What Was Left Out of the Founding Myth of the Green Revolution? CGIAR
Lessons from the Green Revolution: Do We Need New Technology to End Hunger? Peter Rosset, Joseph Collins, and Frances Moore Lappé (2000)
The Complicated Legacy of the Green Revolution The Ongoing Transformation
The Globalization of Wheat: A Critical History of the Green Revolution Marci R. Baranski The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
The Green Revolution in The Future of Genetically Modified Crops: Lessons from the Green Revolution Felicia Wu
20vi24
Sissinghurst Castle Garden Wikipedia
Sissinghurst: Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden
Vita Sackville-West and Sissinghurst National Trust
Norah Lindsay Wikipedia
The Succession of Forest Trees, by Henry David Thoreau (1860)
Reclaiming Henry David Thoreau, Forest Historian Forest History Society
Rich people are killing trees to improve their views, despite massive fines Boing Boing
Occasional paper: Fungal banking crookedtimber.org
Non-native plants and animals expanding ranges 100 times faster than native species ScienceDaily, and Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 2024
An international team of scientists has recently found that non-native species are expanding their ranges many orders of magnitude faster than native ones, in large part due to inadvertent human help. Even seemingly sedentary non-native plants are moving at three times the speed of their native counterparts in a race where, because of the rapid pace of climate change and its effect on habitat, speed matters. To survive, plants and animals need to be shifting their ranges by 3.25 kilometers per year just to keep up with the increasing temperatures and associated climactic shifts -- a speed that native species cannot manage without human help.
Interaction with insects accelerates plant evolution ScienceDaily
When in drought: Researchers map which parts of the Amazon are most vulnerable to climate change ScienceDaily, Nature
Forests, Frontiers, and Extractivism Environmental History: Vol 28, No 4
Cutover Capitalism: Connecting Labor and Nature in Forest Extraction Environmental History: Vol 28, No 4
Sweet Fuel: A Political and Environmental History of Brazilian Ethanol. By Jennifer Eaglin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022 Environmental History review
Environmental History at JSTOR
Phytosociology Wikipedia
Phytoanthropology: imagining anathropology from botany Tadashi Yanai
Sensory ecologies, plant-persons, and multinatural landscapes in Amazonia Canadian Science Publishing
Anthropogenic Impact and Ethnographic Study of Flora and Fauna of Silvassa Region Seema Bhatnagar and Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singh 2024
Cassava Spirit and the Seed of History: On Garden Cosmology in Northern Amazonia
Sidestep to Amazonia
Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon NatureLost Cities of the Amazon Discovered From the Air Smithsonian
Lidar Uncovers Massive Ancient City in Amazon xyHt
Deep in the Amazon, researchers have uncovered a complex of ancient cities — using laser technology CBC Radio
Laser mapping reveals oldest Amazonian cities, built 2500 years ago Science
Over 10,000 Earthworks in the Amazon Revealed By LiDAR Ancient Origins
Engagement with C4 came via reading in The Holocene
C4 carbon fixation WikipediaList of C4 plants Wikipedia
The difference between C3 and C4 plants RIPE
C4 Plant - an overview ScienceDirect
Nature's green revolution: the remarkable evolutionary rise of C4 plantsPMC
The evolutionary ecology of C4 plants New Phytologist
Evolution of C4 photosynthesis predicted by constraint-based modelling Mary-Ann Blätke and Andrea Bräutigam
Challenges and Approaches to Crop Improvement Through C3-to-C4 Engineering Hongchang Cui Front. Plant Sci., 13 September 2021
The fab C4 The Biologist
Of the estimated 435,000 plant species on planet Earth, C4 photosynthesis is present in fewer than 2%. However, it accounts for approximately 25% of global primary productivity. It can be considered a 'turbo-charged' form of photosynthesis, with the most productive C4 plants having yields and maximum growth rates some 40-50% higher than the most productive C3 species.Just three of the world's top 10 crops — maize, sorghum and sugarcane — use C4 photosynthesis. As such, it has long been recognised that if more of our most-consumed crop species used C4 photosynthesis, it could have a radical effect on global food security...
A Review of C4 Plants in Southwest Asia: An Ecological, Geographical and Taxonomical Analysis of a Region With High Diversity of C4 Eudicots Front. Plant Sci., 04 November 2020
The evolution of C4 photosynthesis New Phytologist
The Biochemistry of C4 Photosynthesis Ryuzi Kanai and Gerald E. Edwards (pdf)
A Language Log post this morning brought me back to the Southeast Asia thread, and eventually to specific plant materials, but with interesting detours one the way. It All Counts:
Demic and cultural factors in the spread of Austronesian languages in Southeast Asia Victor Mair at Language LogDiversification of Proto-Austronesian Victor Mair at Language Log
Demic diffusion Wikipedia
Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model PNAS
Demic and cultural diffusion propagated the Neolithic transition across different regions of Europe Journal of The Royal Society
Synthesis between demic and cultural diffusion in the Neolithic transition in Europe PNAS
Ancient genomes reveal millet farming-related demic diffusion from the Yellow River into southwest China Current Biology
Genetic evidence supports demic diffusion of Han culture Nature
Cultural versus demic diffusion in agricultural expansions according to three definitions of dispersal distances Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
The Interplay of Demic and Cultural Diffusion in Neolithic Expansions The Archaeologist
Estimating the relative importance of demic and cultural diffusion in the spread of the Neolithic in Scandinavia Journal of The Royal Society
Genetic Evidence for the Demic Diffusion of Agriculture to India Science
Urabá, a contemporary history of violence and territory
The region was a refuge area during the period known as "La Violencia" — a conflict between the two main political parties in the 1950s, an area of natural resources to be exploited and, at the same time, an area on the far margins of the country...Large-scale colonisation dates back to the 1960s when the main road between Medellín and Turbo was built. This wave of migration increased during the boom in the banana trade. Three hundred banana plantations were created by the Frutera de Sevilla (a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company). Tens of thousands of migrants settled in the region attracted by labour prospects on the banana plantations, but also by the promise of untouched virgin forests to colonise...
Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009 Nature
Contributions of human cultures to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation Carolina Levis et al. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2024
...we assess the scientific literature to identify relationships between biodiversity (including ecosystem diversity) and cultural diversity, and investigate how these connections may affect conservation outcomes in tropical lowland South America.
24vi24
Daines Barrington Wikipedia
The Natural History of Selborne
Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable—but You're Eating Them Wrong WIRED
Yes, Carrots Really Are Orange Because of Orangists outlandish claims substack
Origin and Distribution of the Western Cultivated Carrot O Banga 1963
25vi24
The War of the Villages: The Interwar Agrarian
Crisis and the Second World War Adam Tooze (pdf)
Mycoheterotrophy in the wood-wide web Nature Plants
Selfish genes and mother trees Nature Plants
Nature Plants (a Springer journal, paywalled)
More on the Rubber account:Fordlândia Wikipedia
Firestone Natural Rubber Company Wikipedia
Firestone Natural Rubber corporate site
Empire of Rubber: Firestone's Scramble for Land and Power in Liberia Gregg Mitman
Stop Firestone Flyer (pdf)
Firestone and the Warlord: A Century of Blood, Sweat and Profits ProPublica
The Firestone Rubber Plantations in Liberia on JSTOR
Environmental and human rights impacts of natural rubber in Liberia source-international.org
The Human Price of American Rubber Science History Institute
Firestone Liberia Earns First ISCC PLUS Certification Environment + Energy Leader
Spanning approximately 118,000 acres, Firestone Liberia is the biggest natural rubber operation in the world and plays a vital role in the Liberian community as the largest private employer. The facility's commitment extends beyond rubber production, providing free medical care and education for over 7,000 students across 23 schools.Processed rubber from the Firestone Liberia facility is integral to Bridgestone's tire manufacturing, including the prod26iv24uction of the Bridgestone Turanza EV touring tire, which incorporates 50% ISCC PLUS-certified recycled and renewable materials.
At a rubber plantation in Liberia, history repeats in a fight over land Ashoka Mukpo
Mangrove Trees Are on the Move, Taking the Tropics with Them Scientific American
26vi24
Prototaxites Wikipedia
Giant Fungus Fed on Aquatic Microbes, Not Plants, Research Shows
27vi24
Natural History Wikipedia
Natural History (Pliny) Wikipedia
On the Power of a Salt Marsh Orion Magazine
quick visit to Corn
Improving Corn USDAEugene Funk and Hybrid Corn mchistory.org
Inbreeding, Hybrid Vigor, and Hybrid Corn Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary
History of the US Hybrid Corn Seed Industry Thomas Hoegemeyer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A Brief History of the Hybrid Corn Industry Terry Daynard
H. A. Wallace and the Development of Hybrid Corn WILLIAM L. BROWN (pdf)
How Henry Wallace ushered in hybrid seed corn Tom J Bechman at farmprogress.com
Hybrid Seeds in History and Historiography Helen Anne Curry Isis (pdf)
Acceptance and Diffusion of Hybrid Corn Seed in Two Iowa Communities BRYCE RYAN AND NEAL GROSS 1950 (pdf)
Background of U.S. Hybrid Corn A. Forrest Troyer, Crop Science 1999
Understanding the history of a crop helps plant breeders select. This historical narrative discusses the background of hybrid corn (Zea mays L.) in the USA. It attempts to explain why certain open-pollinated cultivars persisted into today's hybrids. Domesticated corn originated by selecting larger, non-shattering ears in tropical, southern Mexico. Corn moved to temperate areas requiring adaptation to more variable, more stressful conditions. Flint corn arrived in the USA about 1000 BC and dent corn arrived after Columbus 2500 yr later. The first southern Corn Belt of the 1830s (Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia) moved northwest (Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri) by 1880; shorter-season, more drought tolerant cultivars were developed. About 1000 open-pollinated cultivars resulted from natural and artificial selection in flint x dent backgrounds. A few cultivars were widely adapted and became popular. Virtually all 1000 cultivars became parents of inbred lines. Yellow corn (containing vitamin A) proved better for feeding; white corn production diminished from 50% in 1920 to 1% of total in 1970. Earlier planting, higher plant densities, more nitrogen application, and wider adaptation affected hybrid selection. Pedigree background frequencies of 33 Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. proprietary, elite inbred lines directly estimate background Of >40% of U.S. hybrid corn hectarage and indirectly estimate the rest. Forms of 'Reid Yellow Dent'('Iodent Reid', 'Troyer Reid', 'Osterland Reid', 'Stiff Stalk Synthetic', Reid Yellow Dent per se, and 'Funk Yellow Dent Reid') are 50%. 