This research project will study the relationship between agricultural intensification, village population size, and settlement patterns among small-scale agriculturalists in the Peruvian Amazon. The project will use remote sensed imagery together with ethnographic field data to investigate the manner in which increased agricultural production for cash markets affects land use and the exploitation of tropical forest resources. The methods include a survey of seven villages along a small river to determine population density, land use patterns, and market production, and intensive ethnographic interviewing to establish the "native models" for culturally appropriate land use. Satellite imagery will be analyzed to determine the degree of fit between the natives' understanding of ecological processes and changes as detected from space. This research is important because the Amazon forest is one of the most valuable ecological resources on the planet. In order to learn how to deal with changes we must understand how the native people who live there use the natural environment. This sort of research, which compares native strategies with objectively observed outcomes, can accomplish that understanding.
