CAREER: Holocene Histories of Amazonian Ecotonal Environments

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9732951 Bush This Career Proposal combines an exciting field research program and innovative educational program focused on lowland tropical forests of Amazonia. These ecosystems have long been of interest to ecologists and conservation biologists but relatively little information is available on the temporal patterns of biodiversity. Recent evidence suggests profound changes have taken place in these lowland forests during the last 7,000 years and Dr. Bush will focus on this problem. Using cores from mid-Holocene-aged lakes in Amazonia, he will record changes over the last 7,000 years in forest diversity, as evidenced through pollen composition at different strata in the cores. Using other characteristics of these cores such as charcoal, paleomagnetic, and bulk density he will attempt to reconstruct paleoclimate histories for this region. Based on the careful selection of sites, it is anticipated that this research will be able to evaluate the impact of human populations over the past 7,000 years on biodiversity of lowland tropical forests of Amazonia. Professor Bush has already demonstrated a marked commitment to undergraduate education by his recently published textbook "Ecology of a Changing Planet." Through this Career Proposal he will expand on the ideas in that book, integrating real-life experiences from his research program into courses currently being designed. In particular his plans include use of geographic information systems to allow students a closer look at landscape level changes and their impact on biodiversity.