'Minnesota 13' is 13%. 'Northwestern-Dent' is 5%. 'Lancaster Sure Crop' is 4%. 'Learning Corn' is 4%. These cultivars were widely adapted and popular. The results are consistent with evolutionary (adaptation) expectations. Genes for adaptedness to the temperate, U.S. Corn Belt (longer days, cooler minimum temperatures, and shorter, drier, more stressful seasons) were naturally and artificially selected; first, in widely adapted, open-pollinated cultivars then, in widely adapted hybrids. Old cultivar and inbred line background sources, few in number, indicate adaptedness is more important than diversity to increase yield.The Political Economy of Hybrid Corn by Richard C. Lewontin and Jean-Pierre Berlan, Monthly Review 1986
The Hybrid Corn Miracle
>
28vi24
from Reuters, via Tooze:
As U.S. farm incomes are forecast to plunge in 2024 due to a sharp reversal in commodity crop prices, less government support and high borrowing and labor costs, farmers' economic pain is spreading from the fields to Main Street. The situation in U.S. prairie states is particularly severe. Farmers here are facing the worst economic situation in over a decade, and small cities are at risk of becoming ghost towns, sources told Reuters. Two years of severe drought followed by national farm economic problems including inflated seed and chemical costs, higher interest rates and lower crop prices have sapped money from the surrounding communities, ten business owners, two chambers of commerce directors, two economists and three farmers in Kansas told Reuters. Business owners noted anywhere from a 20% to 30% decline in revenue compared to the previous year. Nationally, farm income is forecast to fall 25% from last year according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. That would be the largest annual decrease, opens new tab in dollar terms. … U.S. farm income hit a record high in 2022, before a steep drop in commodity crop prices due to large harvests in South America and waning demand from importers and meatpackers upended U.S. farmers' fortunes. Corn, soy and wheat futures are trading around three-year lows.
Capsicum spp.: Chile
The Story of Chile Peppers New Mexico State University...At the turn of the 20th century, Fabian Garcia, a pioneer horticulturist at New Mexico State University, realized the problems inherent with native landraces and introduced a new type of pod to the chile pepper industry: the 'New Mexico No. 9.' This cultivar was a farmer's dream because of its regular size, shape and dependable heat. It was a commercial success and kicked-off the Mexican food boom in America.How chili peppers conquered the world (or at least most of it) The Splendid Table
A Brief History of Chili Peppers from 6,100 Year Ago to Today
...New World goods and foods were funneled through Portuguese shipping routes. And the Portuguese empire grew — Brazil, islands of East Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and India — forts, factories and naval outposts dotted its coastlines, where trade between colonies thrived. In addition, the sea lanes to Malacca and Indonesia included Chinese, Gujarati, and Arabic traders, who were able to add New World crops to their existing trade bounties.Plant of the Month: Chili Pepper JSTOR DailyWild chilies grow their fruits upright, attracting birds to spread their seeds. Through the process of domestication, the bright red pods began to hang down from the branches, becoming more obscured behind the leaves. They also remain on the stem longer, so that humans can pick them before they fall to the ground. From the peppers' early habitats in the central Andes, indigenous populations expanded their range to the coasts of South America, across the Caribbean islands, and as far north as present-day Mexico and southern Texas.The history of chili peppers in Mexican cuisine De La Calle
How the Chile Became Hot NYTimes
The History of Chilli Peppers spicemad.com
Multiple lines of evidence for the origin of domesticated chili pepper, Capsicum annuum, in Mexico PNAS
Mexican chili peppers: history, varieties, and nutritional values Fine Food Group
The Complicated Evolutionary History of Spicy Chili Peppers Science in the News
...Then the scientists took their question one step further, and asked why the chilies might not benefit from rodents snacking on their fruits. They found that when rodents ate chili seeds, grinding them with their molars, none of the seeds were able to germinate. Consumption by thrashers, on the other hand, "resulted in germination rates similar to those of control seeds" (Tewksbury et al, 2001). This made intuitive sense, because birds are important seed dispersers for many plants. Chilies direct their spice at rodents that grind up their seeds, while encouraging benevolent birds to disperse their seeds far away.
Manihot esculenta: Cassava, Tapioca, Ubi Kayu ...
