Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 4.8
Pruned shade trees in a coffee plantation in Turrialba, Costa Rica.
The common shade trees (Erythrina poeppigina)
are heavily pruned at the beginning of the wet season to open up the coffee plantation to better light penetration during the more
cloudy and rainy time of the year.
FUTURE RESEARCH
compensating for either extreme in the design
of an agroecosystem?
Much work needs to be done on managing the light envi-
ronment in agroecosystems. We have recently learned a
lot about photosynthetic pathways, carbon partitioning,
and how to raise the yield of harvestable biomass from
cropping systems. But we need also to understand that
agroecosystem management requires that we return as
much organic matter to the system, especially to the soil,
as we remove from it. The energy that is captured from
the sun must contribute as much to long-term agroecosys-
tem sustainability as it does to short-term harvests.
Research on how to balance these needs is key to devel-
oping the sustainable agroecosystems of the future.
2.
Our understanding of the different types of
photosynthetic pathways in plants has come
mostly from basic laboratory research, but
this knowledge has helped considerably in the
management of the light environment in agroeco-
systems. What other basic research questions,
greatly isolated from the field, might be of great
potential significance for sustainability?
3.
What are some of the most significant ways by
which humans and human activities are impact-
ing the light environment? What might the con-
sequences be for agriculture in the future?
4.
Light energy is considered to be one of our
most available and easily used sources of
renewable energy. What are some of the fac-
tors that have slowed the development of better
ways to take advantage of this energy source
in agriculture?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
1.
What are the basic differences between too
much light and too little light in terms of plant
response? What are some of the ways of
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