SBR-9508193 Carl S. Zimmerer Antoinette M.G.A. WinklerPrins University of Wisconsin - Madison Dissertation Improvement Research: Resource Use, Economic Change and Local Soil Knowledge Among Small-Scale Producers of Ilha Ituqui, Para, Brazil The objective of this dissertation improvement research is to understand the impact of a changing regional economy on local soil knowledge. The placement of local systems of ecological knowledge within a broader sociological and political economic framework is critical to their utility as guides to future sustainable resource use. The Ilha Ituqui floodplain island in the lower Amazon will serve as a setting to test hypotheses. The study will use an integration of human and physical geography methodologies. Three topics within the people-environment tradition of geography will be addressed by this research: local soil knowledge studies, gendered knowledge, and soil quality maintenance. The study approach emphasizes the importance of evaluating local-level decision-making within a framework of broader sociological and political economic arenas. The study w ill demonstrate a link between economic change and local ecological knowledge. This link is a crucial connection for understanding sustainable resource use because how small-scale producers of the area maintain soil quality in a challenging flooded environment and under pressure of economic change will provide important insights for other parts of the lowland tropics undergoing economic change.
