Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland

该奖项支持一个跨学科的研究团队，研究冰岛北部偏远地区农村农业的长期可持续性。该项目将使用社会文献、考古和自然科学数据来调查公元1700年至1950年期间Myvatn地区草生长和干草产量的独特而详细的记录。研究小组的一个关键问题是，影响干草作物和放牧成功或失败的各种社会和环境因素是什么？此外，该项目将分析这些资源的生产和使用的可持续性。研究小组选择了Myvatn地区，以无处不在的蠓（Tanytarsus gracilentus）命名，它们是当地生态的关键因素。蠓为许多水鸟和鱼类提供食物，它们的数量如此之多，以至于它们的尸体为土壤增加了营养。Myvatn地区已经连续耕作了几个世纪，据推测，这种耕作得到了一个复杂的、相互关联的生物系统（蠓、鱼、水禽）和地质（火山活动）过程以及社会、文化和经济系统的支持。这些众多相互关联的因素代表了北方人类生态动力系统的独特记录。冰岛有着悠久而多样的农业书面记录，该项目将利用大量已发表和未发表的历史文件，这些文件以前未经审查。这些文件包括农民日记、当地政府税收和产量记录、干草检查报告、教区记录，以及一份可追溯到19世纪的独特的农民“报纸”。这些记录是一个Myvatn农民家庭的遗产文件，将成为档案研究的支柱。这一独特的文字记录，加上考古记录的数据，将为Myvan生态系统丰富的环境数据增添重要的社会和经济数据。研究小组对草和干草生产如此感兴趣的原因是，直到最近，草还是冰岛唯一可行的作物。因此，冰岛早期的经济主要集中在畜牧业上。成功地收获干草是冰岛农村人最重要的年度任务，这项任务的形式和功能可以追溯到维京人定居的时代。干草对经济和冰岛社会系统的长期可持续性至关重要因为如果没有足够的干草来维持牲畜的冬季喂养，它们就会死亡，这将导致饥荒，迁徙，甚至农村人口的死亡。通过研究Myvatn牧草的可持续收获和利用，研究小组将能够更好地了解北方复杂的人类生态动力系统，因为它们经历了环境和社会变化。

This award supports an interdisciplinary team of researchers investigating the long term sustainability of rural farming in the far northern regions of Iceland, Myvatn. The project will use social documentary, archaeological, and natural science data to investigate the unique and detailed record of grass growth and hay yield during the period AD ca. 1700 to 1950 in the Myvatn district. One of the of the key questions for the research team is what were the varying social and environmental factors that influenced the success or failure of the hay crop and grazing? In addition, the project will analyze the sustainability of the production and use of these resources. The research team has chosen the Myvatn area, named for the ever-present midges (Tanytarsus gracilentus) that are a key element in the local ecology. The midges provide food for numerous water birds, fish, and are in such large numbers that their corpses add nutrients to the soil. Myvatn region has been farmed continuously for many centuries and this farming is hypothesized to have been supported by a complex, interlinked system of biological (midges, fish, waterfowl) and geological (volcanism) processes coupled with the social, cultural, and economic systems. These numerous interlinked factors represent a unique record of a human ecodynamic system in the North. Iceland has a long and diverse written record of farming and the project will draw on numerous published and unpublished historical documents, which have previously been unexamined. These documents including farmer's diaries, local governmental tax and yield records and hay inspection reports, parish records, and a unique farmers' "newspaper" dating to the 19th century. These records are the legacy documents of one Myvatn farming family and will form the backbone of the archival research. This unique written record, complemented by data from the archaeological record, will add critical social and economic data to the rich environmental data of the Myvan ecosystem. The reason the research team is so interested in grass and hay production is that until very recently grass was Iceland's only viable crop. As such, the early Icelandic economy focused primarily on animal husbandry. The successful harvesting of hay was the most important annual task of rural Icelanders, a task that can be traced to the time of Viking settlement both in form and function. Hay was critical to the economy and the long-term sustainability of Icelandic social systems because quite literally if there was not enough hay to sustain the winter feeding of the livestock they could die and this would lead to famine, migration, and even death among the rural population. By examining the sustainable harvest and use of grass crops in Myvatn the research team will be able to better understand the complex human ecodynamic systems in the north as they undergoes both environmental and social change.