fundamental role in Balinese culture. The Balinese religion known as Agama Tirta, “the religion of holy-water,” enforces the philosophy of tri hita karana, which instills an interrelationship of spirit, human, and nature. The physical manifestation of this philosophy is Bali’s cultural landscape, a landscape shaped by an ancient social organization and system of water irrigation, known as the subak, for the cultivation of wet rice (sawah) over the past millennium. Fundamental to the agricultural infrastructure is the network of water temples which intangibly connects each subak sharing the same water sources. The temples sanctify water from its mountain source, through numerous rice terraces, and eventually emptied into the ocean. Due to the cultural significance of Bali’s water culture, Bali’s networks of water temples, subak organizations and engineered landscape have recently been deemed an UNESCO World Heritage site. The subak, and its mastering of water hydrology, has allowed Balinese civilization to reach the heights it has today. However, as modernization and globalization, spurred by tourism, continues to pave over Bali’s natural and cultural landscape, the subak and Bali’s inland water sources have greatly suffered in urbanizing areas. As a result, Bali’s waters have become heavily polluted and neglected, a stark contradiction to the philosophy of tri hita karana. Kuta, a coastal district in southern Bali, is Indonesia’s most popular tourist destination welcoming nearly six million foreign and domestic visitors annually. Once a quiet fishing and farming village hidden within a dense coconut grove, Kuta's seemingly endless white sand beach, tropical environment, and holiday atmosphere attract travelers from around the world. In response to growing visitor numbers and the desire to modernize, a large boom of unrestricted and unplanned development has transformed the once lush coastline into a bustling commercial zone forever altering the traditional village-scape and landscape due to minimal effort in preserving and reinforcing traditional Balinese sociospatial qualities, subak infrastructure, and important natural ecological systems, especially the Tukad Mati River and Prapat Benoa mangrove forest, both of which are for the most part out of view and inaccessible for the general public. Furthermore, a lack of public space prevents any synergistic interaction between tourists and the local population, augmenting the social and economic disparities between the parties. In reaction to the issues currently facing Kuta, I explore the intricacies of Bali’s complex culture, which have shaped its built and natural environments, the impact and influences of tourism in Bali, and contemporary theories of place-making, urban identity, and landscape urbanism. The research guides an urban design proposal for Kuta, reclaiming its neglected Tukad Mati River as an axis of urban development; conceptually reinventing the network of water temples and subak as a series of spaces and urban nodes that integrate civic, landscape, and hydrological infrastructural functions in order to bring awareness to an ancient cultural landscape