Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Impact of Illegal Crop Cultivation on Agrobiodiversity Change, Social Vulnerability, and Resilience

本博士论文研究改进项目调查非法作物（如毒品）的种植如何改变农业生物多样性，也被称为农业生物多样性。世界各地都有农民非法种植作物的现象。这些活动改变了景观，影响了环境、安全和人类福祉。该项目借鉴并将进一步发展关于小农农业生物多样性相互作用的社会和生态脆弱性和复原力的理论。研究结果将广泛传播给研究人员、当地合作伙伴和公众。作为这项研究的一部分，宾夕法尼亚州立大学的一名本科生将作为研究助理参加，接受地理研究方面的宝贵培训。该项目作为博士论文改进奖，将为有前途的学生提供支持，使其能够建立独立的研究事业，该项目将有助于对农业生物多样性丧失（日益严重的全球问题）和农业生物多样性保护进行地理分析，并对农业生物多样性与影响自然和社会的冲击和压力之间的相互作用提出创新的理论和方法见解。主要的研究问题是：1）小农如何认识和管理种植非法作物的风险和机会，作为其生计战略的一部分？2)非法作物的种植如何改变小农的土地使用和土地覆盖以及随之而来的农业生物多样性？3）非法作物种植对小农脆弱性和复原力的社会和环境影响是什么？为了回答这些问题，该研究项目将对三种不同的数据生成方法进行三角测量：与农学家的半结构化访谈，二级社会，人口和农业数据，以及卫星图像遥感。研究结果将有助于为研究非法作物种植、农业生物多样性和社会脆弱性之间的跨尺度关系提供一个框架和方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This doctoral dissertation research improvement project investigates how cultivation of illegal crops (e.g. drugs) transforms agricultural biodiversity–also known as agrobiodiversity. Illegal-crop cultivation among agriculturalists is found throughout the world. Such activities transform landscapes, impacting the environment, security and human wellbeing. The project draws on and will further develop theories of social and ecological vulnerability and resilience regarding small farmer agrobiodiversity interactions. Results will be widely disseminated to researchers, local partners, and the public. As part of this research, a Pennsylvania State University undergraduate student will participate as a research assistant, receiving valuable training in geographic research. As a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a promising student to establish an independent research career.The project will contribute to the geographic analysis of agrobiodiversity loss (a growing global problem) and agrobiodiversity conservation with innovative theoretical and methodological insights on the interactions between agrobiodiversity and shocks and stressors that impact both nature and society. The main research questions are: 1) How do small farmers perceive and manage the risks and opportunities of growing illegal crops as part of their livelihood strategies? 2) How does the cultivation of illegal crops transform the land use and land cover of small farmers, and consequent agrobiodiversity? and 3) What are the social and environmental impacts of illegal crop cultivation on small farmer vulnerability and resilience? To answer these questions, the research project will triangulate three different methods for data generation: semi-structured interviews with agriculturalists, secondary social, demographic, and agricultural data, and remote sensing with satellite imagery. The results will contribute to a framework and methodology for studying cross-scalar relationships between illegal crop cultivation, agrobiodiversity, and social vulnerability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.