A researcher from the (CTAHR) at the received funding to conduct a study on agricultural impacts on Â鶹´«Ã½ Island soil.
The study, “Soil Pedogenesis, Agroecology and their Interactions,” received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award—a five-year, $825,000 award that will support an interdisciplinary approach to investigation.
Led by Assistant Researcher Noa Lincoln of CTAHR¡¯²õ , the study will examine how Polynesians adapted their agricultural strategies to patterns in biogeochemical processes on Â鶹´«Ã½ Island and the long-term impact of different forms of agriculture on soil properties.
“We see an amazing diversity of agriculture in Â鶹´«Ã½, almost every type of agriculture known: flooded irrigated, intermittent irrigated, intensive rained, permanent arboriculture, diverse agroforestry, swidden (an area of land cleared for cultivation by slashing and burning vegetation) and more—it was all here on one island,” said Lincoln. “With Â鶹´«Ã½¡¯²õ unparalleled gradients in environmental factors, this is perhaps the best place in the world to study the adaptive radiation of cultural practices and how they interfaced with the land.”