Maintenance of agriculture and human habitats within the tropical forest ecosystem

Clarke, William C.

doi:10.1007/bf01534289

Cited by 43 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Although tropical countries are pressing forward in efforts to modernize their agriculture, the physical, technological, and social problems of developing Sustained Yield Tropical Agroecosystems (SYTA) are monumental (Janzen, 1973;Vermeer, 1976). Clarke (1976) and Grandstaff (1978) have addressed specifically the future of the tropical forest as an agroecosystem. Glass and Thurston (1978) and others have emphasized the need to learn from traditional farming methods if locally adapted SYTA are to be created.…”

Section: Final Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

Alcorn

1981

Hum Ecol

112

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Section: Final Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

Alcorn

1981

Hum Ecol

112

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“…Relationships between fallow development, labor, and yields appeared early in the shifting cultivation literature (Nye and Greenland 1960, Boserup 1965, Clarke 1976, although these have not been thoroughly addressed with empirical measurements (Mertz 2002, Nielsen et al 2006, Mertz et al 2008. We provide evidence from local rationales that the reading of the fallow is a major source of information upon which farmers rely to make their decisions in shifting cultivation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers’ rationales

Junqueira¹,

Almekinders²,

Stomph³

et al. 2016

E&S

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. 2016. The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers' rationales. Ecology and Society 21 (1) ABSTRACT. We evaluated farmers' rationales to understand their decision making in relation to the use of fertile anthropogenic soils, i.e., Amazonian dark earths (ADE), and for dealing with changes in shifting cultivation in Central Amazonia. We analyzed qualitative information from 196 interviews with farmers in 21 riverine villages along the Madeira River. In order to decide about crop management options to attain their livelihood objectives, farmers rely on an integrated and dynamic understanding of their biophysical and social environment. Farmers associate fallow development with higher crop yields and lower weed pressure, but ADE is always associated with high yields and high weeding requirements. Amazonian dark earths are also seen as an opportunity to grow different crops and/or grow crops in more intensified management systems. However, farmers often maintain simultaneously intensive swiddens on ADE and extensive swiddens on nonanthropogenic soils. Farmers acknowledge numerous changes in their socioeconomic environment that affect their shifting cultivation systems, particularly their growing interaction with market economies and the incorporation of modern agricultural practices. Farmers considered that shifting cultivation systems on ADE tend to be more prone to changes leading to intensification, and we identified cases, e.g., swiddens used for watermelon cultivation, in which market demand led to overintensification and resulted in ADE degradation. This shows that increasing intensification can be a potential threat to ADE and can undermine the importance of these soils for agricultural production, for the conservation of agrobiodiversity, and for local livelihoods. Given that farmers have an integrated knowledge of their context and respond to socioeconomic and agro-ecological changes in their environment, we argue that understanding farmers' knowledge and rationales is crucial to identify sustainable pathways for the future of ADE and of smallholder agriculture in Amazonia.

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“…In tropical areas, the fertility of cultivated soil is maintained under traditional shifting cultivation but under demographic pressure and the accompanying more intensive land use, the duration of fallow diminishes, leading to a decrease in soil fertility and plant production (Clarke 1976). Many research studies have been conducted in agricultural fields to improve soil fertility and plant growth while limiting the use of mineral fertilisers (Palm et al 2001;Tiessen et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of organic manure and the endogeic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Oligochaeta: Glossoscolecidae) on soil fertility and bean production

Topoliantz¹,

Ponge²,

Arrouays³

et al. 2002

Biology and Fertility of Soils

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A biofertilisation assay was conducted in Maripasoula (French Guiana), testing the effects of three different organic amendments (manioc peels, sawdust and wood charcoal) and the inoculation of the endogeic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus on pod production of Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis and on soil chemical 2 properties (pH, C, N, total and exchangeable P and K). Pod production was highest with manioc peels as available P increased in the soil. Wood charcoal also had a beneficial effect on pod production as it decreased acidity and increased the C:N ratio in the soil. In sawdust-amended soil, pod production did not differ from that in unamended soil. Inoculation of earthworms at a density of 80 sub-adults m-2 did not significantly affect either pod production or soil nutrient content directly, although it increased the positive effect of manioc peels on pod production. Soil nutrient content, pod production and earthworm density at the end of the experiment were negatively correlated with soil moisture and positively with each other. Despite the strong effect of moisture, this assay demonstrated an interaction between the earthworm P. corethrurus and the legume V. unguiculata sesquipedalis mediated by soil nutrient content and organic matter inputs. We conclude that manioc peels improved soil P availability and were an interesting amendment for legume crops. We discuss also the effect of earthworm inoculation.

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Maintenance of agriculture and human habitats within the tropical forest ecosystem

Cited by 43 publications

References 17 publications

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers’ rationales

Effect of organic manure and the endogeic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Oligochaeta: Glossoscolecidae) on soil fertility and bean production

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Maintenance of agriculture and human habitats within the tropical forest ecosystem

Cited by 43 publications

References 17 publications

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

Huastec noncrop resource management: Implications for prehistoric rain forest management

The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers&#8217; rationales

Effect of organic manure and the endogeic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Oligochaeta: Glossoscolecidae) on soil fertility and bean production

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The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers’ rationales