Showing papers in "Human Ecology in 2017"
TL;DR: The relationship between fish and food security is multi-faceted and complex, with various local contextual factors that mediate between fishes and food, and trade is therefore central to household food security as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The goal of food security increasingly serves as an objective and justification for marine conservation in the global south. In the marine conservation literature this potential link is seldom based upon detailed analysis of the socioeconomic pathways between fish and food security, is often based on limited assumptions about increasing the availability of fish stocks, and downplays the role of trade. Yet, the relationship between fish and food security is multi-faceted and complex, with various local contextual factors that mediate between fish and food security. We use data from interviews and food security assessment methods to examine the relationship between fish and food security among fishing households in San Vicente, Palawan province, Philippines. We highlight the local role of income and trade, emphasising the sale of fish to purchase food not easily accessible for fishers, particularly staples. In particular, we show that because rice is the primary staple of food security for these households, fish must be traded with the intent of buying rice. Trade is therefore central to household food security. We argue that the relationship between fish and food security must be considered in greater depth if marine conservation is to engage with food security as an objective.
49 citations
TL;DR: This study revealed that male Penan respondents, generally hunters, who frequently go into the forest were better at identifying animals from pictures, and overall, the Penan have a more detailed knowledge of slow loris behaviors, habitat, and distribution than the Iban.
Abstract: Local ecological knowledge (LEK) increases understanding of certain species and the threats they face, especially little-studied taxa for which data on distribution and conservation are often lacking. We conducted 111 semi-structured interviews in Sarawak, Malaysia, to collect local knowledge about the behavior and distribution of the Philippine slow loris (Nycticebus menagensis) from two ethnic groups, the Iban and the Penan. Our study revealed that male Penan respondents, generally hunters, who frequently go into the forest were better at identifying animals from pictures. Overall, the Penan have a more detailed knowledge of slow loris behaviors, habitat, and distribution than the Iban. The two ethnic groups have different attitudes towards slow loris as the Penan hunt, eat, or keep them as pets while the Iban consider them sacred and signifiers of good luck. We advocate the use of LEK for providing complementary information to scientific methods in the study of cryptic animals.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the context in which Tibetan herders make decisions and their decisions about livestock and pastures, and demonstrate that pastoralists carefully assess limits to livestock holdings based on land and labor availability; they increasingly manage their livestock and rangelands through contracting; and that herding knowledge is a form of embodied practical skill.
Abstract: Despite a growing body of research about rangeland degradation and the effects of policies implemented to address it on the Tibetan Plateau, little in-depth research has been conducted on how pastoralists make decisions. Based on qualitative research in Gouli Township, Qinghai province, China, we analyze the context in which Tibetan herders make decisions, and their decisions about livestock and pastures. We refute three fundamental assumptions upon which current policy is premised: that pastoralists aim to increase livestock numbers without limit; that, blindly following tradition, they do not actively manage livestock and rangelands; and that they lack environmental knowledge. We demonstrate that pastoralists carefully assess limits to livestock holdings based on land and labor availability; that they increasingly manage their livestock and rangelands through contracting; and that herding knowledge is a form of embodied practical skill. We further discuss points of convergence and contradiction between herders’ observations and results of a vegetation analysis.
35 citations
TL;DR: This article explored social perceptions of some of the features of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a tropical forest in Sangay Parish, Ecuador and identified three groups whose perceptions vary in relation to socioeconomic characteristics, cultural backgrounds, lifestyles, and the benefits obtained from the Sangay forest.
Abstract: The Amazon basin is widely recognized for its high biological and cultural diversity, enabling the provision of many ecosystem services. This study explores social perceptions of some of the features of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a tropical forest in Sangay Parish, Ecuador. Following a survey of residents, we identified three groups whose perceptions vary in relation to socioeconomic characteristics, cultural backgrounds, lifestyles, and the benefits obtained from the Sangay forest. Mestizo professionals, with a better socioeconomic situation, identify more regulation and cultural services; Shuar farmers have a comprehensive knowledge of biodiversity features and rely on provisioning services; and Shuar gatherers consume more forest products but are the least likely to formally recognize ecosystem services. We emphasize the importance of identifying social groups within a population and understanding their particular characteristics and perspectives before developing conservation and land use planning policies.
