Dr. Oliver T. Coomes

Contact:

Professor
Department of Geography
McGill University,
805 Sherbrooke Street West,
Montreal, QC H3A 2K6
Canada
Email:

Research Papers

Takasaki, Y., O.T. Coomes, C. Abizaid, S. Brisson. 2012. “An efficient nonmarket institution under imperfect markets: labor sharing for tropical forest clearing” (under review).

Caillon, S. and O.T. Coomes. 2012. “Agriculture traditionnelle et fleurs ornementales: un marriage réussi en Amazonie” (under review).

Coomes, O.T., T.R. Moore, J. Paterson, S. Breau, R. Ross and N.T. Roulet. 2012. “Academic performance indicators for departments of geography in the U.S. and Canada” (under review).

Abizaid, C., O.T. Coomes and Y. Takasaki. 2012. “Social network analysis and peasant agriculture: cooperative labor as gendered relational networks” (under review).

Webb, J., O.T. Coomes, N. Mainville and D. Mergler. 2012. “Mercury contamination of fish from rivers affected by oil extraction and deforestation in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon” (under review).

Pautasso, M., Aistara, G., Barnaud,A., Caillon, S.,Clouvel, P., Coomes, O.T., Delêtre, M., Demeulenaere, E., De Santis, P., Döring, T., Eloy, L., Emperaire, L., Garine, E., Goldringer, I., Jarvis, D., Joly, H.I., Leclerc, C., Louafi, S., Martin, P., Massol, F., McGuire, S., McKey, D., Padoch, C., Soler, C., Thomas, M. and Tramontini, S. 2012. "Seed exchange networks in agrobiodiversity conservation: concepts, methods and challenges" Agronomy for Sustainable Development. (in press).

Salonen, M., T. Toivonen, J-M Cohalan and O.T. Coomes. 2012. "Critical distances: comparing measures of spatial accessibility in the riverine landscapes of Peruvian Amazonia". Applied Geography 32: 501-513.

Coomes, O.T., Y. Takasaki and J. Rhemtulla. 2011. "Land-use poverty traps identified in shifting cultivation systems shape long-term tropical forest cover". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (34): 13925-13930.

McSweeney, K. and O. T. Coomes. 2011. “Climate-related disaster opens a window of opportunity for rural poor in northeastern Honduras”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (13): 5203-5208.

Coomes, O.T., Y. Takasaki, C.Abizaid and B.L. Barham 2010. "Flood plain fisheries as natural insurance for the rural poor in tropical forest environments: evidence from Amazonia" Fisheries Management and Ecology 17(6):513-521.

Coomes, O.T., Y. Takasaki, C.Abizaid and B.L. Barham 2010. "Flood plain fisheries as natural insurance for the rural poor in tropical forest environments: evidence from Amazonia" Fisheries Management and Ecology 17(6):513-521.

Coomes, O.T. 2010. "Of stakes, stems and cuttings: the importance of local seed systems in traditional Amazonian societies" The Professional Geographer 62(3): 323-334.

Barona, E. ,N. Ramankutty, G. Hyman and O.T. Coomes. 2010. "Are soya beans or cattle causing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?" Environmental Research Letters 5(2): article. no. 024002.

Maheu-Giroux, M.,Casapia, V.E. Soto-Calle, L. Berrang Ford, D.L. Buckeridge, O.T. Coomes and T.W. Gyorkos. 2010. "Risk of malaria transmission and fish farming in the Peruvian Amazon" Acta Tropica 115(1-2): 112-118.

Takasaki , Y., B.L. Barham and O.T. Coomes. 2010. "Smoothing income against crop flood losses in Amazonia: rain forests or rivers as a safety net?" Review of Development Economics 14(1):48-63.

Coomes, O.T., C. Abizaid and M. Lapointe. 2009. "Human modification of a large meandering Amazonian river: genesis, ecological and economic consequences of the Masisea cutoff on the central Ucayali, Peru" Ambio 38(3):130-134.

Manzi, M. and O.T. Coomes 2009. "Managing Amazonian palms for sustainable use: a case of Moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa) in Peru" Forest Ecology and Management 257(2):510-517.

Coomes, O.T., F. Grimard, C. Potvin and P. Sima. 2008. "The fate of the tropical forest: carbon or cattle? " Ecological Economics 65(2):207-212.

Moreau, M.A. and O.T. Coomes. 2008. "Structure and organisation of a small-scale fisheries: aquarium fish collection in western Amazonia" Human Ecology 36(3):309-323.

Perrault-Archambault, M. and O.T. Coomes. 2008. "Distribution of agrobiodiversity in home gardens along the Corrientes river, Peruvian Amazon" Economic Botany 62(2):109-126.

Potvin, C., O.T. Coomes and F. Grimard. 2007. "Will RED work where it should?", Science (E-letter) www.sciencemag.org/cgi/eletters/316/5827/985?ck=nck

Tschakert, P., O.T. Coomes and C. Potvin. 2007. "Slash-and-burn agriculture, carbon stocks, and indigenous livelihoods in eastern Panama" Ecological Economics 60:807-820.

Moreau, M.A. and O.T. Coomes. 2007. "Aquarium fish exploitation in western Amazonia: conservation issues in Peru" Environmental Conservation 34(1):12-22.

Moreau, M.A. and O.T. Coomes. 2006. "Potential threat of the international aquarium fish trade to silver arawana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) in the Peruvian Amazon" Oryx 40(2): 1-9.

Coomes, O.T. 2006. "Biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation: a comment for discussion", Proceedings of the International Conference on Biodiversity, Science and Governance, Paris, January 24-25, 2005, 3 pp.

Chhabra, A., H. Geist, R.A. Houghton, H. Haberl, A.K. Braimoh, P.L.G. Vlek, J. Patz, J. Xu, N. Ramankutty, O. Coomes and E. F. Lambin. 2006. "Multiple impacts of land-use/cover change". In: Land-use and Land-Cover Change: Local Processes and Global Impacts. E.F. Lambin and H.J. Geist (eds), Global Change - The IGBP Series, Springer, Berlin, pp. 71-116.

Rudel,T.K., O.T. Coomes, E. Moran, F. Achard, A. Angelsen, J. Xu, and E. Lambin. 2005. "The forest transition: towards a global understanding of land cover change" Global Environmental Change 15:23-31.

Barham, B.L. and O.T. Coomes. 2005. "Sunk costs, extractive industries, and development outcomes". In: Nature, Raw Materials and Political Economy. D. Smith and P. Ciccantell (eds.) Elsevier Ltd ( Oxford) pp.159-186.

Ban, N. and O.T. Coomes. 2004. "Amazonian home gardens: cultivated plant diversity and household exchange of planting material" The Geographical Review 94(3):348-367.

Coomes, O.T. 2004. "Rain forest 'conservation-through-use' ? Chambira fibre extraction and handicraft production in a land-constrained community, Peruvian Amazon", Biodiversity and Conservation 13(2): 351-360.

Abizaid, C. and O.T. Coomes. 2004. "Land use and forest fallowing dynamics in seasonally dry tropical forest in the southern Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico" Land Use Policy 21(1):71-84.

Takasaki , Y., B.L. Barham and O.T. Coomes. 2004. "Risk coping strategies in tropical forests: floods, illness, and resource extraction", Environment and Development Economics 9(2):203-224.

Coomes, O.T. 2004. "Paleoriverine features of the Amazon lowlands: human use of the ' arena negra' soils of Lake Charo, Northeastern Peru", In: Explorations in Amazonian Dark Earths. B.Glaser and W.I. Woods(eds.) Springer Verlag, Heidleberg, pp.53-65.

Coomes, O.T., B.L. Barham and Y. Takasaki. 2004. "Targeting conservation-development initiatives in tropical forests: insights from analyses of rain forest use and economic reliance among Amazonian peasants" Ecological Economics 51(1&2): 47-64.

Coomes, O.T. and N. Ban. 2004. "Cultivated plant diversity in home gardens of an Amazonian peasant Village, northeastern Peru” Economic Botany 58(3): 420-434.

Manzi, M. and O.T. Coomes. 2003. "Cormorant fishing in southwest China: a traditional fishery under siege" The Geographical Review 92(4):597-603

Coomes, O.T. 2003. Brookfield, H. 2001. "Exploring agrodiversity". Columbia University Press, New York, USA, Conservation Ecology 7(1): 4 [on line] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol7/iss1/art4.

Coomes, O.T. and G.J. Burt. 2001. "Peasant charcoal production in the Peruvian Amazon: rain forest use and economic reliance" Forest Ecology and Management 140:39-50.

Takasaki, Y., B.L. Barham and O.T. Coomes. 2001. "Amazonian peasants, rain forest use, and income generation: the role of wealth and geographical factors" Society and Natural Resources 14:291-308.

Lambin, E.F., B.L. Turner II, H.J. Geist, S.B. Agbola, A. Angelsen, J.W. Bruce, O.T. Coomes et al.. 2001. "The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths" Global Environmental Change 11:47-59.

Coomes, O.T. and B.L. Barham. 2001. "La extracción forestal y conservación del bosque humedo en la Amazonía" In: Desarrollo Sostenible en la Amazonía: ¿Mito o Realidad? M. Hiraoka and S. Mora (eds). Editorial Abya-Yala, Quito, pp. 47-59.

