Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 362, Issue 1478, Pages 187-196Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.1978
Keywords
Terra Preta; Amazonian Dark Earths; C sequestration; humid tropics; charcoal; slash and char
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Terra Preta soils of central Amazonia exhibit approximately three times more soil organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and 70 times more charcoal compared to adjacent infertile soils. The Terra Preta soils were generated by pre-Columbian native populations by chance or intentionally adding large amounts of charred residues ( charcoal), organicwastes, excrements and bones. In this paper, it is argued that generating new Terra Preta sites ('Terra Preta nova') could be the basis for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century to produce food for billions of people, and could lead to attaining three Millennium Development Goals: ( i) to combat desertification, ( ii) to sequester atmospheric CO2 in the long term, and ( iii) to maintain biodiversity hotspots such as tropical rainforests. Therefore, large- scale generation and utilization of Terra Preta soils would decrease the pressure on primary forests that are being extensively cleared for agricultural use with only limited fertility and sustainability and, hence, only providing a limited time for cropping. This would maintain biodiversity while mitigating both land degradation and climate change. However, it should not be overlooked that the infertility of most tropical soils ( and associated low population density) is what could have prevented tropical forests undergoing large- scale clearance for agriculture. Increased fertility may increase the populations supported by shifting cultivation, thereby maintaining and increasing pressure on forests.
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