Lacandon Maya forest management: Restoration of soil fertility using native tree species

Diemont, Stewart A.W.; Martin, Jay F.; Levy-Tacher, Samuel I.; Nigh, Ronald; López, P.; Golicher, John Duncan

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2005.10.012

Cited by 73 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Similar findings have been made in the Western Ghats, India, where the diversity of trees, birds and macro fungi is as high in managed landscapes as it is in formal protected areas (Bhagwat et al, 2005). In Mexico, the Lacandon Maya practice a form of agroforestry that maintains soil fertility and reduces deforestation by improving fallow in agricultural areas (Diemont et al, 2006). In Veracruz, studies have highlighted the biodiversity benefits of shaded coffee plantations.…”

Section: Multi-functional Land Use and Biodiversity Conservationsupporting

confidence: 59%

Local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from Oaxaca, southern Mexico

Robson

2007

IJSD

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Large areas of Oaxaca, southern Mexico, exhibit high biodiversity in the absence of official protected areas. This paper discusses some of the key mechanisms and practices employed by local communities to help conserve their forest resources. The findings suggest that learning from local resource management systems should become an important component of future conservation planning in Mexico. This will require conservationists and the wider public to consider local communities to be a necessary part of territorial and ecological processes and, in some instances, to give them a greater role in biodiversity conservation and stewardship of the country's forest commons. However, such a shift in thinking is unlikely to occur until more research is carried out to determine the specific impacts of these land-use systems on biodiversity and ecological integrity.

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Section: Multi-functional Land Use and Biodiversity Conservationsupporting

confidence: 59%

Local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from Oaxaca, southern Mexico

Robson

2007

IJSD

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“…Economic and environmental benefits offered by the Taungya system contribute significantly to livelihoods increasing the net present value to more than ten times compared to systems with only trees (Kalame et al, 2011); Taungya improve survival and growth of trees (Chamshama et al, 1992;Imo, 2009), improves the nutrient uptake by maize through the effect of weed reduction (Chamshama et al, 1992;Jordan et al, 1992); the temporary abandonment of the crop period favors desirable successional effects for vegetation restoration (Quintana Ascencio et al, 1996;Gehring et al, 2005;Vieira et al, 2009;Diemont & Martin, 2009;Chazdon, 2014); and increases the carbon sequestration capacity (Roncal-García et al, 2008;Soto-Pinto et al, 2010). In Mayan system Lacandon milpa more than 30 tree species have been recognized as potential facilitators of forest regeneration; the trees Ochroma pyramidale and Sapium lateriflorum have been demonstrated to improve soil organic matter accumulation and phosphorus concentration, respectively (Diemont et al, 2006. Ochroma pyramidale has also demonstrated its potential as facilitator in the restoration of degraded tropical forest areas (Douterlungne et al, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Changes in Agroecosystem Structure and Function Along a Chronosequence of Taungya System in Chiapas, Mexico

Pinto¹,

Armijo-Florentino²

2014

JAS

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The shifting cultivation system was widely used in the past; however in recent times it is no longer sustainable. In Mexico, a group of Mayan farmers established Taungya system (Ixim'te) as alternative to shifting cultivation. The system consists of the rotational association of crops with cultivated and spontaneous timber trees. The aim was to evaluate the changes in ecological structure and functions, and economic value along a chronosequence of 2 to 13 years. Twenty farmer's plots were selected. In each plot, structure, function and economic indicators were evaluated. Along the chronosequence cultivated trees (Cedrela odorata, Swietenia macrophyla, Tabebuia rosea, Cordia alliodora and Enterolobium cyclocarpum) mixed with crops and spontaneous trees, forming a sort of diverse garden containing 75 plant species. Tree diameter, tree height, total biomass, carbon stock, timber volume, timber value and present value significantly increased along the chronosequence. Two harvests of maize and beans were obtained yearly. According to interviews in the early years maize and beans yielded about 2400 kg and 600 kg ha -1 , respectively, maize was reduced with each crop cycle at a rate of approximately 280 kg ha -1 yr -1 , no reductions for bean yield were reported. The number of woody species per 500 m 2 -sampling area showed a minimum of 4 species on the first years and a maximum of 34 species on the last years. At years 11-13 carbon aboveground stock averaged 45.4 Mg C ha -1 and stored 3.9 Mg C ha -1 Year -1 . The timber volume reached 110.7 m 3 ha -1 ; the timber value was estimated in 4261.7 USD ha -1 and the present value in 5665.7 USD ha -1. Most of the plots presented low levels of soil nitrogen and phosphorus. The studied system increased in complexity, productivity, carbon stocks, and economic value. However, this system may require inputs in organic matter in order to restore soil nitrogen and phosphorus.