34 citations
TL;DR: On a tropical island in Peninsular Malaysia, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate coexistence between people and the island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus), and found knowledge of ecosystem services provided by flying foxes was extremely low.
Abstract: As tropical landscapes become increasingly human-dominated, conflicts between people and wildlife threaten ecological processes. Old World fruit bats such as flying foxes are especially susceptible to extinction risk because there is low interest in their conservation, particularly when they are considered pests. In order to arrest fruit bat declines, there is an urgent need to understand human-bat conflict and its implications. On a tropical island in Peninsular Malaysia, we conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate coexistence between people and the island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus). Among 119 respondents, knowledge of ecosystem services provided by flying foxes was extremely low. Most respondents held negative attitudes towards the bats, and older male locals were more likely to support killing them. This was also true for older owners of fruit trees who derived income from selling fruit, and experienced flying fox raids. Our results can be used to design appropriate interventions to support conservation efforts, and has important implications for managing conflicts between humans and synanthropic wildlife.
33 citations
30 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess farmers' local knowledge of shade trees at two locations in Ghana with different climatic conditions and vulnerability to climate change, and assess the abundance of species, their structural characteristics and benefits to cocoa systems.
Abstract: Shade trees are an integral part of most cocoa growing systems across the world. This study assesses farmers’ local knowledge of shade trees at two locations in Ghana with different climatic conditions and vulnerability to climate change. Akumadan is located in the northern dry part of the cocoa belt representing marginal conditions for cocoa cultivation, whereas Asankragua is located in the southern wet part, more ecologically favorable for cocoa cultivation. Inventories were conducted to assess the abundance of species, their structural characteristics and benefits to cocoa systems. Results show that cocoa farmers have detailed knowledge on the functions of shade trees in cocoa systems and prefer species that provide specific needs according to the location. However, abundance of species in a location does not necessary translate into beneficial impacts on cocoa productivity. In the drier part of the cocoa belt, income diversification through shade trees is an adaptation strategy to the increasingly marginal conditions for cocoa production, which has led to the high proportion of fruit trees among the most abundant species. In contrast, farmers in the southern part of the cocoa belt select shade trees for their high cocoa compatibility. Adaptation strategies for cocoa farmers should therefore promote species that best accommodate farmers’ economic, agronomic and environmental needs.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of tremor analysis carried out in two groups of women living in the North of Russia, aged 30 to 32 years old regularly engaged in physical training and not engaged in physically training.
Abstract: The paper presents the results of the tremor analysis carried out in two groups of women living in the North of Russia, aged 30 to 32 years old regularly engaged in physical training and not engaged in physical training. On the basis of methods for calculating the parameters of quasi-attractor in two-space dimension as a quantitative measure of real changes in neuromuscular system parameters of women with different fitness level, spaces of the quasi-attractors were used. In simplistic terms the indicator of quasi-attractor areas has already shown differences between trained and untrained individuals. It has been stated that the range of values of quasiattractor's squares in trained women varies from 0,02x10-6 to 0,96x10-6 (a.u.) and in women without physical training - 0,14x10-6 to 5,60x10-6 (a.u.). Statistical data processing has revealed differently directed changes of the studied parameters depending on the degree of women's physical training. The median values of the quasi-attractor squares were 0,82 (a.u.) in the group of women without physical training and 0,15 (a.u.) in trained women.
28 citations
TL;DR: This paper presented a theoretical explanation of how post-crisis periods turn into "opportunities" based on a temporal referential theory that complements alternative explanations based on temporal coincidence, panarchy, and shock-doctrine theories.
