Doctoral Dissertation Research: Socio-Political and Ecological Complexity of Pastoral Herding Strategies Around the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

牲畜流动是牧民应对牧场环境不确定性和可变性所依赖的最重要的灵活性模式之一。在过去的半个世纪里，撒哈拉以南非洲的牧民由于建立了大型保护区和公共土地的细分而面临着一系列的土地减少，这改变了他们的流动模式，并增加了对环境变化的脆弱性。在这些人与环境的相互作用中，一个悬而未决的问题是：保护区在影响居住在保护区边界的牧民的生计策略方面发挥了什么作用？本博士论文研究项目的目的是了解肯尼亚马赛马拉国家保护区周边马赛族牧民放牧的社会生态复杂性。利用政治生态理论框架，博士候选人将解决四个研究问题来追求研究目标：(1)牲畜运动的空间和时间显性模式是什么？(2)人口、政治经济和生态过程如何影响牲畜流动模式？(3)牧民与保护区管理者之间的权力关系如何影响牲畜流动过程？(4)这些模式和过程如何与对环境的物理影响和反馈联系起来？学生将在为期一年的实地考察期间使用混合方法来回答这些问题，包括使用家畜附属的全球定位系统单元、各种参与式农村评估（PRA）技术（口述历史、日历测绘活动、关键信息访谈和参与式观察）、家庭调查、遥感卫星图像、植被样带和牧场土壤质量测试。这些数据可以使用一套定性、定量和空间分析方法和技术进行分析。该项目将提高对以下方面的科学认识：(1)影响保护区周边地区牲畜流动的社会和生态因素之间的联系；(2)牧民对不同影响因素的决策过程；(3)放牧引起的自然环境变化的性质和幅度；(4)结合遥感、访谈和植被样带等混合方法，对牧民、保护区和自然环境之间复杂的相互作用进行综合评估。该项目的结果将有助于为研究地点以及肯尼亚和东非其他地区目前的保护区管理战略和畜牧业发展政策提供信息。这项研究还将培训当地马赛人研究助理掌握生态普查技术、调查方法和地理空间技术的使用。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Livestock mobility is among the most important modes of flexibility that pastoralists rely on to counter environmental uncertainty and variability in rangelands. Over the last half-century, pastoralists in Africa south of the Sahara have faced a series of land reductions through the establishment of large protected areas and the subdivision of communal land, which have altered patterns of mobility and increasing vulnerability to environmental change. One of the unanswered questions in these human-environment interactions is: What role do protected areas play in influencing the livelihood strategies of pastoralists who reside along the borders of protected areas? The objective of this doctoral dissertation research project is to understand the socio-ecological complexity of pastoralist herding of Maasai pastoralists at the periphery of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Using a political-ecological theoretical framework, the doctoral candidate will address four research questions to pursue the research objective: (1) What are the spatially and temporally explicit patterns of livestock movement? (2) How do demographic, political-economic and ecological processes influence livestock mobility patterns? (3) How do power-relations between pastoralists and protected area managers influence livestock mobility processes? (4) How are these patterns and processes linked to physical impacts and feedbacks on the environment? The student will use mixed methods to answer these questions over the course of a year-long field period, including the use of global positioning systems units attached to livestock, various participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques (oral histories, calendar mapping activities, key informant interviews and participant observation), household surveys, remotely sensed satellite imagery, vegetation transects, and rangeland soil quality tests. These data with be analyzed using a suite of qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analytical methods and techniques.The project will improve the scientific knowledge on:(1) the linkages among the social and ecological factors influencing livestock mobility in areas around protected areas; (2) the decision-making processes of pastoralists as they respond to different factors influencing livestock herding strategies; (3) the nature and magnitude of changes in the physical environment that are attributed to livestock grazing; and (4) the integration of mixed methods, from remote sensing to interviews and vegetation transects, in order to provide a holistic assessment of the complex interactions between pastoralists, protected areas, and the physical environment. The results of this project will help inform current protected areas management strategies and livestock-development policies within the study site as well as other parts of Kenya and East Africa. The research will also provide for the training of local Maasai research assistants in ecological census techniques, survey methods and the use of geospatial technologies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.