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Soil fertility, agroecology, and social change in southern Belize

Peller, Henry Anton
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626021310112134

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
This dissertation examines three aspects of the contemporary environment and natural resources of Toledo district, southern Belize: the properties and management of soils, agroecological dynamics of milpa farming, and class processes of rural social change. Chapter 1 classifies five groups of soils and 13 unique types found in a study area of three Maya-speaking communities. People manage their soils differentially across a range of customary and commercial land use activities, which are mediated in part by physical, chemical, and biological properties inherent to soil types. Chapter 2 models the impacts of contemporary land use change on soil properties, where a shift has occurred over the past four decades from extensive swidden farming of maize and beans (`customary milpa’) towards new forms of agriculture including cattle pasture and intensive grain farming. The core hypothesis is confirmed that land use change negatively impacts soil properties including organic carbon, nitrogen, and bulk density. Chapter 3 links changes in management and soils to plants, weeds, and especially grass weeds, which have become a central problem for milpa agriculture in recent decades. A decrease in fallow (the regeneration period of forest species) and more frequent use of fire are closely associated with the exponential increase in grass weeds across the study area. Farmers employ several strategies including herbicides, cover crops, fire use and non-use (mulching), among others, to mitigate weed and soil management problems—but at present there are no satisfactory solutions to deteriorating milpa agroecosystems. Chapter 4 explains environmental change by way of class processes, or how capitalism transforms household livelihood strategies. This analysis focuses on two common pathways for upward mobility in rural Toledo, namely higher education and commercial farming, finding that both are implicated within the growing inequality, land-based conflicts, and agroecological change in southern Belize. The conclusion re-iterates major findings, reflects them onto the threats to smallholder farming posed by climate change, and then considers multi-species cover cropping as a means of adaptation.
Rattan Lal (Advisor)
Joel Wainwright (Advisor)
Kristin Mercer (Committee Member)
Brian Slater (Committee Member)
195 p.
Soil Sciences

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Peller, H. A. (2021). Soil fertility, agroecology, and social change in southern Belize [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626021310112134

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Peller, Henry. Soil fertility, agroecology, and social change in southern Belize. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626021310112134.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Peller, Henry. "Soil fertility, agroecology, and social change in southern Belize." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626021310112134

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1626021310112134
525
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.