Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way
2025; Springer Science+Business Media; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1007/s13280-024-02121-5
ISSN1654-7209
AutoresMichael R. Frogley, Alex Chepstow‐Lusty, Graham Thiele, Constantino Aucca Chutas,
Tópico(s)Land Use and Ecosystem Services
ResumoAbstract The Inca and their immediate predecessors provide an exceptional model of how to create high-altitude functional environments that sustainably feed people with a diversity of crops, whilst mitigating erosion, protecting forestry and maintaining soil fertility without the need for large-scale burning. A comparison is provided here of landscape practices and impacts prior to and after the Inca, derived from a unique 4200-year sedimentary record recovered from Laguna Marcacocha, a small, environmentally sensitive lake located at the heart of the Inca Empire. By examining ten selected proxies of environmental change, a rare window is opened on the past, helping to reveal how resilient watershed management and sustainable, climate-smart agriculture were achieved. We contend that, in the face of modern environmental uncertainty, a second climate-smart agricultural revolution is necessary, but one that accounts for the significant social capital of highland communities whilst still leaning heavily on native crops, trees and livestock.
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