Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Anthropogenic and Natural Disturbances in 20th Century Woodland Changes in the Region of Vacas, Bolivia

The project examines the role of natural and anthropogenic disturbances in high-elevation Andean forests during the 20th Century. A multi-disciplinary approach based in quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to collect and interpret field and archived data on social and ecological processes. The working hypotheses are threefold: (1) the relative roles of human and natural disturbances are reflected in the distribution, structure, and composition of forests; (2) individual forest patches have different levels of stability: and (3) local perceptions toward forests are variable and influential in forest use. Contributions to the advancement of knowledge of ecosystem dynamics and human-environment interactions in the central Andean region will be made, as well as enhancements to the theoretical foundations of plant biogeography and environmental geography. This is a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award.