Aboriginal Translocations
The Intentional Propagation and Dispersal of Plants in Aboriginal Australia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18956072 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J L Silcock (Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072. ( ) [email protected]), Jennifer Silcock (0000-0001-7503-748X, The University of Queensland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 390 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Ethnobiology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0278-0771 • E-ISSN: 2162-4496 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2993/0278-0771-38.3.390 |
| OpenAlex | W2892772693 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 42 |
The prevalence and imperative of translocations for the conservation of plant species is increasing in response to habitat loss and degradation, plant diseases, and projected climate change. However, the intentional movement and nurture of plant species to increase their range and/or abundance has been practiced for millennia, encompassing species with food, medicinal, narcotic, and ceremonial values. While it is well documented that Australian Aboriginal people altered the composition and structure of vegetation communities through regular burning and engaged in complex food processing and storage, the extent to which they intentionally dispersed and propagated plants remains unclear. Here, I review the ethnographic, archaeological, biogeographic, and phylogenetic record relating to plant translocations in Aboriginal Australia. With the exception of re-planting of tubers after harvesting, the ethnographic record is characterized by sparse but detailed accounts of movement, planting, and/or nurture of important species, often involving ceremonial elements. Translocations encompassed assisted migrations, introductions and reinforcements, and spanned much of the continent and numerous life-forms and plant uses. The ethnographic record is fragmentary and often difficult to verify, and we will never know the full extent and nature of plant translocations in Aboriginal Australia. However, combined with biogeographic and, increasingly, phylogenetic insights, there is sufficient evidence to place modern translocations in a much older context of human-plant interactions. This allows for broader and more nuanced discussion around the practice and ethics of translocations, particularly in the context of assisted migrations in response to climate change, as well as re-evaluation of “natural” plant distributions in Australia
Archaeology · Biological dispersal · Biology · Geography · Habitat · Nature versus nurture · Population · Sociology · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Ecology
Moving plants and designing Earth otherwise with assisted migration
Araucaria bidwillii genomics suggest Indigenous Peoples broadened translocation practices in response to settler colonialism
Centring Indigenous knowledge systems to re‐imagine conservation translocations
Mesolithic Landscapes and Niche Construction
Relations of divergence and convergence. Political ontology at the intersection of protected areas and neoliberal conservation
Mindfulness, gratitude and sharing are central to berry harvesting practice, sustainability and adaptation in rural Alaska
Early Iron-Age ornaments of the Yanghai people in Xinjiang, China
Evaluating human responses to Enso driven climate change during the Holocene in northwest Australia through macrobotanical analyses
Human-facilitated dispersal of pawpaw (Asimina triloba [L.] Dunal) at its northern range limits
Evidence of external contact between the Pacific Basin and the east coast of Australia during the Holocene
Not All Edible Nuts Are Eaten
Adopting a Root
Foragers or Farmers
General patterns of niche construction and the management of ‘wild’ plant and animal resources by small-scale pre-industrial societies
Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia
Plant exploitation on Sahul
Plants before farming
The Ethics of Assisted Colonization in the Age of Anthropogenic Climate Change
Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems
Romanticism, aboriginality and national identity
Traditional forms of plant exploitation in Australia and New Guinea
Human impacts on Persoonia falcata. Perspectives on post-contact vegetation change in the Keep River region, Australia, from contemporary vegetation surveys
Earth mounds in southeastern Australia
Human Niche Construction
Traditional and modern plant use among the Alyawara of central Australia
Aboriginal Resource Utilization and Fire Management Practice in Western Arnhem Land, Monsoonal Northern Australia
Plants, Sites and Domiculture
Inclusions, exclusions and transitions
The Pristine Myth
Elementary Food Production by the Australian Aborigines
The Bagundji of the darling basin
Horticultural experimentation in northern Australia reconsidered
The cultural life of early domestic plant use
Country and garden
Negotiating belonging
Autonomy and the intercultural
Coming to Understanding
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |