PRF: Ecosystem Variation and Pastoral Energy Extraction Patterns

东非牧民在各种不同的环境中剥削牲畜，所有这些环境都具有强烈的季节性。牧民通过暂时利用不同种类的牲畜、转移牲畜和人以及调整人口数量以适应可用资源，从而适应食物供应的季节性。本研究的预测假设是：(1)牧业食品采购模式旨在实现环境变化压力下的能量动态平衡；(2)在不同的生态系统中，实现能量动态平衡的目标需要不同的策略。将通过比较肯尼亚北部的伦德尔和图尔卡纳以及埃塞俄比亚南部的博拉纳三个群体的粮食采购模式来检验这些主张。伦德尔人在干旱地区放牧骆驼，博拉纳人在中西部山区放牧牲畜，而图尔卡纳人(在中间环境中)放牧五种牲畜。凯瑟琳·A·加尔文博士将使用现场数据和文献来源来评估这些人类群体在维持季节性能量平衡方面的成功，尽管食物供应存在波动。一个模拟模型将被用来比较和整合来自这些牧区种群的能量数据。该项目将在系统生态学和生态人类学的框架内阐明环境、人类战略和生态系统能量学之间的相互作用。为期一年的博士后奖学金活动的主办机构是科罗拉多州立大学。

East African pastoralists exploit livestock in a variety of different environments, all characterized by drastic seasonality. Pastoralists adjust to seasonality in food supply by temporally exploiting different species of livestock, by moving livestock and people, and by adjusting human population to available resources. This study is predicted on the hypotheses that (1) patterns of pastoral food procurement are aimed at achieving energy homeostasis under pressure of environmental variability and that (2) this goal of energy homeostasis requires different strategies in different ecosystems. These propositions will be tested by comparing food procurement patterns among three groups, the Rendille and Turkana of northern Kenya and the Borana of southern Ethiopia. The Rendille herd camels in a dry area, the Borana exploit cattle in mesic mountains, while the Turkana (in an intermediate environment) exploit five species of livestock. Dr. Kathleen A. Galvin will use field data and literature sources to assess the success of these human groups in maintaining energy balances on a seasonal basis despite fluctuations in food supply. A simulation model will be used to compare and integrate energetics data from these pastoral populations. The project will elucidate interactions between environment, human strategies and ecosystem energetics within the framework of systems ecology and ecological anthropology. The host institution for the one-year postdoctoral fellowship activity is Colorado State University.