Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way
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...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173474 |
| _version_ | 1855529382299303936 |
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| author | Frogley, M.R. Chepstow-Lusty, A. Thiele, G. Chutas, C.A. |
| author_browse | Chepstow-Lusty, A. Chutas, C.A. Frogley, M.R. Thiele, G. |
| author_facet | Frogley, M.R. Chepstow-Lusty, A. Thiele, G. Chutas, C.A. |
| author_sort | Frogley, M.R. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | 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. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace173474 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1734742025-10-26T13:01:49Z Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way Frogley, M.R. Chepstow-Lusty, A. Thiele, G. Chutas, C.A. climate-smart agriculture watershed management sustainable agriculture 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. 2025-05 2025-03-03T23:19:15Z 2025-03-03T23:19:15Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173474 en Open Access Frogley, M.R.; Chepstow-Lusty, A.; Thiele, G.; Chutas, C.A. 2025. Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way. AMBIO. ISSN 1654-7209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02121-5 |
| spellingShingle | climate-smart agriculture watershed management sustainable agriculture Frogley, M.R. Chepstow-Lusty, A. Thiele, G. Chutas, C.A. Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title | Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title_full | Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title_fullStr | Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title_short | Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way |
| title_sort | trees terraces and llamas resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the inca way |
| topic | climate-smart agriculture watershed management sustainable agriculture |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173474 |
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