Demographic and migration characteristics of riberenos , the largest population group in the Amazon Basin, have been neglected by scholars until recently. This thesis explores the determinants and consequences of migration in the Pacaya-Samina National Reserve (PSNR), northeastern Peruvian Amazon. Our findings suggest that migration reduces the rate of population growth and alters household composition. Logit and probit models show that migration in the area is determined by individual characteristics (i.e., education level of migrants and sibling structure), household factors (i.e., family age-sex composition, kingroup size, age of male head of household, education level of male and female heads of household, illness experience, initial extraction skills, initial non-land assets, and livelihood activity reliance), and community features (land endowments and the presence of a secondary school). Multiple regressions (OLS) further reveal that the household age-sex composition and migration characteristics influence resource use. Migration features seem to be more positively associated with agricultural production and resource extraction, and negatively related with fish production. This research improves our understanding of traditional people in the PSNR area.

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Traditional peoples are often described as "stewards of agricultural diversity", yet little research has been conducted on the determinants of agrodiversity. This thesis focuses on agrodiversity and how peasant farmers build and maintain cultivated plant diversity in home gardens found in three distinct traditional communities along the Maranon river in the Peruvian Amazon---an upland mixed agricultural village, a lowland agricultural village, and a lowland fishing village. Data were gathered through household surveys (n = 192) and in-depth interviews (n = 112). Substantial variation in cultivated plant diversity was found among and within villages. Residents with the highest home garden agrodiversity tend to be among the wealthier households, and are more likely to have both established their own garden, and tended it for longer periods. Complex planting material exchange networks underlie the establishment and maintenance of home garden agrodiversity. The results underscore the importance of studying local variations in agricultural diversity, and exchange networks that bring agricultural planting stock to peasant farmers.

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