Title

Making A Living In The Tropical Forest - Yuqui Foragers In The Bolivian Amazon

Authors

Authors

A. M. Stearman

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

Hum. Ecol.

Keywords

TROPICAL FOREST ECOLOGY; FORAGING STRATEGIES; RESOURCE USE; YUQUI; INDIANS; BOLIVIAN AMAZON; LOWLAND FOREST; TREEFALL GAPS; RAIN-FOREST; DIVERSITY; DYNAMICS; SOCIETY; PLANTS; Anthropology; Environmental Studies; Sociology

Abstract

Questions concerning the availability of resources in tropical rain forests have given rise to the current debate centering on whether human subsistence based solely on foraging is possible in these biomes without agricultural subsidies. This paper takes the position that changing perspectives on ecological pattern and process in tropical forests and the significant variation among tropical forests on a worldwide as well as regional scale must be taken into consideration. Human disturbance is also proposed as a cause of dependence on agriculture by modem human foragers rather than as a necessary precondition for successful exploitation of the tropical forest. These issues are discussed against the background of a case study of the Yuqui, who, until very recently, were true foragers in the Bolivian Amazon. For the Yuqui, the sustainability of their subsistence system depended on a fine-grained knowledge of their environment and the freedom of movement over a large territory to access resources within it.

Journal Title

Human Ecology

Volume

19

Issue/Number

2

Publication Date

1-1-1991

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Language

English

First Page

245

Last Page

260

WOS Identifier

WOS:A1991JR14500006

ISSN

0300-7839

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