Cassava WikipediaTapioca pearl Wikipedia
The value of tapioca through the eras: Tapioca, past and present Periuk.my
Manihot Esculenta - an overview ScienceDirect Topics
Manihot esculenta leafforlife.org
Evidence on the origin of cassava: Phylogeography of Manihot esculenta PNAS
The origin of Manihot esculenta Crantz (Euphorbiaceae) Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
An Introduction to Economic Botany: Manihot esculenta naturalis.nl
Manihot esculenta Flora of North America
Manihot esculenta: Cassava, Manioc, Yuca Permaculture Haven Australia
Manihot esculenta Crantz<.a> Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Manihot esculenta Useful Tropical Plants
10 Manihot Esculenta Seeds Amazon
Camphor
Camphora officinarum WikipediaCamphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora) iNaturalist
Cinnamomum camphora Florida Invasive Plants
The Trail of The Camphor Adi Magazine
The History and Uses of Camphor GOYA
The Japanese Camphor Monopoly: Its History and Relation to the Future of Japan JSTOR
Old camphor kingdom comes alive Taiwan Today
Where Jungle Products Abound New Sarawak Tribune
Natural Product Librar The Official Website of Sarawak Biodiversity Centre
Non-Timber Forest Products Official Website of Forest Department Sarawak
Riches of the jungle: Bornean fruit primer Explore Parts Unknown
State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2024 The Borneo Project
2vii24
Ethnobotany of the Hopi Alfred Whiting (1939)
Turkey Red wheat
Turkey Red, a heritage wheatStory of Turkey Red Wheat in Kansas
The Heritage of Turkey Red Winter Wheat Homestead on the Range
Turkey Wheat: The Cornerstone of an Empire K. S. Quisenberry and L. P. Reitz Agricultural History 1974
Turkey Red Wheat Palouse Heritage
Amazon sidebar (in chronological order)
Peopling South America's centre: the late Pleistocene site of Santa Elina Denis Vialou et al. Antiquity (2017) (seems to be full text)
Was there ever a Neolithic in the Neotropics? Plant familiarisation and biodiversity in the Amazon Antiquity (2018)
Contours of the Past: LiDAR Data Expands the Limits of Late Pre-Columbian Human Settlement in the Santarém Region, Lower Amazon Per Stenborg et al Journal of Field Archaeology (2018) (full text)
Persistent Early to Middle Holocene tropical foraging in southwestern Amazonia Jose M Capriles et al Science Advances (2019) (seems to be full text)
Spatiotemporal patterns of pre-Columbian people in Amazonia Crystal N.H. McMichael and Mark B. Bush Quaternary Research (2019)
The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America Jose Iriarte et al. Quaternary Science Reviews (2020) (Elsevier)
Ancient rock art reveals life of the Amazon's earliest inhabitants Luke Tayor New Scientist (2020)
Archaeological expansions in tropical South America during the late Holocene: Assessing the role of demic diffusion Jonas Gregorio de Souza et al. PLOS One (2020) (full text)
The surprising evolutionary history of pumpkins and squashes Penny Sarchet New Scientist (2022)
Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon Heiko Prümers et al. Nature (2022) (full text)
More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia Vinicius Peripato et al. Science (2023)
The peopling of Amazonia: Chrono-stratigraphic evidence from Serranía La Lindosa, Colombian Amazon Francisco Javier Aceituno et al. Quaternary Science Reviews (2024) (Elsevier)
Ancient cities discovered in the Amazon are the largest yet found Michael Le Page New Scientist (2024)
Two thousand years of garden urbanism in the Upper Amazon Stephen Rostain et al. Science (2024)
The Nonagricultural Chiefdoms of Marajó Island DENISE PAHL SCHAAN (read online via Springer)
Handbook of South American Archaeology (Springer 2008 $$$)
7vii24
Obelisks
Viroid-like colonists of human microbiomes bioRxivA new virus-like entity has just been discovered — 'obelisks' explained theconversation.com
...Viruses, being unable to replicate without the help of a host, can most generously be considered to be on the edge of what constitutes life.... Peering even further down into the world of minuscule biological entities, are the viroids – tiny scraps of genetic material (DNA-like molecules known as RNA) that cannot make proteins and, unlike viruses, don't have a protective shell to encase their genome.Viroids are examples of ribozymes: RNA molecules that may be a distant echo of the very first self-replicating genetic elements from which cellular life emerged.
Viroids can self-cleave (chop up) and re-ligate (stick back together) their genome as part of the replication cycle...
The newly discovered biological entity falls somewhere between viruses and viroids.
In fact, the name obelisks was proposed not only because of their shape, but also to provide wiggle room in case they turn out to be more like RNA plasmids (a different type of genetic element that resides inside bacteria) than either viruses or viroids.
Like viroids, obelisks have a circular single-stranded RNA genome and no protein coat but, like viruses, their genomes contain genes that are predicted to code for proteins.
...a common bacterial component of dental plaque, Streptococcus sanguinis, plays host to a specific obelisk type.
nothing is known about the broader evolutionary and ecological significance of obelisks. They may be parasitic and harm host cells, or they may be beneficial.
Hosts may have evolved elaborate defence mechanisms against obelisks, or else actively recruit them to gain some unsuspected advantage. If obelisks change or upset the human microbiome, this may in turn have implications for human health — they may even have therapeutic potential.
