[Terrapreta] Fwd: Google Alert - "terra preta "

[lou gold]

Hi Everyone,

A tropical forest is an incredible network of biomass in many forms -- flora
and fauna, plants, shrubs, trees. And for trees, there are many kinds --
hard and soft, large and small. I have no idea as to the proportion by
volume of each form.

I am resistant to short-hand descriptions that simplify the question to
"corn rows versus rainforest trees"  when it's really a question of forest
biomass versus agricultural and human wastes. Ancient indigenous cultures
had to develop their technologies across time. There had to be a
transformation in the feedstock for char -- starting with lots of forest and
few people, then transitioning toward less forest, more people, more
agriculture and more waste. I imagine a developmental structure for terra
preta where the ingredients and their proportions changed across time ending
with the incredible outcome of the soils reproducing themselves as a living
system.

OK, I'm a tree guy and I don't want biofuels (of all kinds) or new soil
amendments to necessarily imply more deforestation. I hope that the terra
preta movement can embrace the goal of soil and forest restoration and
preservation.

Thanks for listening.

lou

lou



On 9/6/07, Sean K. Barry <sean.barry at juno.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Brian,
>
> Does anyone know the difference in tons of carbon per hectare between
> "corn rows" and a forest of 350' tall tropical rainforest trees?
> Which one is bigger?  Which does anyone think is more likely to have been
> the most prevalent plant form in the Amazon Tropical Rainforest, then (2500
> years ago) or now; "rainforest trees", or "corn rows"?  Did the continent of
> South America move into the area from outside the tropics, in around 2500
> years ago?
>
> I think these questions and probably some others would lead one to
> question "highly" the possibility that corn was used to make the bulk of the
> charcoal, rather than trees.
>
> This is just my opinion?
>
> SKB
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Brian Hans <bhans at earthmimic.com>
> *To:* Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 06, 2007 9:03 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Terrapreta] Fwd: Google Alert - "terra preta "
>
>
> http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2003doc.nsf/43bb6130e5e86e5fc12569fa005d004c/f70b80eb7cd25728c1256d57003e5f0c/$FILE/JT00147699.PDF
>
> Some light botanical reading on corn.
>
> A few 'corn off topic' notes;
>
> Notice where they talk about perennial relation to corn. I cannot believe
> someone hasnt been able to cross that perennial line with corn, seeing how
> much work is done on corn itself. My guess is that type of research is
> scratched for future economic reasons by the big guys. Imagine the world if
> corn was a perennial...
>
> I studied botanical taxonomy @ UWMadison and Iltis is convinced of the
> 'teosinte' theory and he is a mountain of a man @ UWMadison, so who am I to
> argue.
> Notice how important corn really is to the human diet. It makes alot of
> sense that we would try to make ethanol with it...just as anyone plays with
> their food they are swimming in.
>
> Putting yourself into the shoes of pre-modern man, every part of the crop
> would have been utilized. Im curious as to how they handled the stover. If
> 'terra preta man' infact had corn stover...it seems plausable that stover
> was apart of the making of char. Remember that stover is a good 'carbon
> crop' and certainly it was used in ancient times as such.
>
> Brian Hans
>
> *lou gold <lou.gold at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
> Well, in the Beni region they found a tribe that still had the old words
> for maize (and other plants).  I'm wondering if there is similar (or other)
> evidence of corn from central Amazonia, or if it's just an hypothesis?
>
> Perhaps Robert can answer here?
>
>
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