Abstract
The features of the tropical forest are found in Sundanese village-gardens. They are rich in plant species, a layered structure of the vegetation, existing patchwork and succession of sylvigenetic phases (from pioneer to homeostatic phase). These traditional agroforests reflect the sourrounding forest ecosystem, simplifying the features.
The architectural method of tropical forest analysis is applied to Sundanese agroforests, but here each plant is both a structural element of the ecosystem and a producing element of the agricultural landscape. Such structural analysis could represent one aspect of an integral analysis of complex agroforestry systems.
Résumé
Il existe dans les villages de l'Ouest-Java, des jardins qui présentent toutes les caractéristiques de la forêt tropicale: richesse de la flore cultivée, structure ‘en étages’ de la végétation, juxtaposition et succession des différentes phases de la sylvigenése (depuis les stades pionniers jusqu'à la maturité). Ces agroforêts traditionelles semblent calquées sur l'écosystème forestier ambiant, tout en en simplifiant les conditions.
La méthode architecturale mise au point pour analyser la structure et le fonctionnement des forêts tropicales est appliquée ici à l'étude de ces agroforêts en considérant en outre chaque plante comme un élément de la production dans l'agroécosystéme. Une telle approche représente un élément pour une étude globale des systèmes agroforestiers complexes.
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This paper is a shortened and revised version of ‘A traditional agricultural-system: Village-forest-gardens in West Java’ [2].
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Michon, G., Bompard, J., Hecketsweiler, P. et al. Tropical forest architectural analysis as applied to agroforests in the humid tropics: The example of traditional village-agroforests in West Java. Agroforest Syst 1, 117–129 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00596353
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00596353