The Eucalypt in the Sierra of Southern Peru

Bibliographic Data

ID8376799
AuthorsJ C Dickinson (0009-0001-7688-6560, University of Florida, corresponding author)
Year1969
Volume59
Issue2
Pages294-306
Publication date1969-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the Association of American Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-5608 • E-ISSN: 1467-8306
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-8306.1969.tb00672.x
OpenAlexW2070740902
LanguageEN
Citations received7

In the 180 years since the first Australian eucalypt was described, the genus has achieved global distribution. Prominent among the early introductions was Eucalyptus globulus, the Blue Gum. This species reached the Peruvian Sierra in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It was first planted by Franciscan friars and upper class landowners, and then became a dooryard plant of the landowning peasantry. The tree has become an integral part of the material culture. It is the basic source of construction material and mine timbers, supplanting native woods in the former case and imported wood in the latter. The pattern of the eucalypt on the landscape is dynamically changing in response to increasing demand for wood by the mining companies and local builders of rustic housing. Notes 1 The distribution, cultivation, and utilization of the eucalypt in the Peruvian Sierra and São Paulo State in Brazil was studied between September, 1965, and July, 1966. Research and travel were made possible by a combined NDEA Title VI and Fulbright-Hayes fellowship. 2 A. R. Penfold and J. L. Willis, The Eucalypts (London: Leonard Hill Books, Ltd., 1961), p. xix. 3 E. Navarro de Andrade, O Eucalipto (Jundiai, Brazil: Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro, 1961), pp. 49–58. 4 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Eucalypts for Planting (Rome: 1955), p. 245. 5 Navarro de Andrade, op. cit., footnote 3, pp. 53–54. 6 Navarro de Andrade, op. cit., footnote 3, p. 54. 7 Anonymous, “Cultivo del Eucalipto,”Florecillos de San Antonio, Vol. 8, No. 92 (13 de Agosto de 1919, Lima, Peru), pp. 222–23. 8 R. N. Adams, A Community in the Andes: Problems and Progress in Muquiyauyo (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1959), p. 125. 9 I. Bowman, The Andes of Southern Peru (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916), p. 66. 10 J. A. Tosi, Zonas de Vida Natural en el Peru (Lima: Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agricolas de la OEA, Proyecto 39, 1960), p. 44; H. Gilliam, “Tree of Light,”Natural History, Vol. 75, No. 10 (Dec., 1966), p. 55. 11 Observations by Alan Dean, Peace Corps Forester, and the author, at Tanquiscancha and Hacienda Porvenir near Huancayo, Peru, November, 1965. 12 These ants of the genus Atta must be controlled with chemical formicides. The treatment is expensive and must be carried out over a wide area to be effective. 13 The term “serrano” refers to the traditional Sierran peasant of mixed or pure Indian blood, who has adopted elements of the prevalent Hispanic culture. 14 Early in the Colonial Period much of the scattered Indian population was concentrated in reducciones in the major valleys to facilitate political control and religious instruction; Adams, op. cit., footnote 8, p. 26. 15 This is not to say that without the eucalypt houses could not be built. In each of the major towns of the Sierra, there is a core of public buildings, places of business, and dwellings constructed with materials not locally available. Modern transportation and technology allow those with sufficient capital to build with reinforced concrete, steel, and glass hauled great distances by truck and railroad. Except for scaffolding, little eucalypt wood is used in these structures. The wood used for structures and decorative work is generally trucked over the eastern ranges of the Andes from the Selva. 16 D. R. Robinson, Peru in Four Dimensions (Lima: American Studies Press, S.A., 1964), pp.7–8. 17 R. Glado Pagaza, Economia de las Colectividades Indigenas Colindantes con el Lago Titicaca (Lima: Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntas Indigenas, 1962), pp. 91–93. 18 Peru, Ministerio de Agricultura, Estadistica Agraria, 1964 (Lima: Ministerio de Agricultura, 1965), p. 399. 19 Adams, op. cit., footnote 8, p. 126. 20 The Forest Service provides technical assistance and seedlings at cost. The community organizes a labor force which is paid a small wage and receives U.S. Public Law 480 Food for Peace through AID. The cost of the seedlings and labor is to be repaid from the first harvest

Agroforestry · Archaeology · Biology · Distribution (mathematics) · Eucalyptus · Eucalyptus globulus · Geography · Agricultural and Food Sciences · Ecology · Forest ecology and management · Forestry · Mathematics · Plant and soil sciences

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