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“…Although it has been argued that indigenous persons may not always be acting sustainably (Diamond, 2005), none (0/32) of the articles from Phase 2 suggested that the indigenous strategies are or were unsustainable. More than half (56.3%) of the Phase 2 sources included practices that the authors themselves considered sustainable, although 43.8% of authors did not solicit any sort of opinion on the topic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to western sciences and epistemologies, indigenous knowledge relies strongly on intuition, directly perceivable evidence, and an accumulation of historical experiences (Farrington & Martin, 1998) acquired through learning-by-doing, or knowledge-building through experimentation (Berkes & Berkes, 2009). Often-times, existing indigenous engineering strategies have proven to be environmentally sustainable (Apffel-Marglin, 1998;Diemont et al, 2006;Herrmann, 2005) and although the explicit notion of sustainability may be absent, implicitly, sustainability concerns are commonly present in the broader holistic worldview of the indigenous people (Blaser, Feit, & McRae, 2004;Loomis, 2000).…”

Section: Theory and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Ways of Doing: Synthesizing the Literature on Ethno-Engineering

Hess

2013

IJESJP

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This paper synthesizes the literature on indigenous ways of doing or what we call ethno-engineering. Western literature on indigenous knowledge is expansive, yet a deliberate focal point and explicit conceptualizations on ethno-engineering in indigenous literature are slim. In this paper, we have collected scholarly literature on indigenous knowledge and synthesized articles specifically on ethnoengineering. We have exemplified this literature with several published case studies in order to contrast indigenous-engineering with Western-engineering. Our literature review methods proceeded in two phases. During the first phase we accumulated relevant sources (N=89), compiled these in a database, and coded them with an eight-item framework. In the second phase, we sampled literature from the initial database (N=32) and coded these items more extensively using an inductively developed coding scheme. In addition, this paper includes four case studies highlighting indigenous engineering practices and associated principles. Our intent was to contribute to a starting conversation on indigenous engineering, bringing it to the forefront of social justice engineering discourse. KEYWORDS: engineering, indigenous knowledge, ethno-engineeringDisclaimer: This paper was written by two authors 1 who grew up in the developed part of the Western world with experience in different countries and cultures within the developed Western world and to a limited extent in the southern hemisphere world. One of the authors brings with him an academic background in engineering. The other author brings a background in education and Religious Studies, a field of study concerned with the cultural phenomenon of religion, not the doctrine of a particular religion. Both received academic training in philosophy. The frame of reference for this paper is mixed as it draws from the literature of the social justice and engineering reform movement within the United States and from literature, which originated on an international level such as UNESCO and locally at different places around the world. We are cognizant that our backgrounds impact how we frame this paper and do not presume to have escaped them; we attempt to reflect at our personal and professional mindsets, along with our own cultures' presumptions about indigenous cultures. Our focus on indigenous knowledge could be perceived as a secondary form of colonialism, this time robbing the cultures of their knowledge and innovative processes. For us, by looking at what we can learn from indigenous cultures we attempt to de facto reverse existing prescribed roles making us, as "Westerners," the listeners and learners in this situation. While our approach and mindsets might be interpreted as naïve, we argue that they are respectful, as we are explicitly conscious that our own cultural norms, including our research approach, may not do justice to other cultures, and our findings are at best approximations.

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Lacandon Maya forest management: Restoration of soil fertility using native tree species

Cited by 73 publications

References 41 publications

Local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from Oaxaca, southern Mexico

Local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from Oaxaca, southern Mexico

Changes in Agroecosystem Structure and Function Along a Chronosequence of Taungya System in Chiapas, Mexico

Indigenous Ways of Doing: Synthesizing the Literature on Ethno-Engineering

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