The impact of economic globalization on human demography, land use and natural systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
Investigator(s)
Principal investigator:
T. Mitchell Aide, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan
E-mail: tmaide(at)yahoo.com
Abstract
Economic globalization is exerting an enormous impact on human and natural systems in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC). It is essential that we understand how these complex interactions behave; our response (e.g. land-use planning, conservation) will have impacts for generations. To address this challenge we propose a multi-disciplinary/multi-scale approach that will integrate global economic factors, with continental level changes in demography and land use in Latin America and Caribbean, and evaluate how these changes are affecting natural and human systems at the continental, country, and municipality scales. Specifically we will explore how demographic factors (e.g., rapid urbanization, international migration, falling rural fertility and mortality) economic factors (e.g. expansion of non-agricultural industries, decreasing price of agricultural produce, emigrant remittances, emergence of large-scale modern agriculture, and increasing global demand for food and petroleum alternatives), and ecological factors (e.g., ecoregion, slope, and soils) will affect land-use patterns.
URL
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