Incidental Agroforestry in Honduras: The jicaro tree (Crescentia spp.) and pasture land use

Abstract
Plant distributions result from a variety of biophysical conditions and, often, human activities. Distributions change depending on numerous factors, such as climate change or the presence of seed dispersal agents. The present distribution of the jícaro (Crescentia alata and Crescentia cujete) or calabash tree in Central America may be the result of several factors, key among them direct human management. Many savanna pastures in Central America have been invaded in recent decades by woody vegetation, mostly as a result of fire suppression and fencing. However, observations reveal that its presence is not merely due to invasion. Humans manage the tree, protecting and encouraging its presence in semi-arid cattle producing landscapes where it serves as food for cattle when the dry season drastically reduces herbaceous forage. This adaptive strategy addresses issues of agroforestry and biodiversity, biomass and carbon sequestration, and the domestication process in which we humans have so long been engaged.

Keywords
Crescentia, agroforestry, plant management, cattle, Honduras

Resumen
Las distribuciones de las plantas resultan de una variedad de condiciones biofísicas y, en muchos casos, de las actividades humanas que cambian en relación con numerosos factores como el clima, o la presencia de agentes que esparcen las semillas. La actual distribución del jícaro (Crescentia alata y Crescientia cujete o calabaza) en América Central puede ser el resultado de varios factores, clave entre ellos, el manejo directo del hombre. Las observaciones revelan que su presencia no es solamente causada por invasión, sino que cómo el hombre está manejando el árbol, protegiéndolo y apoyando su presencia en un paisaje semi-árido de ganadería, donde sirve como insumo para el ganado cuando la estación seca reduce el forraje. Esta estrategia de adaptación la confrontan los asuntos de silvicultura y biodiversidad, el biomasa y la captura del carbón y también el proceso de domesticación en el cual el hombre ha estado envuelto a largo plazo.

Palabras claves
Crescentia, silvicultura, manejo de plantas, ganadería, Honduras

Introduction

Central America is home to a variety of ecological settings. Geographers have long been engaged in studying these environments and how people live in and impact them. Many such studies have appeared in the pages of this publication in its previous incarnation. This study adds another contribution to attempts to understand the human relationships with the biophysical world in Central America, specifically in Honduras.

This paper explores the contemporary situation of the jícaro¹ tree, commonly known in English as the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete and C. alata), in Honduras. My interest comes from simply enjoying seeing the fruits growing on the tree, however, I am also interested in understanding the tree's distribution. In an effort to explain such a distribution, I began to look at the different cultural and biophysical conditions within which the tree occurs in Central America. In some places, such as La Mosquitia, the tree occurs nearly exclusively in domestic settings and in relatively small numbers. In other areas, such as the Pacific Coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, the tree occurs in large dense stands, very often unassociated with domestic settings, or human settlements. Through observation and ethnographic inquiry, I have developed a better understanding of the tree's distribution and the factors involved in explaining it, especially in the context within which jícaros occur in some cattle producing landscapes.

Some Hondurans have developed a strategy that utilizes the jícaro trees that grow spontaneously in cattle pastures. The resulting landscapes may be a form of incidental agroforestry. This article examines such incidental engagement in agroforestry - agriculture that integrates perennial tree crops and/or natural vegetation (Denevan 2001: 16) - among cattle producers in Honduras. It seems evident that the development of this practice and the resulting landscapes were not...