[Terrapreta] Still more research on Terra preta

[Michael Bailes]

Tom you might want to add this one to the data base

ADEs are fertile anthrosols capable of
> much higher production than the natural upland
> (terra firme) soils. They are characterized
> by a high charcoal content and other
> organic inputs. The charcoal addition stimulates
> the development of beneficial microorganisms,
> improves nutrient uptake, and reduces
> nutrient loss from leaching (Glaser et al.
> 2003, Lehmann et al. 2003a). The darker
> (terra preta) ADE is laden with artifacts and
> the organic trash (bone, shell and plant remains,
> nightsoil, ashes, construction material)
> typically generated at settlements (Erickson
> 2003). The lighter, more extensive, and artifact
> free terra mulata was probably formed
> through agricultural practices (and enabled
> short cropping/short fallow) with the addition
> of charred plant remains, ash, compost, and
> mulch (Denevan 2004). Both types of ADEs
> were likely farmed in the past, and remarkably,
> they continue to maintain their fertility
> into the present (Glaser et al. 2003). The productive
> potential of ADE has been linked to
> the development of complex societies in the
> ancient Amazon (Neves et al. 2003).


FROM
http://www.conserv.missouri.edu/readings/Hayashida.pdf

(try a search for charcoal)
-- 
Michael the Archangel

"You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
Most people don't know that"
FROM
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
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