Life Sciences Commons^™

Bacteria, Guano And Soot: Source Assessment Of Organic Matter Preserved In Black Laminae In Stalagmites From Caves Of The Sierra De Atapuerca (N Spain), Joeri Kaal, Virginia Martínez-Pillado, Antonio Martínez Cortizas, Jorge Sanjurjo Sánchez, Arantza Aranburu, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Eneko Iriarte

International Journal of Speleology

Speleothems are a recognized source of paleoclimatic information, but their value as a source of signals from human activities in caves with an archaeological record has rarely been explored. Previous studies of speleothems in the Sierra de Atapuerca karst system (Burgos, northern Spain) revealed an important human fossil record, provided information about human activities in and around these caves, and the impacts on their natural environment. The present study reports the results of molecular characterization of dark-colored laminae from the stalagmites Ilargi (Galería de las Estatuas) and GS1, GS2, and GS3 (Galería del Silo), by pyrolysis-GC-MS (Py-GC-MS) and …

Yellowtail Snapper: Human-Ecological Relationships In The South Florida Fishery, Brent Stoffle, Amanda D. Stoltz

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

In 2018 over a period of five months researchers from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) conducted a study with fishermen and local business owners who participate in the South Florida Yellowtail snapper fishery. Fishermen were asked about changes in their targeting strategies over the last several decades; and they perceive these changes to have altered the health and the biology of the snapper species. The changes are perceived as partially responsible for improving both the overall abundance of Yellowtail and having sped up its the growth and reproductive cycles. This is a case where …

Local People’S Perceptions Of Benefits And Costs Of Protected Areas: The Case Of Tarangire National Park And The Surrounding Ecosystem, Northern Tanzania, Felix J. Mkonyi

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

A

A better understanding of the benefits and costs of conservation to people living adjacent to protected areas is fundamental to balancing their conservation goals and needs. This study, based in the Tarangire-Simanjiro ecosystem, explored the costs, benefits and attitudes of local people living adjacent to Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 respondents which were randomly selected from the ‘population’ of 300 respondents used previously for the main survey. Results indicate mixed responses towards protected areas. The majority of respondents held positive attitudes toward the park (56.7%) and park staff (63.3%) but had negative …

Impacts Of Invasive Rats On Hawaiian Cave Resources, Francis G. Howarth, Fred D. Stone

International Journal of Speleology

Although there are no published studies and limited data documenting damage by rodents in Hawaiian caves, our incidental observations during more than 40 years of surveying caves indicate that introduced rodents, especially the roof rat, Rattus rattus, pose significant threats to vulnerable cave resources. Caves, with their nearly constant and predictable physical environment often house important natural and cultural features including biological, paleontological, geological, climatic, mineralogical, cultural, and archaeological resources. All four invasive rodents in Hawai‘i commonly nest in cave entrances and rock shelters, but only the roof rat (Rattus rattus) habitually enters caves and utilizes areas …

Do All “Good Mothers” Breastfeed? How African American Mothers’ Values And Experiences Of Early Motherhood Influence Their Infant Feeding Choices, Airia S. Papadopoulos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The food an infant is fed can reflect many things: a source of nutrition, the social and cultural circumstances into which an infant is born, or even a family’s beliefs about the body and breast milk as a source of nutrition. Exclusive breastfeeding, currently the gold standard for infant feeding in the United States (US), is often identified as an expectation in discourses on being a “good mother.” African American mothers in particular are the least likely group in the US to breastfeed in any capacity and many efforts are underway to increase the breastfeeding rates of this population.

This …

Working With The Remains In Cambodia: Skeletal Analysis And Human Rights After Atrocity, Julie M. Fleischman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This essay will discuss the research being conducted on Khmer Rouge-era human skeletal remains in Cambodia, and the implications of this work. First, the Cambodian project to conserve and analyze the remains at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Choeung Ek) will be briefly discussed. This exceptional undertaking was the first complete scientific analysis of human remains from a Cambodian mass gravesite. Second, the author’s independent research at Choeung Ek and a collaborative project at another mass gravesite will be reviewed. The author’s research focuses on the traumatic injuries and demographics of the remains at Choeung Ek, while also incorporating cultural …

Things Fall Apart? The Political Ecology Of Forest Governance In Southern Nigeria, Prakash Kashwan

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

No abstract provided.

