FRUITS OF OCEANIA

Crop Production/Industries,

Les barringtonia comestibles de Vanuatu (Barringtonia spp.)

Cet article se présente comme une contribution ethnobotanique à la connaissance des Barringtonia comestibles et, au-delà, à la connaissance de la biodiversité des plantes océaniennes en vue de leur protection et de leur développemen

Language Differences by Environment in STEM Classroom Engagement Activities

Faculty advisor: Keisha Varma and Julie BrownThis research was supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Damage to tropical forests caused by cyclones is driven by wind speed but mediated by topographical exposure and tree characteristics

Each year, an average of 45 tropical cyclones affect coastal areas and potentially impact forests. The proportion of the most intense cyclones has increased over the past four decades and is predicted to continue to do so. Yet, it remains uncertain how topographical exposure and tree characteristics can mediate the damage caused by increasing wind speed. Here, we compiled empirical data on the damage caused by 11 cyclones occurring over the past 40 years, from 74 forest plots representing tropical regions worldwide, encompassing field data for 22,176 trees and 815 species. We reconstructed the wind structure of those tropical cyclones to estimate the maximum sustained wind speed (MSW) and wind direction at the studied plots. Then, we used a causal inference framework combined with Bayesian generalised linear mixed models to understand and quantify the causal effects of MSW, topographical exposure to wind (EXP), tree size (DBH) and species wood density (ρ) on the proportion of damaged trees at the community level, and on the probability of snapping or uprooting at the tree level. The probability of snapping or uprooting at the tree level and, hence, the proportion of damaged trees at the community level, increased with increasing MSW, and with increasing EXP accentuating the damaging effects of cyclones, in particular at higher wind speeds. Higher ρ decreased the probability of snapping and to a lesser extent of uprooting. Larger trees tended to have lower probabilities of snapping but increased probabilities of uprooting. Importantly, the effect of ρ decreasing the probabilities of snapping was more marked for smaller than larger trees and was further accentuated at higher MSW. Our work emphasises how local topography, tree size and species wood density together mediate cyclone damage to tropical forests, facilitating better predictions of the impacts of such disturbances in an increasingly windier world

Green desert or ‘all you can eat’? How diverse and edible was the flora of Vanuatu before human introductions?

The islands of Vanuatu are relatively young geologically, having been formed through tectonic activity. They were colonised very early after their formation by plant species that have come from three main sources (northern Melanesia, New Caledonia and Fiji), carried by winds, ocean currents, birds and bats. When Lapita people arrived, they most likely found edible species there. This paper attempts to understand how settlers could have diversified their diets with plants collected directly from the local flora. Although this flora is considered rather poor compared to the three main source regions, this paper outlines how these colonising settlers could have foraged for local species whose leaves, fruits and tubers could have been eaten readily upon arrival, providing support for their subsistence during initial settlement. Different approaches will be considered to clarify the debate over Early Lapita diets in Remote Oceania