Doctoral Dissertation Research: Changes in tropical forest farming under conditions of rapid socio-ecological restructuring

热带雨林正在转变为多种不同的农业生产系统。随着这些森林的改变，人们从中获得的生计也在改变。该项目探讨了在各种环境压力下，通过农林业的农业实践驱动雨林种植的因素。这个项目训练一名研究生掌握科学的、混合方法的环境人类学的严格技术。这项研究将有助于对农林业在农村人民生计和维护热带森林方面的作用进行越来越多的科学探索。通过对世界上一个公认具有环境、文化和政治意义的区域的农业和生态过程的详细分析，项目结果可能有助于环境和土地使用决策者。斯坦福大学博士候选人大卫·吉尔伯特在威廉·达勒姆博士的指导下，将研究森林农民如何应对他们林地上的竞争压力，创造有人居住的农林复合林。本项目使用环境人类学的方法来更好地了解这种类型的工作森林，对农业商品作物生产的社会和环境可持续性产生更广泛的影响。作为全球重要的农产品市场和数百万森林农民的所在地，苏门答腊岛是研究农林业的理想地区。研究集中在苏门答腊岛武吉巴里山山脉的两个林农定居点。两个定居点都种植农林业，提供一系列有价值的商品。初步数据分析表明，农林业的社会生态使林农能够灵活地融入全球农产品市场。为了更好地描述这种农林业适应和实践，吉尔伯特先生将采用参与式观察、深度访谈和农业生态调查。生态变化将通过构建土地利用地理信息系统数据库来描述。这项研究将有助于理解农村人民对政治和经济影响的反应方式，以及这些反应可能推动生态变化的方式。

Tropical rainforests are being transformed into many different kinds of agricultural production systems. As these forests are transformed so too are the livelihoods people obtain from them. This project explores what factors drive the rainforest cultivation through an agricultural practice known as agroforestry in light of various environmental pressures. This project trains a graduate student in rigorous techniques of scientific, mixed-methods environmental anthropology. This research will contribute to the growing scientific exploration of the role of agroforestry in the livelihood of rural people and maintenance of tropical forests. Project findings will potentially aid environmental and land use policy makers through detailed analysis of agricultural and ecological processes in a region of the world that is of recognized environmental, cultural and political significance.Stanford University doctoral candidate, David Gilbert, advised by Dr. William Durham, will examine how forest farmers have countered competing pressures on their forestlands to create inhabited agroforests. This project uses environmental anthropology methods to better understand this type of working forest, with implications for the social and environmental sustainability of agricultural commodity crop production more generally. As site of globally important agricultural commodity markets and millions of forest farmers Sumatra is an ideal region for the study of agroforestry. Research is focused in two forest farmer settlements in Sumatra's Bukit Barisan mountain range. Both settlements cultivate agroforests that provide a range of valuable commodities. Preliminary data analysis shows that the social ecology of agroforests allows forest farmers flexible integration into global agricultural commodities markets. To better characterize this agroforestry adaptation and practice, Mr. Gilbert will use participant observation, in-depth interviews and an agroecological survey. Ecological changes will be described by constructing a Geographic Informations Systems database of land use. This research will contribute to understanding of the ways rural people respond to political and economic influences, and the ways these responses may drive ecological change.