Indian subcontinent forestry
Cedrus deodara WikipediaEnchanted Forest: Ode to the Old Sal Community Radhika Raj
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Indian Rail Sleeper
A World Tour of Railway Sleepers: The Different Types and Their Fascinating Histories
7vii24
Is your rice slowly poisoning you? How to reduce arsenic levels in your rice via BoingBoing
The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet NY Times
This AI algorithm counts flowers on trees to predict crop yields months in advance
Syntrichia caninervis: Moss that survives deep freeze and radiation could live on Mars New Scientist
Shocked quartz reveals evidence of historical cosmic airburst ScienceNews, ca, 12,800 years ago (Younger Dryas)
Surely we are smarter than mowing down 1,000-year-old trees to make T-shirts the complex rise of viscose Guardian
Deforestation Anonymous Rainforest destruction and
social conflict driven by PT Mayawana Persada in Indonesian Borneo (pdf)
10vii24
Mangrove forest Wikipedia
Mangroves SMITHSONIAN OCEAN
Mangrove: an overview ScienceDirect
Mangrove: Nature's carbon storehouse CIFOR
Science news tagged with mangrove phys.org
Mangrove Ecosystems of the World ESRI
Structural Characteristics of the Tallest Mangrove Forests of the American Continent: A Comparison of Ground-Based, Drone and Radar Measurements Frontiersin.org
Mapping Mangroves by Satellite NASA
Mangrove Forests Mappng Harvard
Mapping Missing Mangroves NASA
Mapping global distribution of mangrove forests at 10-m resolution ScienceDirect
World Mangrove Atlas (pdf)
Mangrove Forest Forestb Department Sarawak
Management of Mangrove Forest of Sarawak Paul Chai
The potential of mangrove forests in Sarawak Paul Chai
New forest map for Sarawak reveals large-scale deforestation, encroachment on indigenous territories Rhett A Butler 2014
The value of a mangrove area in Sarawak Semantic Scholar
Status of Mangroves in Malaysia (pdf) 2020
Rates and drivers of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia, 2000-2012 Daniel R. Richards and Daniel A. Friess PNAS 2015
Sundarbans Wikipedia
Forest of Tides: The Sundarbans AramcoWorld
>p>
The Sundarban - a unique wetland to preserve world bank blog
The Sundarbans UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Sundarbans - an overview ScienceDirect
Paradigm shift in the management of the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh: Issues and challenges ScienceDirect
How worthy is the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest? An exploratory study researchgate (pdf)
Mangrove - an overview ScienceDirect
Impacts of climate change on mangrove ecosystems: a region by region overview Wiley
Impact of mangrove forests degradation on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning Nature
Mangrove Trees Are on the Move, Taking the Tropics with Them Scientific American
Living in Mangrove Time Long Now
Johannes Hartlieb's Book of Herbs (1462)
Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa ScienceDaily
12vii24
Wild plants and crops don't make great neighbors, research finds
'Smallholder'
Smallholder Farming - at the Centre of our Food Systems One Acre Fund
Supporting Smallholder Farmers — What Works and What Doesn't cropaia.com
Catalyzing smallholder farming in Mexico CIMMYT
Smallholder Programs Cargill
Building more sustainable supply chains Cargill
Empowering smallholder farmers Unilever
What climate-smart agriculture means for smallholder farmers McKinsey
Smallholder Commitment Bayer Global
Regenerative Agriculture Bayer Global
Redefining smallholder farmer inclusion in modern value chains: three ways forward International Institute for Environment and Development
Smallholder Farmers Are Key to Making the Palm Oil Industry Sustainable World Resources Institute
Smallholder farmers and contract farming in developing countries PNAS
Smallholders can feed the world IFAD (pdf)
Smallholders Factsheet FAO (pdf)
What is Bonsucro? Bonsucro: Learn, Share, Connect
Palm Oil Smallholder Partnership Asian Agri
14vii24
island of Sumatra U Washington
Volcanic Geology of Sumatra Quaternary Volcanicity
Ecology of Sumatra Tony Whitten 1997
The Vegetation and Physiography of Sumatra Yves Laumonier 1997
Musical Journeys in Sumatra Margaret Kartomi 2012
Palm Oil Industry of Sumatra and West Africa Sydney B Redecker 1927
Sumatra Travel guide at Wikivoyage
Sumatra coffee Sweet Maria's
Mangroves
Mangrove Wikipedia
Early agriculture and crop transitions at Kakapel Rockshelter in the Lake Victoria region of eastern Africa Royal Society Proceedings B (pdf)
Smallholder - an overview ScienceDirect
A Southeast Asian digression
Sumatra Wikipedia
Understanding the Complexity of Sumatra Coffee Ever Meister
Sumatra Coffee Ratings and Reviews Coffee Review
Sumatra and Borneo: Animals, People and Threats WWF
Sumatra Eyes On The Forest
Kalimantan Eyes On The Forest
Medicinal plant ecology, knowledge and conservation in Kalimantan, Indonesia Economic Botany
Village economic opportunity, forest dependence, and rural livelihoods in East Kalimantan, Indonesia ScienceDirect
Estate Crops More Attractive than Community Forests in West Kalimantan, Indonesia mdpi.com
Canal blocking strategies for hydrological restoration of degraded tropical peatlands in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia ScienceDirect
Reconciling Oil Palm Expansion and Climate Change Mitigation in Kalimantan, Indonesia PLOS ONE
Review: Biodiversity conservation strategy in a native perspective; case study of shifting cultivation at the Dayaks of Kalimantan Nusantara Bioscience
A History of Forestry in Sarawak Amarjit Kaur 2001 Modern Asian Studies 1998
the historical legacy of 'commercial' extraction of forest products; the growth of the timber sector and the development of state forest regulation; and the conflicts of interest for allocation of land and rights to utilize forest resources.
