CPC Ecuador Projects
Northern Amazonian Studies
Agricultural Colonization in the Ecuadorian Amazon
The
goal of this project is to identify socio-economic and demographic
(SED) determinants of land use & land cover change in the northern
Oriente of Ecuador. To achieve this goal, longitudinal SED data are
analyzed in conjunction with a satellite image time-series and other
geospatial data.
Comparison of Colonists and Indigenous Amazonian Land Use
A comparison of land use practices between indigenous groups and colonists in the northern Oriente of Ecuador.
Simulating the Effects of Urbanization on Landuse and Landcover Patterns in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon
Urban
influences are used to inform cellular automata (CA) models for
predictive land use & land cover change (LULCC) over time. These
influences are quantified through data from a community survey, from
2000, that is linked to spatial point locations for each community. The
CA models identify likely trends in LULCC from a beginning time period
forward.
Modeling
the Scale Dependent Drivers of LCLU Dynamics in Northeastern Ecuador:
Simulating Patterns of Landscape Change and Assessing their Cause and
Consequence through Multi-Level Models and Cellular Automata
Multi-level
models and cellular automata (CA) models are utilized to assess the
rate, pattern, and mechanisms of forest conversion to agricultural and
urban land uses. Scale dependent drivers of land cover & land use
dynamics determined from household-level social data are examined in
both space and time, combined with biophysical and geographic data.
Urbanizing the Ecuadorian Frontier: Links between Rural and Urban Places in the Northern Oriente
Cellular
automata (CA) models are used to further explore the effects of
urbanization and the nature of rural-urban links on land use/land cover
(LULC) patterns in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Models will incorporate direct
and indirect affects of communities, including their origins and
characteristics, household-level data from the 1999 social survey, and
feedbacks between new roads and protected areas to better simulate the
changing urban environment in the Oriente.
Multi-agent
Models of Land Cover/Land Use Dynamics in the Northern Ecuadorian
Amazon: Coupling Human and Natural Systems through Pattern-Process
Relations and Spatial Simulations
Integrative and synthetic study of the causes and consequences of land cover/land use (LCLU) change using agent-based models.
Andean Studies
Frontier Migration and the Rural Environment in Ecuador
Investigation of causes and determinants of out-migration from three areas in the Ecuadorian highlands.
Galapagos Islands
The Center for Galapagos Studies (CGS) is the coordinating unit for UNC's Galapagos Initiative, which marshals Carolina's research strengths to address the complex human and environmental pressures in the Galapagos archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and birthplace of evolutionary science.
