tRRACES · Resistance and Resilience of Ancient Agricultural Soils

Resistance and Resilience of Ancient Agricultural Soils

Before the invention of modern, large-scale engineering projects, terrace systems were rarely built in single phases of construction, but instead developed gradually, and could even be said to have evolved. Understanding this process of landscape change is therefore important in order to fully appreciate how terrace systems were built and functioned, and is also pivotal to understanding how the communities that farmed these systems responded to changes; whether these are changes to the landscape brought about by the farming practices themselves, or changes to social, economic or climatic conditions. Combining the study of soils with archaeological and paleoenvironmental knowledge, tRRACES studied four terraced landscapes at Konso (Ethiopia), Engaruka (Tanzania), Topaín (Atacama Desert, Chile), and Monte Gaiás (Spain). The theoretical background of the project relies on soils capacity to be a sensitive indicator of environment modifications driven by anthropic forces. Proxies for these changes based on soil properties enable the evolution of the environment to be deciphered and a historical narrative to be constructed. The aim of the project was to provide a long-term, evolutionary perspective on the development of agricultural soils, and to assess the relationships between soil properties and traditional land use and management, with a focus on the assessment of sustainability and the potential contribution to policy development. Specifically, tRRACES project was designed to meet the following objectives: (1) To study the changes on edaphic properties induced by ancient agricultural uses under a range of environmental conditions (2) To contribute to a sound scientific basis for the indigenous knowledge so that information on resilience of past agricultural systems can be used reliably (3) To provide information on the sustainability of agroecosystems to the work-scales required by planners and policy makers. This approach provided information useful within land use and adaptation planning within the broader context of environmental and social sustainability. Of special importance has been the incorporation of the knowledge from traditional societies with long histories of surviving the challenges of everyday living and working.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз