A sustainable system of a traditional precision agriculture in a Maya homegarden: Soil quality aspects

Flores-Delgadillo, Lourdes; Fedick, Scott L.; Solleiro‐Rebolledo, Elizabeth; Palacios-Mayorga, S.; Ortega-Larrocea, María del Pilar; Sedov, Sergey; Osuna-Ceja, Esteban Salvador

doi:10.1016/j.still.2011.03.001

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Human activities redistribute and concentrate P derived from human and animal excretions, bones and plant remains that are reworked into sediments and soils (Arrhenius, 1963;Cook and Heizer, 1965;Deevey et al, 1979;Eidt, 1977;Gale et al, 2004;Gale and Kardin, 2005;Gale and Hoare, 2011). Ethnographic and anthropological studies in the Maya world suggest that a number of specific human activities may leave measurable P signals in soils, including the establishment of home gardens (Flores-Delgadillo et al, 2011) and the generation of terra preta and mulata, animal pens (Barba and Lazos, 2000) and craft manufacture (Wells, 2004). Although some have interpreted elevated soil P in archaeological contexts as evidence of former cooking and living areas (e.g., from Mehlichextractable P data, Parnell et al, 2002a: 386), earlier work by Middleton and Price (1996) (using Total soil P data) found little evidence of elevated soil P from modern Maya household activities.…”

Section: Geochemical Markers In Mayasolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Beach

Luzzadder–Beach

Cook

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

138

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a b s t r a c tThe measure of the "Mayacene," a microcosm of the Early Anthropocene that occurred from c. 3000 to 1000 BP, comes from multiple Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental records. We synthesized the evidence for Maya impacts on climate, vegetation, hydrology and the lithosphere, from studies of soils, lakes, floodplains, wetlands and other ecosystems. Maya civilization had likely altered local to regional ecosystems and hydrology by the Preclassic Period (3000-1700 BP), but these impacts waned by 1000 BP. They altered ecosystems with vast urban and rural infrastructure that included thousands of reservoirs, wetland fields and canals, terraces, field ridges, and temples. Although there is abundant evidence that indicates the Maya altered their forests, even at the large urban complex of Tikal as much as 40% of the forest remained intact through the Classic period. Existing forests are still influenced by ancient Maya forest gardening, particularly by the large expanses of ancient stone structures, terraces, and wetland fields that form their substrates. A few studies suggest deforestation and other land uses probably also warmed and dried regional climate by the Classic Period (1700-1100 BP). A much larger body of research documents the Maya impacts on hydrology, in the form of dams, reservoirs, canals, eroded soils and urban design for runoff. Another metric of the "Mayacene" are paleosols, which contain chemical evidence for human occupation, revealed by high phosphorus concentrations and carbon isotope ratios of C 4 species like maize in the C 3 edominated tropical forest ecosystem. Paleosol sequences exhibit "Maya Clays," a facies that reflects a glut of rapidly eroded sediments that overlie pre-Maya paleosols. This stratigraphy is conspicuous in many dated soil profiles and marks the large-scale Maya transformation of the landscape in the Preclassic and Classic periods. Some of these also have increased phosphorous and carbon isotope evidence of C 4 species. We synthesize and provide new evidence of Maya-period soil strata that show elevated carbon isotope ratios (d 13 C), indicating the presence of C 4 species in typical agricultural sites. This is often the case in ancient Maya wetland systems, which also have abundant evidence for the presence of several other economic plant species. The "Mayacene" of c. 3000 to 1000 BP was thus a patchwork of cities, villages, roads, urban heat islands, intensive and extensive farmsteads, forests and orchards. Today, forests and wetlands cover much of the Maya area but like so many places, these are now under the onslaught of the deforestation, draining, and plowing of the present Anthropocene.

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Section: Geochemical Markers In Mayasolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Beach

Luzzadder–Beach

Cook

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

138

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“…These advantages of traditional agriculture have attracted research interests from scientists in some countries. Literature shows that conservation for traditional agriculture has been conducted by scientists across the world [16][17][18][19][20]. The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2002 is an important symbol, that the international society attached importance to the protection of traditional agriculture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Conservation Approach of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS): Improving Traditional Agricultural Patterns and Promoting Scale-Production

Zhang

Min

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:Heritage conservation is an important recurring research theme on agricultural heritage systems. Improving the income of farmers from agriculture is regarded as an effective conservation approach. This study examined how the improved rice-fish-duck coculture (IRFDC) promotes the protection of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System (HHRTS) by keeping farmers farming in their hometowns. A semi-structural interview and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data on agricultural input-outputs and household employment in HHRTS. As a result, a fairly large proportion of HHRTS rice terraces were used for the hybrid rice monoculture (HRM) with chemical inputs, and most of these rice terraces were wasted for half a year on account of being left unused; the IRFDC requires considerable time input for farming and breeding, but barely needs any chemical inputs. IRFDC entails a higher cost than HRM, but also has a higher return than HRM. Driving a family to do full-time farming requires extra more than 0.71 ha rice terraces for IRFDC. In conclusion, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHSs) can be used for protecting terraces from abandonment and destruction by improving agricultural economic benefits for farmers. At present, a shortage of laborers in HHRTS sites is false. Agricultural heritage sites do not actual need so many people if peasant households can do large-scale farming.

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“…The planted homegarden causes the land to remain permeable so that it effectively plays a role in maintaining the local hydrological system (Mazarolli, 2011). Homegarden land has good quality for transportation of air, heat, water and, solutes (Flores-Delgadillo et al, 2011). Thus in the homegarden, various important ecological processes take place where the ecological processes in the homegarden will affect the larger ecosystem.…”

Section: Figure 1 Benefits Of Plants In Jenggolo Homegardenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Services Of Home Garden For Rural Household: A Case Study Of Jenggolo Village Malang Regency

Nurlaelih

Hakim

Rachmansyah

et al. 2019

AGRISE

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The homegarden is a micro-scale landscape where interactions between humans and their environment intensively. One form of interaction is in the form of benefits provided by the homegarden in the form of ecosystem services. This study aims to explore the landscape services of the homegarden in Jenggolo Village, which are one of the villages that is part of a rice barn in Malang Regency. Data were collected by observation and semi-structured interviews. The results of the study indicate that the homegarden provides complete ecosystem services including provisioningservices, regulation services, and cultureservices. Provisioning services for food and cultural services are important homegarden services for the household of Jenggolo Village, the majority of whom work as farmers and still cling to Javanese traditional culture. Awareness of the community towards the ecosystem services is one of the bases in determining a strategy for managing sustainable landscapes appropriately.

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A sustainable system of a traditional precision agriculture in a Maya homegarden: Soil quality aspects

Cited by 34 publications

References 24 publications

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

A Conservation Approach of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS): Improving Traditional Agricultural Patterns and Promoting Scale-Production

Landscape Services Of Home Garden For Rural Household: A Case Study Of Jenggolo Village Malang Regency

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