Migration and its Alternatives among the Iban of Sarawak Christine Padoch 1982 (pdf)
Vulnerability, Control and Oil Palm in Sarawak: Globalization and a New Era? Majid Cooke 2002 Development and Change
Re-Inventing Dualism: Policy Narratives and Modes of Oil Palm Expansion in Sarawak, Malaysia The Journal of Development Studies: Vol 47, No 2
The mouse deer and the crocodile: oil palm smallholders and livelihood strategies in Sarawak, Malaysia The Journal of Peasant Studies: Vol 40, No 1
Land and Longhouse: Agrarian Transformation in the Uplands of Sarawak RA Cramb (Foreword by Michael Dove)
Land and Longhouse: Agrarian Transformation in the Uplands of Sarawak Amazon, but expensive...
The Last Swiddens of Sarawak, Malaysia Human Ecology
The nutritional value of indigenous fruits and vegetables in Sarawak Voon Bon Hoe 2002
Economic development in Sarawak, Malaysia: An overview
Furuoka, Fumitaka 2014 (pdf)
Emerging challenges for sustainable development and forest conservation in Sarawak, Borneo PLOS ONE
They'll be dammed: the sustainability implications of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) in Malaysia Sustainability Science
Preliminary assessment of the plant diversity and community ecology of the Sematan mangrove forest, Sarawak, Malaysia ScienceDirect
History of Forestry in Sarawak BE Smythies (pdf)
'Shifting ground': Renegotiating land rights and rural livelihoods in Sarawak, Malaysia
Rob Cramb, Patrick S. Sujang
16vii24
"The new variety of canola is called high-laurate canola because it has high levels of lauric acid," said Paul Raymer, a University of Georgia canola breeder. "High-laurate is a genetically engineered variety bred by Calgene Inc.'s specialty oil division."
Lauric acid Wikipedia
High lauric acid canola lines 23-198, 23-18-17
Genetically Engineered High-Lauric Rapeseed (Canola): What Threat to Tropical Lauric Oil Producers? ETC Group (1998 ... what's happened since?)
GM coconut oil with high lauric acid to rival canola
Canola AURI
...Rapeseed has been cultivated since humankind's earliest recordings. In Europe, rapeseed has been an important food and fuel-oil source since the 13th century.
Rapeseed oil Wikipedia
20vii24
The rhythm led by plants is crucial for symbiosis with nutrient-providing bacteria ScienceDaily
Converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment ScienceDaily
"For example, if you are using swine manure as your wet feedstock, you could set up this whole system in close proximity to a swine farm, where there are thousands of pigs and lots of manure. You can collect the manure and run it through the HTL process, extract the wastewater, and have a separate system set up to treat the wastewater onsite. And if you're near a swine farm, there's probably crops nearby where you can use the treated wastewater as a fertilizer."
Botanical garden Wikipedia
State of the World's Trees Botanic Gardens Conservation International
2viii24
Individual canopy tree species maps for the National Ecological Observatory Network PLOS Biology
Picking up again 25xi24, with lots that should be here but are someplace else...
Fall leaves change color as trees rush to recycle for Winter Sam Westreich at Medium
These different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light. Chlorophyll absorbs red-to-orange and blue-to-violet light, but reflects green light back (hence why leaves look green). Carotenoids absorb blue light, but reflect red and orange light.
During spring and summer, carotenoids act as accessories to chlorophyll, helping the plant to capture more of the available light. They're like overflow batteries, holding excess energy and then passing it back to the chlorophyll. Even in leaves that appear green, there are carotenoids at work; they're just visually masked by the chlorophyll.
But carotenoids can't act as a full replacement for chlorophyll. They can temporarily store excess energy, but they can't fully convert it into a molecule that the plant can use.
...In fall, trees break down the chlorophyll in their leaves, reabsorbing the components to store in their stems and trunks. By disassembling it, they keep the ingredients to make it again in the spring.
This process takes a little while. As the green chlorophyll is broken down and reabsorbed, we see the other carotenoids that have always been present in the leaves, but were previously visually hidden away behind the green.
...There are certain plants that are black — seaweed, which have the advantage of being cooled by the ocean and need to maximize their light absorption, and some oxygen-producing algae.
5vi25
ISSUE 98, EDIBLE SEEDS, Part 1: Sunflower David Shields (and see others in the series)
ISSUE 98, EDIBLE SEEDS, Part 2: Chia David S Shields
14viii25
The Scent of a Crowd Niklas Schandry and Claude Becker at Science
...Plants have evolved complex systems to perceive and integrate information about their environment, such as light intensity, nutrient availability, and attacks by pathogens. They also respond to the density of the local plant community, that is, the number of individuals growing per area. However, it remains unknown how density is perceived and translated into a physiological response. On page 698 of this issue, Guo et al. (1) report that linalool, a volatile compound that many plants release into the air, acts at the top of a density signaling cascade. Above a threshold concentration, linalool triggers a chemical response in the root of maize plants (Zea mays). This ultimately leads to alterations to the microbial community in the soil—the microbiome—which has a lasting effect on plant growth and defense. These findings could help develop plants specifically adapted to modern agriculture.
