Niche construction on Bali: the gods of the countryside

Abstract

Human niche construction encompasses both purely biological phenomena, such as the evolution of lactose tolerance, and dual inheritance theory, which investigates the transmission of cultural information. But does niche construction help to explain phenomena in which conscious intention also plays a role? The creation of the engineered landscape of Balinese rice terraces offers a test case. Population genetic analysis and archaeological evidence are used to investigate whether this phenomenon emerged historically from trial and error by generations of farmers, or alternatively was designed by Bali's rulers. In light of strong support for the former hypothesis, two models are developed to explore the emergence of functional structure at both local and global scales. As time goes forward and selected patterns of irrigation schedules are implemented, local variation in rice harvests influences future decisions by the farmers, creating a coupled human-natural system governed by feedback from the environment. This mathematical analysis received a measure of empirical support when government agricultural policies severed the local feedback channels, resulting in the almost instantaneous collapse of rice harvests. The historical process of niche construction may also have included an evolution of religious consciousness, reflected in the beliefs and practices of the water temple cult.

Human niche construction in interdisciplinary focus

“…The importance of evaluative and purposeful agency has clear implications for our understanding of human niche construction, as Lansing & Fox [67] discuss in their contribution to this issue. They describe how the engineered landscape of Balinese rice terraces is governed principally by local farming associations responding to the ecologically inherited conflicting interests of water availability and pest control.…”

From hominins to humans: howsapiensbecame behaviourally modern

“…In the hominin record, the expansion of bandwidth seems to be roughly correlated with increasing fidelity (assuming that more complex technologies depend on higher fidelity), and behaviourally modern cultures depend on both high fidelity and expanded bandwidth. Behavioural modernity probably depends both on an increase in the rate of innovation, as individual humans come to deliberately intervene on the world in ways guided by their increasing understanding, and by improved preservation and amplification of successful innovation (see [58] for a nuanced discussion of the interplay between deliberate innovation and population level processes of preservation). So we need an explanation of both aspects of cultural accumulation.…”

Small-scale societies and environmental transformations: coevolutionary dynamics

“…Over centuries, Balinese farmers have modified the landscape to maximize the productive land surface by creating terraced paddy fields and constructing canals and tunnels to irrigate them. Terracing the sloping upland areas conserves soil and reduces the risk of landslides (Lansing and Fox 2011). The system also limits the impacts of pests because, by coordinating irrigation schedules, farmers deprive pests of a contiguous food supply and habitat (Lansing 2006).…”