Geography Department > Faculty > Lyndon Wester
Lyndon Wester
Lyndon Wester, Professor
Research Interests: plant geography; especially plant-human interactions
such as alien plant invasions, ecosystem degradation and restoration, conservation
of traditional food plants and non-timber forest products; Southeast Asia, especially
Thailand and Laos.
Phone: (808) 956-7858
Email: wester@hawaii.edu
Education
B.A., Geography, University of Adelaide, 1967.
M.A., Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, 1969.
Ph. D., Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, 1975.
Research interests
In general my interests focus on the interrelationships between humans and the plant world. My research has included historical studies of vegetation change based on reconstruction from written records, documents and photographs as well as field survey of existing communities. I have also worked on case studies of weed invasions particularly those regarded as threats to natural ecosystems and have been engaged in practical problems of restoring habitats for rare and endangered species. I have had a long standing interest in mangrove communities and have done work on their dynamics in Hawai`i, Australia and Taiwan. In the last few years I have become increasingly interested in the food plants and forests of Southeast Asia and especially the fate of the herbs, leafy vegetables, nuts and fruits which were very important in the diet of agricultural societies now experiencing rapid economic development.
Publications
Farmers, foresters and forest temples: Conservation in the Dong Mun Uplands, Northeast Thailand (Forthcoming)
Preserving the natural heritage: Making and preserving herbarium specimens,
video prepared for the National University of Laos, 18 minutes. 1999Knowledge of traditional food plants in Northeast Thailand, Tropical Forestry in the 21st. Century, Ethnobiology 3:1:15. 1997
Biological diversity and community lore in Northeastern Thailand, Journal of Ethnobiology, 15: 71-87, 1994.
Weed management and habitat protection of rare species: A Case Study of Marsilea villosa, Biological Conservation, 68: 1-9, 1994.
Adoption and Abandonment of Southeast Asian Food Plants, Journal of Home and Consumer Horticulture, (with Dina Chuensanguansat) Volume 1, issue 2/3, 1993.
Vegetation history of Washington Island, Northern Line Islands, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 358 (with James O. Juvik and Paul F. Holthus), 1992.
Origin and distribution of adventive alien flowering plants in Hawai`i, In: C. P. Stone, C. W. Smith and J. T. Tunison (eds), Alien plant invasions in native ecosystems of Hawai`i: management and research, pp. 99-154, UH Coop. National Park. Resource Study Unit, UH Press, Honolulu, 1992.
Mangroves and protection of the coastal zone of Taiwan, Geoforum, 23:507-519 (with Cheing-tung Lee), 1992.
" Invasions and extinctions on Masatierra (Juan Fernandes Islands): a review of early historical evidence", Journal of Historical Geography, 17:18-34, 1991.
Conservation of traditional food plants and economic development, In: Contemporary perspectives on Thai Foodways, Center for Southeast Asian Research, Research Monograph 11, Marilyn Walker and Gisele Yasmeen Eds., pp. 55-75, Institute of Asian Research, University of Brititsh Columbia, Vancouver, 1996.
