Doctoral Dissertation Research: Origins and Ecology of Forest Islands in Amazonian Savannas of Northern Bolivia

博士论文研究：玻利维亚北部亚马逊稀树草原森林岛屿的起源和生态

• 批准号: 9305629
• 负责人: William Denevan
• 金额: $ 1万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-09-15 至 1994-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9305629&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Origins; Ecology

The need for clearer understanding of the complex ways that humans have altered and responded to changes in their natural environments has become more important as increasing attention is devoted to understanding the complex dynamics of global environmental change. Only recently have many natural scientists come to realize that the landscapes encountered by Europeans when they first explored large parts of the Americas had been modified significantly by native Americans over thousands of years of settlement. This doctoral dissertation research project will provide a timely examination of interactions between human and natural processes that occurred in pre-Columbian times. Research will focus on analyses of processes that resulted in the landscape patterns of the Llanos de Moxos, a seasonally flooded savanna in northeastern Bolivia in the southwestern Amazon drainage basin. Special attention will be given to formation of the "islas" (forested islands or mounds) that rise above the "pampa" (grasslands) of the region. Several alternative hypotheses purporting to explain development of the forested islands will be examined. Those hypotheses include termite activity, gallery-forest fragmentation, colonization of abandoned prehistoric earthworks, and intentional planting by indigenous people. Field work will be conducted in order to characterize different types of forest islands, identify island-forming processes, and develop a historical framework for understanding the landscape evolution of the region. Soil and stratigraphic profiles will be sampled and described, and vegetation will be mapped, collected, and measured across transepts. Forest islands will be surveyed, and the data will be analyzed and interpreted in order to classify islands with respect to their origin processes and the composition of their vegetation. Archaeological materials will be used to help identify the role of human processes in addition to natural processes found to be operating in the formation and maintenance of forest islands. This project will provide valuable new information regarding the historical role of humans in the transformation of complex landscapes. In addition to expanding knowledge about a landscape type found in elsewhere in South America as well as in North America and Africa, the research will provide more general insights into processes related to the study of conservation biology, tropical biogeography, and the origins and dynamics of landscape. The project is extremely relevant for the study of the human dimensions of global environmental change, and as a doctoral dissertation improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

随着人们越来越关注了解全球环境变化的复杂动态，更清楚地了解人类改变和应对自然环境变化的复杂方式的需求变得更加重要。直到最近，许多自然科学家才意识到，欧洲人首次探索美洲大部分地区时所遇到的景观，已经被美洲原住民在数千年的定居过程中发生了重大改变。该博士论文研究项目将对前哥伦布时代发生的人类与自然过程之间的相互作用进行及时的研究。研究将重点分析导致亚诺斯德莫克索斯景观格局的过程，亚诺斯德莫克索斯是玻利维亚东北部亚马逊流域西南部的季节性洪水稀树草原。将特别关注该地区“pampa”（草原）之上的“islas”（森林岛屿或土丘）的形成。将审查旨在解释森林岛屿发展的几种替代假设。这些假设包括白蚁活动、廊道森林破碎化、废弃史前土方工程的殖民化以及土著人民的有意种植。将进行实地工作，以描述不同类型森林岛屿的特征，确定岛屿形成过程，并制定了解该地区景观演变的历史框架。将对土壤和地层剖面进行采样和描述，并对跨耳堂的植被进行绘图、收集和测量。将对森林岛屿进行调查，并对数据进行分析和解释，以便根据岛屿的起源过程和植被组成对岛屿进行分类。除了在森林岛屿的形成和维护中发挥作用的自然过程之外，考古材料还将用于帮助确定人类过程的作用。该项目将提供有关人类在复杂景观转变中的历史作用的宝贵新信息。除了扩展对南美其他地区以及北美和非洲景观类型的了解外，该研究还将提供对与保护生物学、热带生物地理学以及景观起源和动态研究相关的过程的更全面的见解。该项目与全球环境变化对人类影响的研究极为相关，作为博士论文改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生建立强大的独立研究生涯提供支持。