Land-Use Politics, Disturbance, and Biodiveristy in the Indian Aravalli

环境保护进入了动荡不安的时代。远离人类影响的生态系统，曾经被认为是原始和稳定的，现在越来越多地被理解为正在经历不可预测的变化。与此同时，长期以来以失衡为特征的人类干扰制度已被证明可以增强生态系统的稳定性和生产力。因此，传统的保护模式受到了质疑，这些模式认为，为了维持生物多样性，必须保持“原始”，并将自然与人类活动隔离开来。在全球生物多样性迅速下降之际，这给环境科学带来了一个问题。同样，如果利益相关者群体在资源问题上发生冲突，控制权随之解除，出现了单一法律规定的多种土地用途。土地利用的这种变化通常会导致土地复盖和植物生物多样性的变化。民粹主义对资源控制的争夺非但不会一成不变地减少物种多样性，反而可能导致充满活力的景观，形成一片片截然不同和多样化的生态群落。本研究项目探索环境政治、生态干扰和植物生物多样性之间的关系。研究人员假设，当获得环境资源(森林或牧场)的民粹主义要求导致不同的管理时，结果将是零星的生态干扰形式。因此，充满冲突的社会政治条件可能会加强而不是破坏生物多样性，尽管可能会以牺牲本土物种为代价支持入侵物种的入侵。利用印度拉贾斯坦邦的一个案例研究，研究人员将使用卫星图像分析、生物多样性调查和利益相关者调查来绘制资源使用者相互冲突的需求和具有生态意义的植物物种的分布情况。这个跨学科的团队包括来自地理学、生态学和动物学的研究人员，这项工作涉及印度和美国机构的密切合作。实际上，该项目将首次系统地观察阿拉瓦利地区的区域生物多样性变化，该地区形成了一个特有物种的仓库，也是北部和西部广大地区水和养分输入的重要来源。从概念上讲，这项研究将对政治斗争、国家权力和土地覆盖变化之间的关系提供见解。该项目将为研究生提供教育和培训机会，并将加强国际合作。

Environmental conservation has entered an era of upheaval. Ecosystems far from human impact, once thought to be pristine and stable, are increasingly understood to undergo unpredictable changes. Meanwhile, regimes of human disturbance, long characterized as out of balance, have been shown to enhance ecosystem stability and productivity. As a result, traditional conservation models, which hold that "pristinity" and the enclosure of nature from human activity are required to maintain biodiversity, have been called into question. This poses a problem for environmental science at a time when global biodiversity is in rapid decline. Similarly, where groups of stakeholders engage in conflict over resources, dissolution of control ensues, with multiple land uses emerging from monolithic laws. Such variation in land use commonly leads to variation in land cover and floral biodiversity. Far from being a force that invariably reduces species diversity, populist contests for control of resources may lead to dynamic landscapes, with patches of distinct and diverse ecological communities. This research project explores the relationships among environmental politics, ecological disturbance, and floral biodiversity. The investigators hypothesize that when populist demands for access to environmental resources (forests or pasture) lead to heterogeneous management, the result will be patchy forms of ecological disturbance. Conflict-laden sociopolitical conditions therefore may enhance, rather than undermine, biodiversity, though potentially by favoring the encroachment of invasive species at the expense of native ones. Using a case study from Rajasthan India, the researchers will use satellite image analysis, biodiversity surveys, and stakeholder surveys to map the conflicting demands of resource users and the distribution of ecologically significant plant species. The interdisciplinary team includes researchers from geography, ecology, and zoology, and the work involves close collaboration between Indian and U.S. institutions.Empirically, the project will provide a first systematic- view of regional biodiversity change in the Aravalli, an area that forms a storehouse of endemic species and a crucial source of water and nutrient inputs for the vast areas to the north and west. Conceptually, the research will offer insights into the relationship between political struggle, state power, and land-cover change. The project will provide educational and training opportunities for graduate students, and it will increase international collaboration.