GY3156 Tropical land management
Prerequisites (applies to degree students only)
GY2149 Biogeography or GY2150 Geomorphological processes or GY2152 Hydrology.
Syllabus
The course focuses on the use and management of the land resource in the semi-arid, the seasonal wet-dry and the humid tropics. In particular the course covers:
Tropical weathering: types and products of tropical weathering.
Tropical soils: common soil types of the humid, wet-dry and semi-arid tropics, importance of soil properties (texture, structure, permeability) under agriculture.
Effects of deforestation on humid tropical soil: hydrological change, nutrient depletion, erosion.
Semi-arid soils and land use problems: water management, irrigation and salinisation, erosion.
Desertification: causes, effects on agriculture, management options.
Geomorphology and tropical land management: slope failure, soil erosion, management of geomorphological hazard (soil and water conservation).
Land degradation: causes (physical and human), consequences for livelihoods, assessment and monitoring, management.
Land classification and land capability: planning for effective tropical land management, importance of growing period, agro-ecological zones.
Tropical land management and environmental change: effects of temperature increases on crop viability, changes in rainfall amounts and annual pattern, effect of changing CO2 on plant viability, Caribbean case studies.
Response to changing climates: potential for adaptation of tropical farming systems, importance of indigenous knowledge, intervention and policy issues.
