Landscape Agroecology

ISBN-13: 9781560222538 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 340 str.

Paul A. Wojtkowski

Opis

Learn how the principles and practices of landscape agroecology can help to overcome drought, flooding, poor soil, damaging winds, plant diseases, plant-eating insects, and more
Examining the concepts, conventions, and components that underlie the ecology of human-managed landscapes, this is the first book to address landscape agroecology. Incorporating ideas from agroecology, forestry, agronomy, agroforestry, landscape ecology, and environmental science, Landscape Agroecology is a comprehensive look at a cutting-edge topic.
From the author: "Farm or forestry landscapes can be designed to address any number of objectives. Commonly, the focus is entirely on production with few, if any, secondary goals. These landscapes typically achieve their purpose but are not entirely in harmony with nature. Landscape agroecology offers the same potential for productivity, but also focuses on sustainability and environmental friendliness as strong secondary objectives."
While the idea of formulating landscapes for specific purposes is comparatively new, countless examples exist where landscape modifications have been made to inhospitable areas in order to overcome the natural obstacles that hamper crop growth. This book illuminates the principles behind these triumphs, bringing this local knowledge into the mainstream.
Landscape Agroecology will familiarize you with the concepts and terminology needed to understand this exciting new field:

• complementarity--usually defined in terms of plant-plant growth--expanded to include the rural countryside
• desirable agroecosystems properties--what an agroecosystem needs in order to overcome landscape stresses such as drought, flooding, insect infestation, etc.
• agrotechnologies--the classification of agroecosystems based on visual characteristics and the land-use problems addressed
• cultural agroecology--what we can learn from the superior land-use techniques of various societies and cultures, and how these ideas can be brought into the mainstream
• cultural motif--culturally related land-use patterns that are openly manifested in the landscape

Essential for university/college libraries and for research stations as well as professors and students of agroecology, this book will be referred to again and again. In addition to basic agroecological concepts, chapters in this essential book address the management of wind, water, and pests; biodiversity; physical and temporal patterns; principal, auxiliary, and temporal agrotechnologies, and much more. For professors and students in environmental science, this book offers many previously un-dicussed alternatives for resolving the earth's environmental dilemmas. Photographs, tables, figures, and illustrations help make important points easy to access and understand.

Spis treści

Preface Chapter 1. Introduction Land-Use Patterns The Field of Landscape Agroecology Concepts of Land Use Perspectives on Agroecology Chapter 2. Underlying Agroecological Concepts Essential Resource Management Complementarity Primary and Secondary Species Desirable Plant Characteristics Biodiversity and Agrobiodiversity Desirable Agroecosystem Properties Land Use Intensity Interagroecosystem Effects Chapter 3. The Agrotechnologies Basic Concepts Nontemporal Patterns Temporal Patterns Desirable Characteristics Agrotechnological Classification Development Stages Chapter 4. Principal-Mode Agrotechnologies Absorption Zones Agroforests Aqua-Agriculture Aquaforestry Alley Cropping Entomo-Systems Forage (Feed) Systems Intercropping Isolated Tree Microcatchments Monoculture Parkland Root Support Systems Strip Cropping Shade Systems Support Terraces Chapter 5. Temporal and Auxiliary Agrotechnologies Sole Cropping (T) Rotations (T) Fallows (T) Overlapping Patterns (T) Taungyas (T) Biomass Banks (A) Cajetes (A) Catchments (A) Infiltration Barriers (A) Firebreaks (A) Living Fences (A) Riparian Defenses (A) Water Breaks (A) Water Channels (A) Windbreaks (A) Chapter 6. Water Management Principles Auxiliary Agrotechnologies Principal-Mode Properties Landscape Layouts Singular Situations (and Overcoming Obstacles) The Satoyama Landscape: A Case Study Chapter 7. Wind, Frost, and Fire Wind Effects Principal-Mode Susceptibility Wind-Countering Agrotechnologies Auxiliary Systems Windbreaks Shelterbelts Frost Countermeasures Drifting Snow and Sand Fire Chapter 8. Integrated Pest Management Basic Countermeasures Combined Strategies Landscape Features The Agrotechnologies Insect Countermeasures: A Medieval Case Study Chapter 9. Patterns (Spatial and Temporal) Agrotechnological Landscapes Types The Physical Landscape Spatial Interludes Counterpatterns Temporal Aspects Landscaping Formulation Scattering The Cultural Landscape Chapter 10. The Socioeconomic Landscape Quality of Life Landscape Evaluation Economic Classification Bioeconomic Modeling Landscape Optimization Expectations Economic Transformation: A Case Study Chapter 11. Biodiversity Economic Advantages Casual Biodiversity Enhanced (Directed) Biodiversity Mimicry Forest Gardens/Homegardens Nonuseful Biodiversity Basics Management Biodiversity Ranking Chapter 12. Other Topics Household Locational Patterns Transport (Access) Roads Gender Concerns Landscape Functions Wildlife Social Forestry (Gathering) Land Tenure Policy Change Landscape Aesthetics Chapter 13. Cultural Motifs Plot Dominant Terrain Dominant Agrotechnological Representation Academic Classifications Motif Landscape Derivation Chapter 14. Conclusion References Index

O autorze

Paul Wojtkowski