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Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
JournalArticle (Originalarbeit in einer wissenschaftlichen Zeitschrift)
 
ID 4506923
Author(s) Boles, Oliver J.C.; Shoemaker, Anna; Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J.; Petek, Nik; Ekblom, Anneli; Lane, Paul J.
Author(s) at UniBasel Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin
Year 2019
Title Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
Journal Human ecology
Volume 47
Number 3
Pages / Article-Number 419-434
Keywords Historical ecology, Compression effects, Rangeland management, Pastoralist mobility strategies, Eastern Africa, Kenya
Abstract The spectre of 'overgrazing' looms large in historical and political narratives of ecological degradation in savannah ecosystems. While pastoral exploitation is a conspicuous driver of landscape variability and modification, assumptions that such change is inevitable or necessarily negative deserve to be continuously evaluated and challenged. With reference to three case studies from Kenya - the Laikipia Plateau, the Lake Baringo basin, and the Amboseli ecosystem - we argue that the impacts of pastoralism are contingent on the diachronic interactions of locally specific environmental, political, and cultural conditions. The impacts of the compression of rangelands and restrictions on herd mobility driven by misguided conservation and economic policies are emphasised over outdated notions of pastoralist inefficiency. We review the application of 'overgrazing' in interpretations of the archaeological record and assess its relevance for how we interpret past socio-environmental dynamics. Any discussion of overgrazing, or any form of human-environment interaction, must acknowledge spatio-temporal context and account for historical variability in landscape ontogenies.
Publisher Springer
ISSN/ISBN 0300-7839 ; 1572-9915
URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-019-0072-9
edoc-URL https://edoc.unibas.ch/71730/
Full Text on edoc Available
Digital Object Identifier DOI 10.1007/s10745-019-0072-9
ISI-Number WOS:000475981900009
Document type (ISI) Article
 
   

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