16viii25
Tomat trade wars Adam Tooze, quoting Financial Times
Evolution on the vine: A history of tomato domestication in Latin America EurekAlert!
In 2012, the domesticated 'Heinz 1706' tomato, an SLL, became the very first tomato to have its whole genome sequenced in an effort to better understand the world's highest value vegetable crop.
Since then, scientists from around the world have been adding to our rich understanding of the evolutionary variation responsible for the changes within the tomato's 12 chromosomes.
1ix25
In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua Sophie Chao (2022)
Tomato trade wars Adam Tooze
Vietnam expanding into agro business too Adam Tooze
The Bitter Truth About Chocolate Sapna Peruvemba at Medium
Why? It has to do with how cocoa is grown. Over 60% of the world's cocoa beans are produced in West Africa, with Côte d'Ivoire alone accounting for roughly 2.4 million tons annually. This booming demand has come at a steep environmental cost. In the past 60 years, cocoa production has driven the destruction of nearly a third of the forests in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana — two of the world's largest cocoa producers. That forest loss isn't just a blow to global carbon storage; it has devastated critical wildlife habitats.
In Côum;te d'Ivoire, elephant populations have plummeted from 1,611 in 1994 to just 225 today. A 2015 study found that 13 of 23 protected areas surveyed had lost their entire primate populations. Pygmy hippos, leopards, crocodiles — all face similar fates. Up to 40% of the country's cocoa is now grown illegally in protected national parks — a direct threat to biodiversity and conservation efforts.
Forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing roughly twice as much CO₂ as they emit. But when land is cleared for monoculture cocoa plantations — often without any sustainable forestry practices — that stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
...Cocoa can only grow within a narrow strip of rainforest land about 20 degrees north and south of the equator, known as the "Cocoa Belt." That's because the crop demands a delicate balance of rain, humidity, fertile soil, and consistent temperatures &mdash conditions that can no longer be guaranteed in the climate crisis.
...The industry is trapped in a destructive feedback loop: climate change shrinks the amount of land suitable for cocoa, farmers respond by clearing more forest to expand, and that in turn accelerates climate change.
Mystery of the potato's origins solved by genetics New Scientist
Swidden cultivation was observed to be under pressure but still persisting in many areas in Sarawak, Malaysia around 2000–2003. Since then rapid development of smallholder oil palm and rubber, continuing urbanization and rural to urban migration appear to have considerably reduced the area under swidden cultivation. With the aim of understanding the extent and impacts of this development, 55 households in three communities that were interviewed in 2002–2003 were re-interviewed in 2011. In an area with rapid oil palm development, the households engaged in smallholder oil palm production have experienced considerable improvements in income and wealth whereas the other households have experienced more limited wealth increases or even a decline in income. Many households have decreased or abandoned cultivation of upland rice, which used to be the core of the swidden cultivation system, and the upland soils in the area are now dominated by oil palm. In another area, where no oil palm development has taken place because of a hydroelectric dam, upland rice fields under swidden cultivation have also decreased and new high yielding rubber is now being planted because of the favorable rubber prices. Moreover, tourism has in this area gained further economic importance and overtaken agriculture as the main economic activity of households. The demise of swidden has not yet occurred in Sarawak, but a continued decline has been observed. However, there is a possibility that the new smallholder oil palm and rubber may provide an opportunity for a new type of 'productive fallow' that will allow continued cultivation of upland rice on a small scale.
On the palm oil account
Serendipity took me to New Canola Oil Mocks Palm, Coconut Oils CAES Newswire
Farmers in Georgia are once again growing canola. But this year's crop won't end up in cooking oil bottles. A new variety of canola is being grown as a substitute for palm and coconut oils.
The 23-198 and 23-18-17 lines of canola (Brassica napus) were developed through a specific genetic modification to produce oil that contains significant levels of lauric acid. The novel varieties were developed from the 212/86 canola variety by introduction of a gene from the California bay tree, the leaves of which are an alternative source of the spice "bay leaf" which is commercially harvested from Laurus nobilis. The introduced gene encodes a thioesterase enzyme that is active in the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway of the developing seed resulting in the accumulation of triacylglycerides containing esterified lauric acid (12:0) and, to a lesser extent, myristic acid (14:0). The processed oil derived from these novel varieties has a level of lauric acid similar to that of coconut ant palm kernel oil.
Canola, an edible rapeseed of the mustard family, is grown primarily for its oil. Lowest in saturated fat of all vegetable oils, canola is high in oleic, linoleic and linolenic polyunsaturated fatty acids.
