Subsistence on the Main Island, Barrier Islands, and at Sea

Abstract

This chapter shows how people use different ecosystems, specifically the main island and barrier island ecosystems of the study area with their independent geological histories, that are separated by a coral lagoon sea. This chapter addresses a variety of disciplines such as land use, shifting cycles, land tenure, soil nutrients, subsistence production, vegetation, land cover change, and carrying capacity. As the results, the productivity per shifting cycle of the barrier island was the highest among the different geographical locations analyzed here. This cycle was supported by natural characteristics and social system. The main island was also useful for the villagers for conducting new economic activities such as planting of perennial cash crops rather than for subsistence production. The different uses of the barrier and main islands allowed the villagers to integrate new cash crops without the concerns of food security while receiving the benefits of sustainable production from the barrier island. The GPS tracking of villagers showed they also used a wide area of sea and a variety of marine ecosystems by traveling more than 30 km before returning home. The villagers' subsistence lifestyle depended on the diversity of the landscape/seascape and the availability of various species.