The Maya milpa: fire and the legacy of living soil
The Maya milpa: fire and the legacy of living soil
复制标题
玛雅米尔帕：火与活土的遗产
DOI：
10.1890/120344
复制
发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
10.3
通讯作者：
Stewart A. W. Diemont
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Nigh;Stewart A. W. Diemont
Swidden是一种农林复合系统，其中木本植被在一年一熟后再生。与热带世界的大多数森林地区有关，swidden经常被指责为森林砍伐，但它也在森林保护中发挥作用。在这里，我们研究了当代的米尔帕，一种在拉丁美洲常见的刀耕火种的农业，历史上被墨西哥南部和中美洲北方低地的玛雅人使用;我们特别关注一个群体，恰帕斯州的Lakandon人。米尔帕农业的一个受到相当多批评的元素是在清理后焚烧砍伐的植被。火灾可能对生态系统产生负面影响，但毁林耕种者往往是火灾的老练管理者。在这种环境中使用火的好处之一是它以生物炭（农业低温热解产生的木炭）的形式对营养流动和长期土壤肥力做出贡献。如果管理得当，米尔帕循环可以导致长期的碳固存和日益肥沃的人类土壤（土壤已被长期人类活动大大改变）和丰富的林地植被。
Swidden is an agroforestry system in which woody vegetation is regenerated after a period of annual cropping. Associated with most forested areas of the tropical world, swidden is often blamed for deforestation but it also plays a role in forest conservation. Here, we examine the contemporary milpa, a type of swidden agriculture common to Latin America and historically used by the Maya people of the lowlands of southern Mexico and northern Central America; we focus on one group in particular, the Lakandon people of Chiapas. One element of milpa agriculture that receives a considerable amount of criticism is the burning of cut vegetation after clearing. Fire can have negative effects on ecosystems but swidden cultivators are often sophisticated managers of fire. Among the benefits of fire use in this setting is its contribution to nutrient flow and to long-term soil fertility in the form of biochar, charcoal produced by low-temperature pyrolysis in agriculture. When properly managed, the milpa cycle can result in long-term carbon sequestration and an increasingly fertile anthrosol (soil that has been greatly modified by long-term human activity) and enriched woodland vegetation.