Modelos de interacción humano-ambiental: el enfoque de la Biocomplejidad

Models of human-nature interactions: the Biocomplexity approach. We study coupled human-natural systems across sites and cultures building simulation models in four sites that include protected areas; two in Texas (USA) and two in Venezuela. In the Texas sites, forests are being converted legally to urban spaces of residential, commercial and industrial use, while in Venezuela forests are extra-legally clear-cut for subsistence agriculture. Modern modeling techniques facilitate the study of human decisions and ecosystem dynamics and can reveal unexpected patterns. Such couplings of human and natural systems are recognized as a form of biocomplexity. Our methodology is flexible to allow adaptations to the diverse study sites, capturing the essential characteristics of the changes in land use and cover and the effects on natural systems and human decisions. Human interactions are simulated using muti-agent models that act on models of forest landscape and perceive the response of these actions in the form of changes in habitat and hydrological dynamics.