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Neither wild nor planted: Essential role of giesta (Cytisus, Fabaceae) in traditional agriculture of Beira Alta, Portugal

Nem bravia, nem semeada: A funÇÃo indispensÃvel da Giesta (Cytisus, abaceae) na agricultura Tradicional da Beira Alta, Portugal

Giesta (Cytisus) is the dominant or only woody plant on about one-quarter of the land area of the high granite mesas of interior Beira Alta, Portugal, where for at least the past 800 years the main cereal crop has been rye. During this time, a substantial fraction of this crop has been sold and taken to cities to feed the urban population, carrying with it nitrogen in the proteins of the grain. These farms have remained sustainable for nitrogen in the face of this outflow because farmers have allowed and even encouraged giesta, which is a nitrogen fixer, to occupy a substantial fraction of the land area, from which it is harvested and buried in the cultivated soil to restore its fertility. Stable N15 analysis and ecological techniques estimate quantitatively the importance of this practice.

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Résumé

As giestas (Cytisus spp.) são as plantas lenhosas dominantes em cerca de um quarto das areas montanhosas graníticas do interior, nomeadamente na Beira Alta (Portugal), onde durante os últimos 800 anos, o principal cereal cultivado era o centeio. Nessa altura, uma fracção substancial deste cereal era vendida e enviada para as cidades, para alimentar a população urbana, transportando consigo nitrogénio nas proteínas dos grãos. Estes campos cerealíferos mantinham um fluxo sustentável em nitrogénio, porque os lavradores permitiam e até auxiliavam o crescimento das giestas, que sendo fixadoras de nitrogénio e ocupando uma grande parte dessa área, cortavamnas e enterravam-nas no solo de cultivo, mantendo, assim, a respectiva fertilidade. Análises “Stable” NI5 e técnicas ecológicas confirmam quantitativamente a importância desta prática camponesa.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI

    George F. Estabrook

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  1. George F. Estabrook
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Correspondence to George F. Estabrook.

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Estabrook, G.F. Neither wild nor planted: Essential role of giesta (Cytisus, Fabaceae) in traditional agriculture of Beira Alta, Portugal. Econ Bot 60, 307–320 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[307:NWNPER]2.0.CO;2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[307:NWNPER]2.0.CO;2

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