Human-Environmental Interactions in the Mediterranean Basin

As a center of agricultural invention and a major route for the spread of early agriculture, the Mediterranean Basin has long been an area of research for those interested in the modification of the landscape by humans. Yet even before the arrival of agriculture, humans played an active role in transforming the Mediterranean Basin for millennia. Recent research challenges the notion of pristine, balanced, or stable social-ecological systems in the past by investigating 1) recursive relationships between humans and ecosystems, 2) humans as actors in complex, non-equilibrium systems influenced by a variety of human and non-human drivers, and 3) long-term social and ecological change. Because the Mediterranean Basin represents a diverse range of cultures, adaptations, and interactions, it serves as a useful laboratory for a wide range of techniques and regionally centered research. This session showcases multiple perspectives used to tease apart the impacts and repercussions that occur within the dialectic relationship between humans and their surroundings. Our efforts will focus upon new computation methods, including agent-based simulation, geographical information systems (GIS), network analysis, climate modeling, and the integration of these techniques to address questions centered in the Mediterranean Basin.