Abstract: After major flooding associated with Hurricane Floyd (1999) in North Carolina, mitigation managers seized upon the "window of opportunity" to woo residents to accept residential buyout offers despite sizable community resistance. I present a theoretical explanation of how post-crisis periods turn into "opportunities" based on a temporal referential theory that complements alternative explanations based on temporal coincidence, panarchy, and shock-doctrine theories. Results from fieldwork conducted from 2002 to 2004 illustrate how several temporal influences compromised collective calibration of "normalcy" in local cultural models, leading to an especially heightened vulnerability to collective surprise. Four factors particularly influenced this temporal vulnerability: 1) epistemological uncertainty of floodplain dynamics due to colonization; 2) cultural practices that maintained a casual amnesia; 3) meaning attributed to stochastic timing of floods; and 4) competitive impact of referential flood baseline attractors.
27 citations
TL;DR: A place-based analysis of constraints and opportunities for adaptation to climate change, with a specific focus on water use, in two districts in southeast Kazakhstan, has relevance for critical understanding of integrated water management in practice and adaptation toClimate change in post-Soviet institutional settings more broadly.
Abstract: The convergence of climate change and post-Soviet socio-economic and institutional transformations has been underexplored so far, as have the consequences of such convergence on crop agriculture in Central Asia. This paper provides a place-based analysis of constraints and opportunities for adaptation to climate change, with a specific focus on water use, in two districts in southeast Kazakhstan. Data were collected by 2 multi-stakeholder participatory workshops, 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, and secondary statistical data. The present-day agricultural system is characterised by enduring Soviet-era management structures, but without state inputs that previously sustained agricultural productivity. Low margins of profitability on many privatised farms mean that attempts to implement integrated water management have produced water users associations unable to maintain and upgrade a deteriorating irrigation infrastructure. Although actors engage in tactical adaptation measures, necessary structural adaptation of the irrigation system remains difficult without significant public or private investments. Market-based water management models have been translated ambiguously to this region, which fails to encourage efficient water use and hinders adaptation to water stress. In addition, a mutual interdependence of informal networks and formal institutions characterises both state governance and everyday life in Kazakhstan. Such interdependence simultaneously facilitates operational and tactical adaptation, but hinders structural adaptation, as informal networks exist as a parallel system that achieves substantive outcomes while perpetuating the inertia and incapacity of the state bureaucracy. This article has relevance for critical understanding of integrated water management in practice and adaptation to climate change in post-Soviet institutional settings more broadly.
26 citations
TL;DR: The examples demonstrate that the new interests in wild forest products involve both a return to earlier stages of domestication in an ecological sense and a new phase of acculturation to evolving socio-cultural conditions.
Abstract: In Europe, interest in wild forest products is increasing. Such products may be interpreted in a biological sense as deriving from autonomously growing forest species or in a biocultural sense as reflecting dynamics in human living with biodiversity through re-wilding of earlier domesticated species. In this article I elaborate the idea that the new interests reflect biocultural dynamics. First, I identify these dynamics as involving both domestication and re-wilding and characterize these processes as involving biological, environmental, and cultural dimensions. Next, I present a comparative review of two approaches to re-wilding forest production in the Netherlands: meat production from new types of natural grazing systems, and food production from plants re-introduced to the wild. The first approach is based on the stimulation of naturally occurring ecological processes and the second on the stimulation of new forms of experiencing bio-cultural heritage. The examples demonstrate that the new interests in wild forest products involve both a return to earlier stages of domestication in an ecological sense and a new phase of acculturation to evolving socio-cultural conditions.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine a unique institutional model in the remote U.S. West in which rural community members play active roles in responding to wildland fire under state-sanctioned Rangeland Fire Protection Associations.
Abstract: Widespread concern with the negative impacts of wildfire on human communities has spurred calls to foster more resilient and adaptable forms of community coexistence with fire. However, numerous institutional barriers work to perpetuate maladaptive individual and collective behaviors in many communities. Here we examine a unique institutional model in the remote U.S. West in which rural community members play active roles in responding to wildland fire under state-sanctioned Rangeland Fire Protection Associations. Our findings drawn from case studies of four associations in Idaho and Oregon suggest that the Rangeland Fire Protection Association model presents opportunities to leverage the motivations, skills, and knowledge of ranchers to inform effective fire response and create opportunities for learning and adaptation. At the same time, this model of coproduction presents challenges to the integration of formal and informal institutions.
