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The Hawaiian Islands have been employed as a model system to reconstruct agroecological extents of traditional Polynesian agricultural production systems. However, the reliability of previously modeled agricultural extents is unknown due to limitations in empirical evidence to assess accuracy. Utilizing a geospatial database of 8,561 archaeological sites compiled by the Hawaiʻi State Historic Preservation Department (SHPD), this research assessed the accuracy and reliability of three spatial models that estimate the extents of traditional Hawaiian agricultural systems. The results of the model sensitivity assessment indicate the three geospatial models capture the spatial patterns and relative extents of intensive agricultural systems with substantial infrastructure, while additional work is needed to assess reliability of modeled agricultural systems with more indefinite infrastructure.
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Forgotten forests: expanding potential land use in traditional Hawaiian agroecosystems, and the social-ecological implications
The development of agricultural systems is a fundamental component of social-ecological transformation and a predominant factor influencing social behavior and structuring. However, oversimplification of traditional agricultural production often occurs and limits the understanding of past populations’ abilities to mitigate potential risks and enhance food security through effective land management strategies. The social-ecological traits that characterize the Hawaiian Islands provides a unique vantage to explore human ecodynamics over the longue durée and assess how these systems can be used to inform current and future land-use strategies, both locally and globally. Using the Hawaiian archipelago as a case study, digitized historical maps depicting a range of crop species and cropping systems were georeferenced to assess previous estimates of land use by early island populations and demonstrate the limitations of narratives constructed from previously modeled extents of land-use activity that rely solely on the preservation of archaeological remnants. The results of our mapped vegetation correspond well with the more intensive forms of agriculture that were included in previous models, but overall indicate that previous models do not fully represent the extent of land use by early island populations, missing vast applications of agroforestry and arboriculture. Based on our findings, we argue that the omission of cultivation systems not associated with physical infrastructure has vastly limited the comprehension of land use by early island populations and driven narratives in social-ecological dynamics that underestimate the extent of agricultural production while inferring sociopolitical outcomes based on the prevailing agricultural dichotomy. To remedy this limitation, we suggest a multimethods approach that integrates diverse data sets for an agricultural model that is more inclusive of all agricultural forms implemented by early Native Hawaiian populations and, therefore, is more representative of the extents of land use by island populations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1941595
- PAR ID:
- 10504642
- Publisher / Repository:
- Resilience Alliance
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecology and Society
- Volume:
- 28
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1708-3087
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14656-280421
