This dissertation investigates environmental degradation of a wetland ecosystem in the northeast Peruvian Amazon: the palm swamps, or aguajales, mostly located in the region of Loreto, Peru. This ecosystem is dominated by the dioecious palm species Mauritia flexuosa, locally known as aguaje. Female aguaje palms produce a valuable fruit which is widely consumed in the region, and especially in the capital city Iquitos. The most common method of harvesting this fruit is to chop the female palms. Concern is growing over environmental degradation that results from this practice, such as high carbon emissions released from the peat soils upon which most aguajales grow. This dissertation investigates environmental degradation of the palm swamps from multiple scales. Using a mixed-methods analysis, this dissertation asks: 1) What is the magnitude and distribution of palm swamp degradation, and what is the contribution of this process to carbon emissions? 2) What is the relative influence of physical and social underlying drivers explaining the spatial distribution of palm swamp ecosystems with different palm swamp densities? 3) How do underlying social-ecological/political-ecological driving forces occurring at different scales influence the sustainable use and conservation of palm swamp ecosystems? Degradation is mapped at the regional scale using remote sensing techniques over two periods of time: 1990-2007 and 2007-2018. Underlying drivers of degradation are investigated at the regional and district levels using spatially explicit statistical models. Finally, qualitative data acquired in the field is used to investigate why some communities successfully manage their palm swamps while others do not. This dissertation produces the first regional map of palm swamp degradation and first temporal analysis of how degradation has changed over three decades. It is the first study to analyze both physical and socioeconomic drivers of degradation and the first study to analyze how physical drivers change over time. It contributes to the literature of land change science by demonstrating a method of testing socioeconomic data at an aggregated scale against degradation data derived from remote sensing. Finally, this study provides a detailed and nuanced analysis of the aguaje social-ecological system, demonstrating that the choice of some communities to chop palms for harvest is not one made of ignorance, but rather is a logical option in marginalized communities where the aguaje fruit cannot provide a sufficient contribution to a community’s material needs. This work contributes to the literature of critical conservation by demonstrating cases of conservation success that were achieved without coercive state power. / Accompanied by 1 PDF file: chap1.pdf
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/9556 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Marcus, Matthew, 0000-0002-2445-6649 |
| Contributors | Gutierrez-Velez, Victor H., Thomas, Kimberley, Henry, Kevin A., Hergoualc'h, Kristell, Behm, Jocelyn E. |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 170 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | Marcus, M. S., Hergoualc'h, K., Honorio Coronado, E. N., Gutiérrez-Vélez, V. H. (2024). Spatial distribution of degradation and deforestation of palm swamp peatlands and associated carbon emissions in the Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Environmental Management, 351. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119665, http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/9518, Theses and Dissertations, Marcus, M. S., Hergoualc'h, K., Honorio Coronado, E. N., Gutiérrez-Vélez, V. H. (2024). Spatial distribution of degradation and deforestation of palm swamp peatlands and associated carbon emissions in the Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Environmental Management, 351. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119665 |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds