Division of Biodiversity, Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-3, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan.
Genetic Resources Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-2, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2019 Apr 27;15(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s13002-019-0301-8.
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.
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.
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 kōshin bana recorded for E. japonicus suggests that the species' use originated from the folk faiths Kōshin-shinkō and/or Shōmen-Kongō.
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.
由于缺乏有形的历史证据，理解人为植被的历史往往很困难。在这项研究中，我们根据物种分布模式、民间命名和树木的多种用途，研究了日本西南部 Hijikawa 河沿岸冲积平原上种植的农田界树的年代变化。
在 13 个村庄的 47 个地点调查了界树的物种组成。我们使用 Bray-Curtis 度量值进行层次聚类，以检测相似树木组成的组，并进行多元方差分析的置换检验，以检验物种组成的差异是否与村庄单位相对应。为了更好地了解界树的传统知识，我们采访了 53 位农民，他们大多在 60 岁以上。
聚类产生了六个树木组成组。以最常种植的物种木瓜为特征的组主要分布在下游村庄。以卫矛为特征的组主要分布在中游村庄，以柳Pierotii 为特征的组主要分布在上游村庄。木瓜总是被鉴定为标准的日本名“boke”或类似的名字。许多农民也称卫矛为“boke”。一些老年农民说，在他们年轻的时候，木瓜在上下游村庄都很普遍，这表明木瓜在研究区域的原型用途。此外，一些小物种可能是在 19 世纪末到 20 世纪中叶商业作物生产或自给使用之后遗留下来的，包括桑树和桑树用于养蚕、柳 Pierotii 用于纤维生产、栀子用于食物着色。记录的卫矛名“kōshin bana”表明该物种的用途源于民间信仰“Kōshin-shinkō”和/或“Shōmen-Kongō”。
该地区界树的组成并非一成不变，而是随着当地生计、工业和信仰的变化而变化。尽管缺乏有形的历史证据，但植物的空间分布模式、民间命名和传统知识可以提供线索，追踪人为景观中生态位的时间背景。
