ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF HUMAN ECOLOGY

IN TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

What are the causes, consequences, and solutions to tropical deforestation and the erosion of diversity?

What are the relative pros and cons of modernist and postmodernist approaches in contemporary Amazonian anthropology?

What are the different images of the Amazon and its indigenous people, and how can they be explained?

Is tropical rain forest unique?

Is the Amazon unique?

What are the trends and priorities in research on tropical forest ecology?

How ancient, stable, variable, and resilient is the tropical rain forest?

What is the place of humans in nature?

What should be the place of humans in nature?

What is the relevance of indigenous knowledge, beliefs, and practices for natural resource use, management, and conservation?

Is slash-and-burn farming economically wasteful and
environmentally destructive?

To what extent are tropical forests anthropogenic?

Does the environment limit cultural evolution and/or economic development?

How do indigenous societies adapt to seasonally flooded and/or
nutrient poor environments?

Can humans survive by foraging alone in tropical rain forests?

Are indigenous Amazonians examples of "ecologically noble savages" or "Homo desastans"?

What are the human and environmental consequences of oil exploration and development in the Amazon?

What are the benefits and costs of economic development in the Amazon?

Are the Yanomami really "the fierce people"?

How have the Yanomami been represented and misrepresented?
Is animal protein scarcity an adequate causal explanation for Yanomami aggression?

What are the alternative explanatory hypotheses?

What are the human and environmental consequences of gold
mining in the Amazon?

What are the causes and consequences of resource conflict and militarization in the Amazon?

What are the ethical concerns in the controversy over Darkness in El Dorado?

What responsibilities do anthropologists have to the people they study?