Diversity, land use, and belief systems of the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula, with a case study of Quararibea funebris

The Maya have occupied the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Yucatan Peninsula for millennia. In this compromising environment, they have adapted to multiple food production systems, and have come to capitalize on the many and varied microhabitats that are to be found in this seemingly homogeneous landscape. Cenotes provide one such microenvironment. This dissertation reports on an assessment of the diversity of plant species found in cenotes relative to an analysis of modern land management techniques throughout the region. This helps to shed light on the impacts of the management regimes of the modern Maya culture on the structure of cenote vegetation. The offerings made to mythical beings in modern times are explored both in terms of their links to seed dispersal and the realm of potential conservation in the region. Offerings of plant material to cenotes to incite rains were common in the remote past and are common today. Also, cenotes have been managed in the past as sites for sacred groves and agroforestry systems. It has been found that cenotes contain remnant cultivars of rainforest trees that were favored by the Maya. One such tree is the very significant cacao tree. Another useful tree found in cenotes, Q. funebris, is a spice with a close affiliation with the chocolate tree. The discovery of populations of this species in cenotes is documented in this work. This is followed by an ethnobotanical investigation of rural Maya communities regarding modern knowledge of the uses and distribution of this tree in the Yucatan region. A genetic study analyzes the relationships between cenote populations relative to each other and to putative source populations. This portion of the dissertation also reports on the relationships amongst cenote populations and assesses the issue of a culturally-mediated introduction. The interactions between the Maya people and the cenote as a resource are documented and explored.