Presentations And Posters From The 2015 Research That Matters Sustainable Food Conference: People, Policy, & Practice, Various Authors

Food and Gardening Working Group

The University of South Florida Sustainable Food Conference: People, Policy, & Practice brought together food researchers from USF and the larger Tampa Bay community to share ideas and findings that will pave the path toward more sustainable and resilient communities. It featured research papers and presentations from all disciplines and methodologies addressing issues concerning food production, distribution, retail, and/or consumption.

"Wake Up The Knowledge That You Have": An Assessment Of Community Food Security In Fellsmere, Florida, Susan Marie Tyler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the global industrial agricultural system many people lack access to high-quality nutritious foods and food production techniques are often inefficient and reliant on harsh chemical inputs. While numerous strategies exist to address the disparities present in the global food system, increasingly researchers and practitioners are looking to local food systems for solutions to strengthen community food security (CFS). CFS emphasizes small-scale production strategies such as farmer's markets, community gardens, and consumer supported agriculture. As these efforts evolve, research is needed to understand how these strategies affect communities. To explore a local CFS initiative, qualitative data were collected from community …

Craniometric Ancestry Proportions Among Groups Considered Hispanic: Genetic Biological Variation, Sex-Biased Asymmetry, And Forensic Applications, Meredith L. Tise

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Today, groups considered Hispanic in the United States consist of populations whose complex genetic structures reflect intermixed diverse groups of people who came in contact during Spanish colonization in Latin America. After coming in contact and wiping out most of the Native Americans who occupied North and Latin America, the Spanish also introduced West African individuals for labor to begin developing crops to be shipped back to Europe, resulting in the Trans-Atlantic African slave trade. These migration events and differential gene flow among males and females that occurred throughout Latin America have led to populations that have been genetically transformed …

Pathways Of Embodiment: Drug Use Among Adolescents In Popay[Aacute]N Colombia, Sarah Louise Fishleder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the interrelated biological and cultural factors that determine pathways by which recreational drug use is manifest to addiction in the lives of youth aged 12-18 in Popay[aacute]n, Colombia. It utilizes existing data from mixed methods research conducted between 2004-2005 examining epidemiological risk factors, drug use, perceptions about drugs, and a biological phenomenon of the brain known as incentive salience. Perceptions and experiences related to drugs were gathered using structured methods. MDS and hierarchical plots of drug perceptions are presented in order to demonstrate the power of culture and expectation on perception and choice. Structural equation modeling was …

Cultivating Local: Building A Local Food System In Western North Carolina, Allison S. Perrett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines a movement in Western North Carolina to build a local food system, one grounded in the conditions and relationships of place. In 2000, Mountain Family Farms launched the Local Food Campaign to raise public awareness about the region's farms and farming heritage, to educate consumers about the benefits of buying food grown by local farms, and, ultimately, to build markets for locally grown food to sustain the region's farms. The campaign sparked a social movement and over a decade later local farms and locally grown food are a palpable feature of life in the mountains of Western …

"They Come, But They Don't Spend As Much Money": Livelihoods, Dietary Diversity, Food Security, And Nutritional Status In Two Roatan Communities In The Wake Of Global Crises In Food Prices And Finance, Racine Marcus Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation explores the associations between recent global crises in staple food prices and finance and the following aspects of life in two communities on the island of Roatàn, Islas de La Bahia (Bay Islands), Honduras: household livelihoods; food commoditization; dietary diversity; food security; and nutritional status. The aims of this study are: ) assess the geographic and economic source(s) of foods consumed by two different communities on Roatàn; b) discover how the most recent economic and food crises have affected foodways and nutrition on Roatàn; c) assess how these crises have affected economic growth of the tourism sector …

Fishermen, Politics, And Participation: An Ethnographic Examination Of Commercial Fisheries Management In St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cynthia Grace-Mccaskey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there is widespread debate regarding the overall status of the world's fisheries, with some researchers projecting their total collapse in only a few decades, and others concluding the situation is not quite as bleak. Additional debates include what strategies should be used to manage fisheries at various scales, and further research is needed to determine which strategies are most appropriate for use in particular situations and locales, as context is critical.

Recently, prominent common pool resources scholars have expressed the need for ethnographic approaches to studying resource management institutions in order to move beyond the current focus of simply …