Floor extension
Floor mounting or floor mounting ( engl. Ecofarming for modern forms) is a traditional form of Permakultur in the tropics and subtropics , in which the natural storied vegetation by cultivation of a variety of crop plants is imitated to its protective function for the soil growing crops and to maintain the rooting of the soil. The upper and middle plant floors provide shade as protection from the very intense tropical solar radiation . They also protect the perennials and herbaceous plants growing below and the soil from the kinetic energy of heavy rain caused by tropical thunderstorms and zenith rains . The floor extension is therefore an effective protection against soil degradation . This type of cultivation must not be confused with terraced cultivation .
The multi- storey cultivation, which emerged mainly in the subsistence economy of the indigenous peoples of South America , Africa and Asia , has ecological advantages over the plantation cultivation introduced by the colonial rulers in the 19th century , in which cultivated plants are grown in monocultures that endanger the biological balance .
Structure and functionality
The soil in the tropical rainforest has only a small layer of fertile soil. The plants growing there compete primarily for the available light.
In the upper floor of the large trees z. B. coconuts or Brazil nuts are used. Some of these trees are very large and give the plants that grow underneath a little shade so they don't burn in the blazing sun. These "giants of the jungle" are called overholding .
In the floor below z. B. bananas , pepper , cocoa , coffee , citrus fruits , papayas and mangoes are harvested. The plants are not that big and don't need full sun exposure. This layer is called the "tree layer".
Tropical vegetables can be grown on the ground in the shade . This layer is called the "herb layer".
Sweet potatoes , cassava or yams grow in the soil .
In this ingenious system, each plant can develop at its height and deliver the optimum yield. They have enough light and food and can be harvested all year round. The ground is constantly covered and is thus protected from excessive solar radiation and leaching from the heavy tropical rains. Wild animal browsing cannot ruin a farmer who cultivates storeys in the rainforest. There are many different plants with a great distraction effect in this cultivation method. A side effect is that this cultivation method creates a habitat for many animals and small organisms.
This ecological mixed culture allows the farmers to use their fields over the long term. Small animal husbandry and medicinal plant cultivation can also be integrated into this system. Slash- and- burn cultivation and shifting cultivation are no longer necessary. However, because many immigrant people settle in the tropical rainforest who have never heard of multi-storey cultivation or even see it as backward because it is operated by the indigenous population, this sustainable cultivation needs a lot of persuasion. The diversification of the crops protects not only ecological but also economic susceptibility to world market price fluctuations.
Floor cultivation in the tropics
The indigenous people of areas with tropical rainforests create forest gardens where they live. The Amazon Indians know floor cultivation as well as some indigenous peoples in the rainforests of Africa and Asia . The original forest is hardly destroyed here. Many different crops are grown alongside the wild trees .
In the herb layer, vegetables grow that can get by with the light let through by the bushes and trees, for example beans , pumpkins , melons , but also peanuts and tubers such as sweet potatoes , yams , cassava and also rice or corn . Fruit bushes such as papaya and coffee plants occupy a second plant floor . Above it are banana trees , then medium-high trees such as the cocoa tree , avocado tree and mango tree . The next higher floor is occupied by the crowns of tall palm trees such as peach palms and coconut palms and the top one by Brazil nut trees , which belong to the giants of the jungle.
Floor extension in the subtropics
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In the arid climate zones , floor cultivation is a widespread form of cultivation , particularly in oases that are irrigated from rivers or from groundwater wells . Here, date palms and fruit trees such as peach trees and trees that bear citrus fruits provide shade for vegetables and grains . This lowers the air temperature and thus also the rate of evaporation of the precious water supplied through irrigation channels. Less evaporation also means less risk of salinization .
Modern forms
Elements of this type of management have been incorporated into Ecofarming . The agroforestry takes advantage of the floor cultivation.
Ecological importance
When growing on floors in the rainforest, each plant can develop at its height and deliver the optimum yield. Each has enough light and nutrients, and it can be harvested all year round. The ground is constantly covered and is thus protected from excessive solar radiation and from being washed out by the heavy tropical rains. The rooting is retained. There is no soil erosion , denudation or lateritization . A side effect is that biodiversity is preserved because animals and small organisms also keep their habitat. Pest infestation is unlikely because there are no monocultures that would encourage pests to multiply. Game browsing cannot do much harm to a farmer who cultivates storeys because different plants are grown, of which perhaps only one or two belong to the natural food spectrum for animals that invade a forest garden. In addition, the cultivated plots are small, so that the farmer can notice intruders and drive them away (see also fence construction ).
This ecological mixed culture allows the farmers to use their fields over the long term. Small animal husbandry and medicinal plant cultivation can also be integrated into this system . Slash and burn cultivation and shifting cultivation are not required. However, because many people who have immigrated from cities settle in the tropical rainforest who have never heard of floor cultivation or even consider it to be backward because it is operated by the indigenous population, it takes persuasiveness to motivate them to this sustainable cultivation. The diversification of the cultivated products also protects against economic crises that can be triggered by fluctuations in prices on the world market when the products are sold.
The conservation of tropical rainforests is of global concern because they are an important factor for the earth's climate as a whole. The abundant cloud formation is decisive for their influence on the climate . The sponge effect of the vegetation and the evaporation and transpiration of the plants is important for the development of the secondary ITC and the primary ITC and thus also has a strong impact on the rainy seasons of the humid tropics .
There are contradicting statements about whether the tropical rainforests can be regarded as a carbon sink and whether they thereby slow down global warming . The more “forest-like” a developing cultural landscape becomes, the more carbon it is able to bind. In the case of floor cultivation, however, the aim is to avoid the release of CO 2 as a result of slash and burn, in particular shifting cultivation , and to maintain the regulation of the water balance in the ecosystem .
With the modern storey cultivation concept of the forest garden , permaculture strives for the greatest possible dissemination of yield-yielding, man-made ecosystems that have the highest possible proportion of non-annual plant species in order to counteract the loss of humus as a result of conventional agriculture , which is particularly important in the tropical rainforest is because the soils have only a thin, fertile upper soil layer , below which the soils are poor in nutrients.
literature
- Wolfgang Franke: Crop science: usable plants of the temperate latitudes, subtropics and tropics. 6th edition. Thieme, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-13-530406-X .
- Jürgen Christner: Abitur knowledge ecology . Klett Verlag, ISBN 978-3-12-929505-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Storied in the oasis garden , accessed on 13 April 2016th