Coomes, O.T., F.Grimard, and G.J. Burt, 2000. "Tropical forests and shifting cultivation: secondary forest fallow dynamics among traditional farmers of the Peruvian Amazon". Ecological Economics 32(1):109-124.

Takasaki, Y., B.L. Barham and O.T. Coomes. 2000. "Rural rapid appraisal in humid tropical forests: An asset possession-based approach and validation methods for wealth assessment among forest peasant households" World Development 28(11): 1961-1977.

Takasaki, Y., B.L. Barham and O.T. Coomes. 2000."Dynamic analysis of wealth accumulation and activity choice among Amazonian peasants" . Staff Paper No.434, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Barham, B.L., O.T. Coomes and Y. Takasaki, 1999. "Rain forest livelihoods: income generation, household wealth and forest use". Unasylva 50(198):34-42 (Also published in French and Spanish).

Coomes, O.T. 1998. "Traditional peasant agriculture along a blackwater river of the Peruvian Amazon." Revista Geográfica (No. 124:33-35).

Barham, B.L., J-P. Chavas, and O.T. Coomes. 1998. "Sunk costs and the natural resource extraction sector: Analytical models and historical examples of hysteresis and strategic behavior in the Americas." Land Economics 74(4): 429-448.

Coomes, O.T., B.L. Barham, K. Chanthaboune, and Y. Takasaki. 1998. "Household demographics and natural resource use in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, northeastern Peruvian Amazon". Paper presented on September 24th to the XXI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Chicago, IL., USA.

Coomes, O.T. and B.L. Barham. 1997. "Rain forest extraction and conservation in Amazonia" The Geographical Journal 163(2): 180-188.

Coomes, O.T. and G.J. Burt. 1997. Indigenous market-oriented agroforestry: Dissecting local diversity in western Amazonia. Agroforestry Systems 37(1): 27-44.

Coomes, O.T., B.L. Barham and B. Craig. 1996. Uso de recursos por los ribereños en la Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria: Datos de una encuesta reciente e implicaciones para el manejo del area protegida, Espacio y Desarrollo no. 8 (Centro de Investigacion en Geografia Aplicada, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, Lima), pp. 5-32.

Coomes, O.T., B.L. Barham, and B. Craig, 1996. "Resource extraction and the forest peasant household: Results of analyses of IIAP data from the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve". Working Paper prepared for The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA., 38 pp.

Coomes, O.T. 1996. "State credit programs and the peasantry under populist regimes: Lessons from the APRA experience in the Peruvian Amazon" World Development 24(8): 1333-1346.

Coomes, O.T. 1996. "Income formation among Amazonian peasant households in northeastern Peru: Empirical observations & implications for market-oriented conservation" Yearbook, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers 22: 51-64.

Coomes, O.T. 1995. "A century of rain forest use in western Amazonia: Lessons for extraction-based conservation of tropical forest resources" Forest and Conservation History 39(3): 108-120.

Coomes, O.T., 1995. "From blackwater to whitewater river: Initial observations on peasant livelihood responses to fluvio-geomorphological change in western Amazonia". Presented on February 10 to The Centre for Society, Technology, and Development, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Coomes, O.T., 1995. "Indigenous agroforestry and relic riverine features in the Amazon River lowlands: The case of the yarinales of Esperanza, NE Peru". Presented on March 11th to the 91st Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Barham, B., O. Coomes, B. Craig and P. Tarasoff, 1995. "Wealth and the forest peasant household: Evidence from the Tahuayo and the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve". Working Paper prepared for The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA., 26 pp.

Coomes, O.T., 1994. "Ayudando a los campesinos? Populismo agrario en la Amazonia Peruana: Lecciones apprendidas" In: Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Sostenible de la Amazonia en una Economia de Mercado. José, M. Toledo (ed.), Proceedings of Seminar - Workshop held at Pucallpa, Peru, October 11-15, 1994, Lima, pp.139-153.

Barham, B.L. and O.T. Coomes, 1994. "Wild rubber: industrial organisation and microeconomics of extraction during the Amazon rubber boom (1860-1920) " Journal of Latin American Studies 29(1): 37-72.

Coomes, O.T. and B.L. Barham, 1994. "The Amazon rubber boom: labor control, resistance, and failed plantation development revisited" Hispanic American Historical Review 72(2): 231-257.

Barham, B.L. and O.T. Coomes, 1994. "Reinterpreting the Amazon rubber boom: investment and the role of the state" Latin American Research Review 29(2): 73-109.

Coomes, O.T., 1992. "Blackwater rivers, adaptation, and environmental heterogeneity in Amazonia" American Anthropologist 94(3): 698-700.

Coomes, O.T., 1992. "Making a living in the Amazon rain forest: Peasant, land and economy in the Tahuayo river basin of northeastern Peru". Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 450 pp.