TL;DR: According to a systematic review of published data in both the national and international scientific indexing systems, there have been selected evidence-based criteria and internal genotype-phenotype risk determinants for assessing the individual susceptibility to the acute cold exposure.
Abstract: According to a systematic review of published data in both the national and international scientific indexing systems, including the results of our own researches, there have been selected evidence-based criteria and internal genotype-phenotype risk determinants for assessing the individual susceptibility to the acute cold exposure. In accordance with these criteria, the list of cold-related health conditions was defined. This list includes 33 classes and groups of diseases and conditions by ICD-10 codes, arising from or tightly associated with the cold exposure. According to the comorbidity principles, the novel quantitative predictive model for assessing the individual susceptibility to the acute cold exposure was developed and validated. This assessment takes into account, in addition to the meteorological risk factors, also internal risk determinants, including physical status, behavioral, pathogenic and functional disorders, as well as receiving thermoregulation-altering pharmaceuticals prescribed by recommended therapeutic doses. The algorithm for calculating the individual health risk and recommended time limits based on the use of suggested comorbidity index for the acute exposure to cold in an open area or in unheated premises without special active thermal protection is described.
TL;DR: This article examined factors associated with smallholder households that enroll in Costa Rica's longstanding payments for ecosystem services (PES) program and found that smallholders tend to be older, wealthier, and have access to non-farm salaried income.
Abstract: This paper uses household survey data to examine factors associated with smallholder households that enroll in Costa Rica’s longstanding payments for ecosystem services (PES) program. To date, most evaluations of this sort have focused on larger landowners. Results from this study show that smallholders enrolled in PES tend to be older, wealthier, and have access to non-farm salaried income. These features match enrollment patterns of larger landowners in that enrollees tend to be relatively wealthy and only marginally engaged in agriculture. In addition, smallholders on state agrarian reform lands are significantly less likely to enroll in PES. These results indicate that targeting PES toward smaller landowners does not necessarily equate to a policy that reaches the rural poor, and suggests that further work is needed to address the access barriers to this program for economically marginal landowners.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the historical, social, political, and economic processes underlying mangrove deforestation and afforestation patterns in Guinea-Bissau to explain the increase in the area between 1990 and 2015, highlighting different ecological dynamics and the complex ways in which diverse societies respond to the same social, economic, and political processes.
Abstract: Using social and GIS/remote sensing techniques, we analysed the historical, social, political, and economic processes underlying mangrove deforestation and afforestation patterns in Guinea-Bissau to explain the increase in the mangrove forest area between 1990 and 2015. By comparing several regions during the same timeframe, we highlight different ecological dynamics and the complex ways in which diverse societies respond to the same social, economic, and political processes. Our results reveal the importance of identifying the most relevant temporal and geographic scales, and the multiple (and sometimes opposing) environmental and social processes working simultaneously in different places, as well as the potential shortcomings of policy decisions or development or conservation interventions relying on broad estimates. Research efforts to assess threats to and the regeneration capacity of mangrove forests in Guinea-Bissau are thus vital.
TL;DR: Experimental data indicate that adaptive transgenerational plasticity may have been working against the expression of domestication syndrome in this case, and field observations and greenhouse experiments suggest that cultivation eliminated the selective pressures that maintain the bet-hedging strategy in erect knotweed.
Abstract: Evolutionary “bet-hedging” refers to situations in which organisms sacrifice mean fitness for a reduction in fitness variance over time. Germination heteromorphism is the quintessential and most well understood bet-hedging strategy. It has evolved in many different plants, including the wild progenitors of some crops. Erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum L.), an annual seed crop, was cultivated in Eastern North America between c. 3000–600 BP. By c. 900 BP, cultivation had produced a domesticated subspecies with greatly reduced germination heteromorphism. Field observations and greenhouse experiments suggest that cultivation eliminated the selective pressures that maintain the bet-hedging strategy in erect knotweed, while humans also directly selected for seeds that germinated reliably and for seedlings with rapid early growth. The protection provided to erect knotweed under cultivation explains the domestication syndrome that has been observed in some archaeological assemblages. Dormancy provides seeds a means of escaping adverse conditions in time, while dispersal provides an escape in space. Farmers relaxed selective pressures that maintained dormancy in erect knotweed by acting as seed dispersers, spreading disturbance-adapted plants to predictable and protected environments, and by saving and exchanging seed stock. Experimental data also indicate that adaptive transgenerational plasticity may have been working against the expression of domestication syndrome in this case.
