Agricultural Land
Live Fences and Landscape Connectivity in a Neotropical Agricultural LandscapeBackgroundThis article describes the role and importance of live fences in the tropical regions of Central America. The study site covered an area of 4483ha and is located in a wet tropical forest zone in the Province of Heredia, Costa Rica. The landscape is dominated by cattle pasture and possesses a small, fragmented and homogenous structure with small patches of forests. Open access copy available |
The Political, Social, and Ecological Transformation of a LandscapeBackgroundIn 1951 the Chinese Government issued the Decision on Cultivating Rubber Trees, which resulted in the establishment of large-scale rubber plantations in the tropical regions of China, including Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. These rubber plantations, worked by relocated Han Chinese, were a manifestation of state power on the landscape. Open access copy available |
Forest Cover and Deforestation Patterns in the Northern Andes (Lake Maracaibo Basin): A Synoptic Assessment using MODIS and Landsat ImageryBackgroundSouth America has the highest deforestation rates in the tropics. Yet, the science is often questioned when determining these rates. For example, Venezuela, which has the second highest rate in the region, produces government reports on deforestation that are continually questioned by third parties. This paper stresses the need for more accurate and consistent data on forest cover and greenhouse gase emissions from deforestation. Available with subscription or purchase |
Farmer Strategies for Dealing with Climatic Variability: A Case Study from the Mixteca Alta Region of Oaxaca, MexicobackgroundClimate change is likely to disproportionally effect tropical regions. Yet effective adaptation requires an understanding of climate variability at specific locations and most data is regional. This is particularly true for small-scale farmers, who are highly vulnerable. This paper calls for a bridging of scientific and traditional knowledge in order to construct this location-specific understanding. This article discusses participatory research in the mixteca alta region of oaxaca, mexico that facilitated a process whereby farmers evaluated the ability of their agroecosystems to withstand the vagaries of climate. Open access copy available |
Kayonza Irrigation and Integrated Watershed Management Project - Phase IBackgroundIn 2016, the Eastern Province of Rwanda was dramatically hit by a drought, which brough additional burdens to already existing systematic challenges that farmers in the region faced. More thatn 45,000 individuals became food insecure in the region, forcing the government to provide food and water. To mitigate future water-related calamities, the government proposes the Kayonza Irrigation and Integrated Watershed Management Project (KIIWMP). Open access copy available |
Reserva Encenillo, Fundacion Natura, ColombiaThis reserve is located in high montane forest of the Colombia Andes, designed to protect the locally important forest tree Weinmanniatomentosa (Encenillo in Spanish). The total size of the reserve is 135 ha of forest, and serves as a forest corridor in a matrix of pasture, potato, and remnant forest landscape. Approximately 2-3 ha of degraded pasture were planted with Alnus acuminata in 2007. Alnus is planted in rows with approximately 3 meter spacing. Trees average mean annual increment is 1.35 cm at breast height, which is an average growth for the region; however, many trees had multiple stems, so total biomass is even larger. Open access copy available |
Clean Development Mechanism - Reforestation Projects, San Nicholas and Chinchina, ColombiabackgroundThe CDM permits these projects to generate carbon credits based on the amount of carbon sequestered in trees that will be planted on private land currently used for agriculture. Goals & approachThese two projects plan to use the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol to sell carbon credits via reforestation and afforestation. Open access copy available |
Uses, Management and Economic Potential of Garcinia kola and Ricinodendron heudelotii in the humid lowlands of CameroonBackgroundThis article describes two common fruit and medicinal trees (non-timber) that grow in secondary forests in the lowlands of Cameroon. The trees are found to have a mixed effect in an agroforestry environment; sometimes they improve crop production, sometimes they do not. Fruit are consumed by families and sold in markets. Open access copy available |
Tree species effects on soil properties in experimental plantations in tropical moist forestBackgroundForest soil properties are influenced by the complex interactions of vegetation, soil type, geology, management, and climactic patterns. Tree species can differ in their long-term effects on soils. This study resamples one of the earliest replicated experimental sites at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, used to examine the effects of native tropical tree species on soil properties, to examine longer term effects on soil properties. Open access copy available |
Caracterización del conocimiento local del componente arbóreo en fincas ganaderas (Characterization of the local knowledge of the tree component in cattle farms)EspañolantecedentesLa producción ganadera es una de las principales económicas en la Municipalidad de Pupiales en Colombia, donde participan alrededor de 950 productores. La información relacionada a los sistemas de producción no ha sido sistematizada con frecuencia, sin embargo es de gran importancia para los procesos de investigación y de toma de decisiones. Open access copy available |
