Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ronga Wild Plant Harvest and the Conservation of Coastal Savanna Landscape in Southern Mozambique

博士论文改进补助金：Ronga野生植物收获和莫桑比克南部沿海稀树草原景观的保护

• 批准号: 0720077
• 负责人: Theodore Gragson
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-15 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0720077&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Ronga

Graduate student Laura J. Shaffer, supervised by Dr. Theodore L. Gragson, will undertake research on how the relationship between spatial and temporal patchiness of natural resource distribution, as mediated by social and ecological factors, and human resource use. Her test case will be the Ronga people of Mozambique. Southern Mozambique's coastal savanna landscape is ideal for a resource use strategy study because the area is rich in floral and faunal species due to the diverse range of available habitats, which include forest, grasslands, and wetlands. This landscape's spatial and temporal heterogeneity offers Ronga horticulturists a high diversity of wild plants to harvest for various subsistence needs across the seasons. Preliminary fieldwork revealed a high dependence on natural plant resources by Ronga communities in the region for food, medicinal, shelter, and warmth needs. The researcher will (1) analyze how social and ecological factors affect Rongan wild plant harvesting spatial and temporal patch choices; and (2) investigate how these human activities affect the plants, by monitoring the specific effects of Rongan wild plant harvests on coastal savanna vegetation diversity, abundance, and distribution. She will employ a combination of ethnographic and ecological research methods. She will consult governmental agencies and archives to gather information about historic Rongan use of wild plant resources, going back 50 years, to correlate with the oldest available aerial photos. She will map two coastal savanna communities, in which she also will gather spatial information on interhousehold networks, plants known and their uses, and plant use. This will allow her to incorporate user spatial behavior, and the factors directing it, as well as look at how resource use has changed over time.Basic scientific research on the socioecological factors affecting human natural resource use is critical for developing realistic landscape conservation management plans that meet locally specific needs for both humans and wild species. The data gathered in the current project will be tested by developming a management plan for the Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). It is hoped that this plan will serve as a methodological model for documenting the community resource use information needed to create conservation plans at other sites in Mozambique, such as the Great Limpopo and Gorongoza, as well as in other parts of the world. The research also will contribute significantly to the education of a female social scientist.

由西奥多·格拉格森（Theodore L.她的测试案将是莫桑比克的隆加人。 莫桑比克南部的沿海稀树草原景观是资源使用策略研究的理想选择，因为由于可用栖息地的各种范围包括森林，草原和湿地，因此该地区富含花卉和动物种类。这种景观的空间和时间异质性为隆加园艺家提供了高度多样性的野生植物，可以在整个季节中满足各种生存需求。初步现场工作表明，该地区Ronga社区对食物，药用，住所和温暖需求的自然植物资源有很高的依赖。研究人员将（1）分析社会和生态因素如何影响隆加野生植物收获的空间和时间斑点选择； （2）通过监测洪加野生植物收获对沿海稀树草原植被多样性，丰富性和分布的特定影响，研究这些人类活动如何影响植物。她将采用人种学和生态研究方法的结合。她将咨询政府机构和档案馆，以收集有关Rongan使用野生植物资源的信息，可以追溯到50年，以与最古老的可用航空照片相关。她将绘制两个沿海稀树草原社区，其中她还将收集有关室内建筑网络，已知植物及其用途以及植物用途的空间信息。这将使她能够纳入用户的空间行为，并指导它的因素，并研究资源的使用如何随着时间的流逝而发生变化。关于影响人类自然资源使用的社会生态因素的基础科学研究对于制定现实的景观保护管理计划至关重要，该计划满足了对人类和野生物种的本地特定需求。当前项目中收集的数据将通过制定Futi Transfrontier保护区（TFCA）的管理计划来测试。希望该计划将成为一种方法论模型，以记录在莫桑比克其他站点（例如Great Limpopo和Gorongoza）以及世界其他地区创建保护计划所需的社区资源使用信息。这项研究还将为女性社会科学家的教育做出重大贡献。