TL;DR: This paper explored how indigenous knowledge might be retained and/or changed among contemporary indigenous peoples through semi-structured interviews and quantitative analyses of long-term changes in artistic knowledge among three geographically displaced Kaiabi (Kawaiwete) people.
Abstract: This study explores how indigenous knowledge (IK) might be retained and/or changed among contemporary indigenous peoples. Through semi-structured interviews and quantitative analyses of long-term changes in artistic knowledge among three geographically displaced Kaiabi (Kawaiwete) we found an association between language proficiency and gender with greater IK retention, and formal schooling with IK erosion. Six mechanisms of innovation in knowledge of basketry and textiles among men and women were documented. A mixed mode of collaborative learning and knowledge transmission involving diverse actors emerged from community workshops and group forums. Innovative mechanisms for cultural transmission have taken advantage of media, technology, and non-indigenous support organizations to expand weaving knowledge of basketry designs. Our results illustrate how indigenous peoples actively shape cultural transmission and change, as well as the role that public policies and academic research may play in these processes.
TL;DR: In this article, a study of values placed on wildlife by Bantu and Yaka Pygmy forest dwellers in Northern Congo identified and analyzed two wildlife value orientations - “anthropocentric” and “biocentric.”
Abstract: This study of values placed on wildlife by Bantu and Yaka Pygmy forest dwellers (n = 200) in Northern Congo identified and analyzed two wildlife value orientations - “anthropocentric” and “biocentric.” The former, strongly displayed across all segments of both societies, was likely motivated by heavy reliance on bushmeat and human–wildlife conflicts, and was linked to attitudes approving the killing of animals for human benefit. The “biocentric” orientation was more common among formally educated male respondents who do not hunt and positively linked to attitudes favoring conservation. Wildlife management strategies should consider including 1) sustainable local wildlife exploitation, 2) livelihood projects that provide a real alternative to hunting, and 3) human–wildlife conflict mitigation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a large household survey in a region of the Amazon estuary in Brazil to investigate the dependence of small farming households on government cash transfers and to identify the main factors that lead to better livelihood outcomes.
Abstract: We conducted a large household survey in a region of the Amazon estuary in Brazil to investigate the dependence of small farming households on government cash transfers and to identify the main factors that lead to better livelihood outcomes. The study examined the factors that contribute to heterogeneous household livelihoods and patterns of dependence on cash transfer programs. Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate household attributes affecting the level of dependence on cash transfers. Results indicate that households engage in a diversity of livelihood strategies, and vary in dependence on cash transfers. Lower levels of dependency are associated with higher levels of education and income from off-farm activities as well as larger property sizes and holdings in the varzea. Recognition of the causes and potential range of dependence on cash transfer programs adds decision-making capacity for policy makers seeking avenues to reduce dependence and increase program effectiveness.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a mixed-methods approach to assess social capital in five Costa Rican coffee cooperatives and found that the level of social capital affects the manner in which cooperatives manage certifications in terms of incentivizing certified members, distributing the profits from certification, and cooperating with outside organizations.
Abstract: Social capital has many applications in the adoption and management of voluntary certifications such as Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz, and CAFE Practices. We used a mixed-methods approach to assess social capital in five Costa Rican coffee cooperatives. We applied this information to its effects on the management of sustainable coffee certifications We found that the level of social capital affects the manner in which cooperatives manage certifications in terms of incentivizing certified members, distributing the profits from certification, and cooperating with outside organizations. Generalized trust was found to have an important link with voluntary participation in Rainforest Alliance certification when no financial incentive was provided. However, given the small differences among the cooperatives in micro-scale social capital, we conclude that certifications have not or have not yet made great impacts on the social capital on the micro-scale. This research presents important considerations for employing certifications and other sustainable development projects in different national contexts.
TL;DR: The types, frequencies, and perceptions of wild foods used and sold by children in four villages in southern Malawi that have different levels of deforestation are determined.
Abstract: There is growing recognition of the contribution of wild foods to local diets, nutrition, and culture. Yet disaggregation of understanding of wild food use by gender and age is limited. We used a mixed methods approach to determine the types, frequencies, and perceptions of wild foods used and sold by children in four villages in southern Malawi that have different levels of deforestation. Household and individual dietary diversity scores are low at all sites. All households consume one or more wild foods. Across the four sites, children listed 119 wild foods, with a wider variety at the least deforested sites than the most deforested ones. Older children can name more wild foods than younger ones. More children from poor households sell wild foods than from well-off households. Several reasons were provided for the consumption or avoidance of wild foods (most commonly taste, contribution to health, limited alternatives, hunger, availability, local taboos).
TL;DR: Worked out methods to assess changes in the characteristics of quasiattractors can be used individually (for each test person) to assess your personal training level (in the repetition of measurements), and for group studies.
Abstract: The paper presents the study results of thermometry indices in boys and girls aged 20 - 28 years old living in the North more than 15 years and having different background of conditioning. Average age of surveyed was 22,8 years. The thermometer readings were register before and after local cooling. Traditional statistical ratios were calculated. They demonstrated Eskov-Zinchenko effect for tremor and quasiattractors areas, thermogramm pairwise comparison matrixes of three groups of surveyed before and after cooling from the perspective of self-organization. Quasiattractors showed the most diversity in comparison with stochastics and the thermogramm pairwise comparison matrixes in trained persons scarcely changed before and after cooling which was high adaptation parameter to cooling. This points significant differences in organism reactions in all the surveyed groups (untrained, poorly trained and strongly trained). Worked out methods to assess changes in the characteristics of quasiattractors can be used individually (for each test person) to assess your personal training level (in the repetition of measurements), and for group studies.
TL;DR: For the first time dioxins (including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD) were revealed by high resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry in tissues of animals (rodents and fish) and abiotic samples (soil, sediment, snow) from the biotopes near the landfill with solid wastes ("Salariyevo", New Moscow) as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: For the first time dioxins (including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD) were revealed by high resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry in tissues of animals (rodents and fish) and abiotic samples (soil, sediment, snow) from the biotopes near the landfill with solid wastes ("Salariyevo", New Moscow). Profiles of congeners in soil samples, snow and sediment were well comparable. Parameters of "toxic equivalency quantity" (WHO-TEQ98) greatly exceeded the levels registered in Vietnam dioxin-contaminated areas (territories of ecocide) known to produce a so-called dioxin pathology among population. As to the MPC for soil the observed levels near landfill were almost 38 times higher than the standards set in Russia. The consequences of the pollutants influence on the state of animals reflected the manifestations of toxic effects on the whole organism and the chromosome apparatus, in correlations with the parameters of dioxins (WHO-TEQ98) and/or TCDD in their tissues and objects in their natural habitat. Changes of cytogenetic status of fish and rodents, morphometric parameters of fish age dynamics, the emergence of individuals with abnormal head structure - correspond to pathological processes and conditions that determine the pathogenesis of human dioxin pathology. Analysis of the data obtained illustrates the possibility of creating a universal methodical approach for screening the hazards of dioxins' low dozes for human health.
TL;DR: The organisation and experience of practical application of data from the Arkhangelsk regional cancer registry is described, both within Russia and in international collaborations.
Abstract: Population-based cancer registries collect a standardized dataset about all patients diagnosed with a malignancy who live in the defined territory covered by the registry, from initial diagnosis through investigation and treatment, to the eventual death of the patient. This enables estimation of the cancer burden and surveillance of trends over time, as the evidence base for cancer control policies. There are more than 300 population-based cancer registries around the world, covering about 5% of the world's population, but the proportion is much higher in developed countries than in developing countries. Adherence to international standards of data collection and quality control is extremely important, because it enables robust comparisons of incidence, prevalence and survival, both between the regions of the country and internationally. These comparisons inspire changes in cancer prevention, and clinical practice, and progress in the organisation and delivery of policies for cancer control. The examples of such comparisons are international projects Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, Globocan and the CONCORD programme for the global surveillance of cancer survival. In this article, we describe the organisation and experience of practical application of data from the Arkhangelsk regional cancer registry, both within Russia and in international collaborations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared remote sensing analyses alone and analyses that combine participatory information and remotely sensed data for accurate land-use/cover (LULC) change assessments in Papua New Guinea.
