Citation
Lu, Flora E. & Bilsborrow, Richard E. (2011). A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Human Impacts on the Rainforest Environment in Ecuador.. Cincotta, Richard P. & Gorenflo, Lawrence J. (Eds.) (pp. 127-151). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Abstract
Perhaps no biome on the planet has higher biodiversity than the Amazon rainforest, which covers a mere 7% of the landmass but contains an estimated half of all species. Although there are many ecoregions within the Amazon basin noteworthy for their ecological richness, several have particularly high species diversity, perhaps the most notable being the eastern slopes of the Andes of southern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Here, nutrient-rich sediments originating in the Andes, topographic variation, tropical climate, and high levels of rainfall converge to harbor a wealth of biodiversity and endemism. According to the tropical ecologist Norman Myers (1988), western Amazonia “is surely the richest biotic zone on Earth, and deserves to rank as a kind of global epicenter of biodiversity” (italics added). For instance, the Ecuadorian Amazon or Oriente houses an estimated 9,000–12,000 species of vascular plants. In Ecaudor’s 600,000-acre Yasuni National Park, a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Biosphere Reserve, some years ago scientists identified more than 600 species of birds, 500 species of fish, and 120 species of mammals (cited in Kimerling 1991: 33). Moreover, a detailed assessment of tree biodiversity in 16 tropical sites around the world conducted by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute concluded that Yasuni contained 1,104 species (of at least one cm dbh) in a 25 ha area, the most of any site studied (Romoleroux et al. 1997; Pitman et al. 2002). In the Cuyabeno Reserve in northeastern Ecuador – another important Amazonian conservation area within our study region – 313 species of trees were identified within a single hectare, and 500 species of birds and 100 species of mammals (http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial_nt.html) have also been reported (see also Valencia et al. 1994). In this chapter, we focus our attention on this ecologically valuable and vulnerable region, examining a cross-cultural sample of indigenous peoples who are at the center of a vortex of changing economic, ecological, and cultural dynamics.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16707-2Reference Type
Book SectionYear Published
2011Series Title
Ecological Studies: Analysis and SynthesisAuthor(s)
Lu, Flora E.Bilsborrow, Richard E.