This chapter illustrates some of the benefits of ethnoscientific research on Amazonian Dark Earths. Ethnoscientific data complement data derived from empirical research in a number of important ways (DeWalt, 1994). Of relevance to research on ADE is the extended temporal perspective provided by long-time users (of the pedological impact of specific practices over time, for example) and a more nuanced understandings of the benefits and limitations of ADE from the perspective of the current and intended beneficiaries themselves. The perspectives of long-time ADE farmers are as of yet little studied, however, and could be productively explored in the effort to build complex understandings of ADE formation, function and intraregional variation.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2597-1_10Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:
Publication year
2003
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
earth, indigenous knowledge, soil, soil degradation, sustainability