Abstract: In regions lacking socio-economic data, pairing satellite imagery with participatory information is essential for accurate land-use/cover (LULC) change assessments. At the village scale in Papua New Guinea we compare swidden LULC classifications using remote sensing analyses alone and analyses that combine participatory information and remotely sensed data. These participatory remote sensing (PRS) methods include participatory land-use mapping, household surveys, and validation of image analysis in combination with remotely sensed data. The classifications of the swidden area made using only remote sensing analysis show swidden areas are, on average, two and a half times larger than land managers reported for 1999 and 2011. Classifications made using only remote sensing analysis are homogeneous and lack discrimination among swidden plots, fallow land, and non-swidden vegetation. The information derived from PRS methods allows us to amend the remote sensing analysis and as a result swidden areas are more similar to actual swidden area found when ground-truthing. We conclude that PRS methods are needed to understand swidden system LULC complexities.
TL;DR: Whether livestock owners are acting as ‘optimal foragers,’ targeting areas of highest forage availability as they colonise previously empty areas, or not, is suggested, which suggests they do not.
Abstract: This study explores the drivers of site selection amongst livestock owners under conditions of increasing animal numbers following a low point in the 1990s. Our major goal was to understand whether livestock owners are acting as 'optimal foragers,' targeting areas of highest forage availability as they colonise previously empty areas. The results presented here suggest that they do not. Initially, distance from home settlement was the dominant determinant of site occupancy, with closer sites occupied earlier regardless of other characteristics. Some owners remained on depleted vegetation for longer than would be predicted under conditions of optimal foraging, indicating that distance-related costs constrained resource matching. In the latter period, increases in livestock wealth encouraged the occupation of distant sites exhibiting higher vegetation density and water quality, but some owners still occupied highly depleted sites. Improved transport and water supply infrastructure are needed if pastoralists are to optimise resource use across the landscape.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reveal one integrated global map which points out the major geographical inequalities in providing basic utilities across the countries using multivariate analysis and thematic cartography, including waste collection services, sanitation facilities, drinking water sources, energy, electricity, habitat and demographic conditions.
Abstract: The paper aims to reveal one integrated global map which points out the major geographical inequalities in providing basic utilities across the countries using multivariate analysis and thematic cartography. Sixteen indicators with global coverage were selected taking into account the waste collection services, sanitation facilities, drinking water sources, energy, electricity, habitat and demographic conditions. Several data are broken down for the total, urban and rural population in order to outline the rural-urban disparities between and within countries. A special focus is given to waste collection coverage, in order to compute a comprehensive global assessment of this key indicator of public health, which is one of the poorest monitored basic utility. The world countries were divided into 10 classes according to the hierarchical cluster analysis. Each class has particular features outlining the gaps between high, middle and low-income countries with direct impact on quality of life, public health, and environment.
TL;DR: It is argued that Neolithic colonization of previously insulated habitats drives biotic homogenization, and it should be expected to promote regular types of change in biophysical systems, types ofchange that can be described in sum as environmentally convergent.
Abstract: Does anthropogenic environmental change constrain long-term sociopolitical outcomes? It is clear that human colonization of islands radically alters their biological and physical systems. Despite considerable contextual variability in local specificities of this alteration, I argue that these processes are to some extent regular, predictable, and have socio-political implications. Reviewing the data for post-colonization ecodynamics, I show that Neolithic colonization of previously insulated habitats drives biotic homogenization. I argue that we should expect such homogenization to promote regular types of change in biophysical systems, types of change that can be described in sum as environmentally convergent. Such convergence should have significant implications for human social organization over the long term, and general dynamics of this sort are relevant in the context of understanding remarkably similar social evolutionary trajectories towards wealth-inequality not only islands, but also more generally.