Different divergence processes of isoglosses of folk nomenclature between wild trees and rice landraces imply the need for different conservation planning based on the type of plant resources.

BACKGROUND: The intensification of production and socio-economic changes have accelerated the loss of local traditional knowledge and plant resources. Understanding the distribution and determinants of such biocultural diversity is essential in planning efficient surveys and conservation efforts. Because the concept of biocultural diversity in socio-ecological adaptive systems comprises biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity, linguistic information should serve as a surrogate for the distribution of local biological and cultural diversity. In this study, we spatio-linguistically evaluated the names of local trees and rice landraces recorded in Ehime Prefecture, southwestern Japan. METHODS: Hierarchical clustering was performed separately for the names of local trees and rice landraces. By considering innate flora differences and species having multiple local names, a novel distance index was adopted for local tree names. For the names of rice landraces, Jaccard distance was adopted. V-measure and factor detector analysis were used to evaluate the spatial association between the isogloss maps of the folk nomenclature derived from the clustering and multiple thematic maps. RESULTS: Local tree names showed stronger spatial association with geographical factors than rice landrace names. One folk nomenclature group of trees overlapped well with the slash-and-burn cultivation area, suggesting a link between the naming of trees and the traditional production system. In contrast, rice landraces exhibited stronger associations with folklore practices. Moreover, influences of road networks and pilgrimages on rice landraces indicated the importance of human mobility and traditional rituals on rice seed transfer. High homogeneity and low completeness in the V-measure analysis indicated that the names of local trees and rice landraces were mostly homogenous within current municipalities and were shared with a couple of adjacent municipalities. The isogloss maps help to illustrate how the biological and cultural diversity of wild trees and rice landraces are distributed. They also help to identify units for inter-municipal collaboration for effective conservation of traditional knowledge related to those plant resources and traditional rice varieties themselves. CONCLUSIONS: Our spatio-linguistic evaluation indicated that complex geographical and sociological processes influence the formation of plant folk nomenclature groups and implies a promising approach using quantitative lexico-statistical analysis to help to identify areas for biocultural diversity conservation.

Tracing chronological shifts in farmland demarcation trees in southwestern Japan: implications from species distribution patterns, folk nomenclature, and multiple usage.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the history of anthropogenic vegetation is often difficult due to the lack of tangible historical evidence. In this study, we examined chronological changes of farmland demarcation trees planted on alluvial plains along the Hijikawa River in southwestern Japan based on species distribution patterns, folk nomenclature, and multiple usage of the trees. METHODS: The species composition of demarcation trees was investigated at 47 sites in 13 villages. We performed hierarchical clustering using Bray-Curtis measures to detect groups of similar tree composition and permutational multivariate analysis of variance to test whether differences in species composition correspond to village units. To better understand the traditional knowledge of demarcation trees, we conducted interviews with 53 farmers, most of whom were over 60 years old. RESULTS: Clustering resulted in six tree composition groups. The group characterized by the most frequently planted species, Chaenomeles speciosa, dominated around lower reach villages. The group characterized by Euonymus japonicus dominated around middle reach villages, and that characterized by Salix pierotii was mainly located around upper reach villages. Chaenomeles speciosa was always identified with the standard Japanese name boke or similar names. Euonymus japonicus and several other species were also called boke by many farmers. Several elderly farmers stated that C. speciosa was pervasive in upper and middle reach villages in their youth, suggesting the prototypical use of C. speciosa in the study area. In addition, some minor species were likely to have been left after commercial crop production or subsistence use between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, including Morus sp. and Celtis sinensis for sericulture, Salix koriyanagi for fiber production, and Gardenia jasminoides for food coloration. The name koshin bana recorded for E. japonicus suggests that the species' use originated from the folk faiths Koshin-shinko and/or Shomen-Kongo. CONCLUSIONS: The composition of demarcation trees in the region has not been stable over time, but instead changed to reflect the local livelihood, industry, and faiths. Despite the lack of tangible historical evidence, the spatial distribution patterns, folk nomenclature, and traditional knowledge of plants can provide clues to trace the chronological background of ecotopes in anthropogenic landscapes.