In Praise of Plants:
A reading list for eating plants, and thinking about plant-based food Julia Skinner at rootkitchens.substack,com
...When rhizobia infect legume roots, root epidermal cells form infection threads, membranous tube-like structures guiding the bacteria to the inner root tissue where they can fix nitrogen. Rhizobial infection primarily occurs in a narrow root region just behind the root tip, known as the susceptible region. The continuous cell generation at the root tip perpetually creates new susceptible regions.
Creating fertilizers from organic waste can help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and promote sustainable production. One way of doing this is through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process...
A botanical garden is a controlled and staffed institution for the maintenance of a living collection of plants under scientific management for purposes of education and research, together with such libraries, herbaria, laboratories, and museums as are essential to its particular undertakings. Each botanical garden naturally develops its own special fields of interests depending on its personnel, location, extent, available funds, and the terms of its charter. It may include greenhouses, test grounds, an herbarium, an arboretum, and other departments. It maintains a scientific as well as a plant-growing staff, and publication is one of its major modes of expression...
Seeing plants anew
The stunningly complex behaviour of plants has led to a new way of thinking about our world: plant philosophy Stella Sandford at aeon.co
Carotenoids are pigment molecules, present in everything from leaves to carrots to salmon. There are more than 600 different molecules classified as carotenoids, and they range from yellow to orange to red.
Maize plants recruit immunity-modulating soil microbes in response to high-density planting
...In the 1990s, tomato fields covered more than 60,000 acres of Florida, with hundreds of bustling family farms producing the fruit. Today, less than half of that land is in cultivation, and growers point the finger at one country: Mexico. In July, President Donald Trump sided with Florida farmers, imposing a 17 per cent anti-dumping duty on Mexican tomatoes and accusing producers of selling at less than the cost of production. US growers see the levy, which took effect in July and is separate from broader trade tariff negotiations, as a lifeline for their declining industry. ...Mexico now supplies more than 60 per cent of the fresh tomatoes consumed in the US, a stark example of how the country has won market share across sectors to become the US's top trading partner since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 1994. That has also made it a prime target for Trump since his first presidential campaign. The duty is part of a glut of allegations of trade violations he has thrown at Mexico, alongside broader pressure on security and migration. The tomato duty, which uses a different legal instrument to regular tariffs, is the first Trump trade levy to directly target a fresh food staple. For Mexico, most others are currently tariff-free under a carve-out for the updated US-Mexico-Canada pact, which was extended on Thursday. ... the duty will profoundly disrupt the more than $7bn industry that employs half a million people in Mexico. ...It is also compounding existing challenges from an ongoing cartel war in Sinaloa, Mexico's biggest tomato producing state — where local identity is so enmeshed with the sector that its capital's baseball team is called the tomateros. The US has no replacement for Mexican tomatoes in the short term, though — particularly in winter. At the centre of any debate over Trump's trade measures is who will bear the cost.
The common cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. lycopersicum; or (SLL)) is among the world's most widely grown vegetable crops, from big agricultural farms to heirloom grown varieties.
In the 1990s, tomato fields covered more than 60,000 acres of Florida, with hundreds of bustling family farms producing the fruit. Today, less than half of that land is in cultivation, and growers point the finger at one country: Mexico. In July, President Donald Trump sided with Florida farmers, imposing a 17 per cent anti-dumping duty on Mexican tomatoes and accusing producers of selling at less than the cost of production. US growers see the levy, which took effect in July and is separate from broader trade tariff negotiations, as a lifeline for their declining industry... Mexico now supplies more than 60 per cent of the fresh tomatoes consumed in the US, a stark example of how the country has won market share across sectors to become the US's top trading partner since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 1994. That has also made it a prime target for Trump since his first presidential campaign. The duty is part of a glut of allegations of trade violations he has thrown at Mexico, alongside broader pressure on security and migration. The tomato duty, which uses a different legal instrument to regular tariffs, is the first Trump trade levy to directly target a fresh food staple.
...Japanese trade statistics show that last year's banana imports from Vietnam rose to 33,000 tons, nearly 14 times their 2019 volume ... Growing costs are lower in Vietnam compared with the Philippines and other major producers. In addition, Vietnam's relative proximity to Japan compared with Latin American sources like Mexico and Ecuador makes for cheaper shipping. ... The dominance of the Philippines as a banana source owes in part to concerted efforts by importers in Japan and growers in the Philippines to develop a stable supply. Their market share peaked around 90% in the early 2010s. For the last decade, however, disease and erratic weather have hurt production while rising labor costs have driven up prices. Though the Philippines remains the biggest exporter of bananas to Japan, its share dropped to about 75% last year. Their quality has often been inconsistent, and some importers have reduced their purchases, according to one trading company. "Vietnam started growing bananas relatively recently, so disease has not yet spread and the quality is high," a representative of produce wholesaler said. Younger banana plants make for fresher fruit that last longer. Japan and Vietnam are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, so Japanese tariffs on Vietnamese banana imports are now 5.4%. They will be reduced further in stages and phased out completely in 2028. In contrast, industry sources expect that tariffs on bananas from the Philippines will continue to alternate between 8% and 18% depending on the season. This could give Vietnamese bananas more of an advantage in pricing.
(via Nikkei Asia)...One chocolate bar sourced from deforested rainforest emits more greenhouse gases than a serving of low-impact beef.