By integrating botany, ethnobotany, genomics, and dendrochronology, this project investigates how plants and people have shaped one another across centuries, contributing to a deeper understanding of the ecological and cultural history of the Pacific.
The Mariana Islands, an archipelago of 15 islands in the Western Pacific comprising the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, provide a unique natural laboratory for exploring the long-standing relationship between people and plants in Oceania.
Keywords
Tropical Botany • Evolutionary Genomics • Wood Anatomy • Dendrochronology • Population Genomics • Phylogeography • Human-mediated Plant Dispersal • Ethnobotany • Agrobiodiversity • Indigenous and Local Knowledge • Socio-Ecological Changes • Revitalization of Traditions • Interdisciplinary Research • Mariana Islands • Pacific Islands • Oceania
Ecosystems and traditions
Over thousands of years, the Mariana Islands have been shaped by successive waves of human migration and global exchange, including the Austronesian Expansion, beginning around 1500 BCE, and the Early European Expansion, initiated in 1492 CE, which led to the Columbian Exchange. Such historical processes transformed the islands through the introduction of plant species used for food, construction, medicine, and cultural practices, reshaping native ecosystems and becoming deeply embedded in the cultural traditions of island communities. These introductions reshaped native ecosystems while becoming deeply intertwined with the traditions and livelihoods of island communities. Today, the combined effects of colonization, biodiversity loss, and socioecological change continue to threaten traditional foodways and biocultural knowledge.
Project Fundingand Framework
This project is part of an international Doctoral Network “PacificPeopleForest: History, Archaeology, and Botany of Pacific Islands: assessing the Impacts of Early European colonialism on Peoples and Forests”, founded by Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant agreement ID: 101226735), coordinated by María Cruz Berrocal (INCIPIT-CSIC, Spain), Marta Dominguez Delmás (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands), Angela Schottenhammer (KU Leuven, Belgium).
Tropical Wood Anatomyand Dendrochronology
Unlike temperate trees, many tropical species do not produce distinct annual growth rings, making it challenging to determine their age or precisely date archaeological materials. This research investigates whether selected tropical tree species from the Mariana Islands can be used as reliable dendrochronological tools by combining wood anatomy and a variety of tree-ring analyses. Developing robust chronologies for the Pacific will improve the dating of archaeological remains and provide new insights into forest dynamics, environmental change, and the long-term interactions between people and tropical ecosystems.
Plant Population Genomics and Phylogeography
All organisms preserve traces of their evolutionary and demographic histories in their genomes. By analysing genomic variation across contemporary plant populations and historical herbarium collections, this research seeks to reconstruct the demographic histories of key plant species in the Mariana Islands and investigate how their distributions have changed over time. In parallel, it aims to date and trace the origins of these plant lineages and reconstruct their dispersal routes across the Pacific, identifying patterns of movement and connectivity among islands and regions. Particular attention is given to human-mediated plant movements, including introductions associated with major episodes of human mobility and global exchange, such as the Austronesian Expansion and the Columbian Exchange.
Ethnobotany and Indigenous and Local Knowledge
Plants have long played essential roles in the cultural, economic, and spiritual lives of the Chamorro people and other Pacific communities. Yet much of this knowledge has been altered or lost through colonisation, biodiversity decline, and changing land-use practices. By combining herbarium collections, historical documents, and interviews with local communities, this research documents traditional plant uses and reconstructs the history of plant management across the islands. The project aims to reconnect ecological and cultural histories while contributing to the conservation of biocultural heritage and the preservation of traditional knowledge.
Our team
