Identifying Ancient Settlement Patterns through LiDAR in the Mosquitia Region of Honduras

The Mosquitia ecosystem of Honduras occupies the fulcrum between the American continents and as such constitutes a critical region for understanding past patterns of socio-political development and interaction. Heavy vegetation, rugged topography, and remoteness have limited scientific investigation. This paper presents prehistoric patterns of settlement and landuse for a critical valley within the Mosquitia derived from airborne LiDAR scanning and field investigation. We show that (i) though today the valley is a wilderness it was densely inhabited in the past; (ii) that this population was organized into a three-tiered system composed of 19 settlements dominated by a city; and, (iii) that this occupation was embedded within a human engineered landscape. We also add to a growing body of literature that demonstrates the utility of LiDAR as means for rapid cultural assessments in undocumented regions for analysis and conservation. Our ultimate hope is for our work to promote protections to safeguard the unique and critically endangered Mosquitia ecosystem and other similar areas in need of preservation

Catalyzing Transformations to Sustainability in the World's Mountains

Mountain social‐ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence‐oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence‐ to market‐oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross‐scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross‐scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade‐offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security

Toward Transforming the Approach to Natural Resource Management in Northern Vietnam

This chapter is an overview of the contents of this volume on transforming approaches to natural resources management in northern Vietnam. The uplands of northern Vietnam have seen drastic changes in management strategies and responses by local groups to these strategies since the mid-1980s when doi moi, renovation of the economy and society, started. The chapter documents some of the major changes that have taken place, as well some of the responses by local communities to these changes

Navigating complexities and management prospects of natural resources in Northern Vietnam

Vietnam is a country with high levels of biodiversity, a large and growing population, and experiencing rapid transformations from a developing country to a mid-level economy. This chapter looks at the complexities of managing natural resources and development in northern Vietnam with specific reference to issues related to climate change and the renovation of Vietnam’s economy over the past 30 years. The chapter draws from the other chapters in this volume to discuss the challenges related to forestland allocation policies, governance of natural resources, intricacies of payment for environmental services, and ends by discussing some of the issues regarding the analysis of these situations in the complex socioecological systems that are found in the lowlands, midlands, and uplands of northern Vietnam. Recommendations based on the findings of the chapters in this volume are made with specific focus on improving the management of the natural resources base

Data associated with Significant floodplain soil organic carbon along a large high latitude river and its tributaries

The dataset describes floodplain soil samples taken from the Yukon Flats region in interior Alaska, which were analyzed for organic carbon stocks. These data were collected in the Yukon Flats Region during Summer 2014 and Summer 2015, and lab work was completed from 2014-2017.High-latitude permafrost regions store large amounts of organic carbon (OC) in soils, and these stocks are vulnerable to climate warming. Estimates of subsurface carbon stocks do not take into account floodplains as unique landscape units that mediate and influence the delivery of materials into river networks. We present estimated floodplain soil OC stocks within the active layer (seasonally thawed layer) and within the top 1 m of the subsurface from a large field dataset in the Yukon Flats region of interior Alaska. We compare our estimated stocks to a previously published dataset, and find that the OC stock estimate using our field data is approximately 80% higher than the published dataset. We constrain the residence time of floodplain sediment and OC using radiocarbon dating. Our results indicate the importance of floodplains as areas of underestimated carbon storage, particularly because climate change may modify geomorphic processes in permafrost regions.National Science Foundation (NSF) DGE-1321845; National Geographic Society 9449-14; Geological Society of America (GSA); American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section; Colorado State University Warner College of Natural Resources and Department of Geosciences; US Fish and Wildlife Service Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and Alaska Division of Refuges; P.E.O. International