SPECIES COMPLEX

This article is about a group of very similar species. For "species-group names" in zoological nomenclature, see International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. For individuals of different species grouping together, see Mutualism (biology)#Service-service relationships.

"Cryptic species" redirects here. For the principles of hiding, see Crypsis. For a supposed creature whose existence is not scientifically recognized, see Cryptid.

"Physiologic race" redirects here. For the mycology and phytopathology informal classification, see Race (biology) § Physiological race.

The butterfly genus Heliconius contains some species extremely difficult to tell apart.

In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related species that are very similar in appearance to the point that the boundaries between them are often unclear. Terms sometimes used synonymously but with more precise meanings are: cryptic species for two or more species hidden under one species name, sibling speciesfor two cryptic species that are each other's closest relative, and species flock for a group of closely related species living in the same habitat. As informal taxonomic ranks, species group, species aggregate, and superspecies are also in use.

Two or more taxa once considered conspecific (of the same species) may later be subdivided into infraspecific taxa (taxa within a species, such as bacterial strains or plant varieties but this is not a species complex.

A species complex is in most cases a monophyletic group with a common ancestor, although there are exceptions. It may represent an early stage after speciation, but may also have been separated for a long time period without evolving morphological differences. Hybrid speciation can be a component in the evolution of a species complex.

Species complexes exist in all groups of organisms. They are identified by the rigorous study of differences between individual species, making use of minute morphological details, tests of reproductive isolation or DNA-based methods such as molecular phylogenetics or DNA barcoding. The existence of extremely similar species may cause local and global species diversity to be underestimated. Recognizing similar but distinct species is important for disease and pest controls  and in conservation biology, although drawing dividing lines between species can be inherently difficult.

Definition

A species complex is typically considered as a group of close, but distinct species. Obviously, the concept is closely tied to the definition of a species. Modern biology understands a species as "separately evolving metapopulation lineage but acknowledges that the criteria to delimit species. may depend on the group studied. Thus, many species defined traditionally, based only on morphological similarity, have been found to comprise several distinct species when other criteria, such as genetic differentiation or reproductive isolation were applied.

At least six treefrog species make up the Hypsiboas calcaratus–fasciatus species complex.

A more restricted use applies the term to close species between which hybridisation occurred or is occurring, leading to intermediate forms and blurred species boundaries.

The fly agaric comprises several cryptic species, as shown by genetic data.

The African forest elephant (shown) is the bush elephant sibling species.

Mbuna cichlids form a species flock in Lake Malawi.

Some authors apply the term also to a species with intraspecific variability, which might be a sign of ongoing or incipient speciation examples are ring species or species with subspecies, where it is often unclear if these should be considered separate species.

Included Concept

Several terms are used synonymously for a species complex, but some of them may also have slightly different, or more narrow meanings. In the nomenclature codes, of zoology and bacteriology, no taxonomic ranks are defined at the level between subgenera and species, while the botanical code defines four ranks below genera (section, subsections, series and subseries). Different informal taxonomic solutions have been used to indicate a species complex.

Cryptic species

Also physiologic race (uncommon). This describes "distinct species that are erroneously classified (and hidden) under one species name". More generally, the term is often applied when species, even if known to be distinct, cannot be reliably distinguished based on their morphology. The usage physiologic race is not to be confused with physiological race.

Sibling species

Also aphanic species. This term, introduced by Ernst Mayr in 1942, was initially used with the same meaning as cryptic species, but later authors emphasized the common phylogenetic origin. A recent article defines sibling species as "cryptic sister species", meaning "two species that are the closest relative of each other and have not been distinguished from one another taxonomically".

Species flock

Also species swarm. This refers to "a monophyletic group of closely related species all living in the same ecosystem". Conversely, the term has also been applied very broadly to a group of closely related species than can be variable and widespread.

Superspecies

Sometimes used as an informal rank for a species complex around one "representative" species. Popularized by Bernhard Rensch and later Ernst Mayr, with the initial requirement that species forming a superspecies must have allopatric distributions. For the component species of a superspecies, allospecies was proposed.

Species aggregate

Used for a species complex, especially in plant taxa where polypoidy and apomixis are common. Historical synonyms are species collectiva, introduced by Adolf Engler, conspecies, and grex. Components of a species aggregate have been called segregates or microspecies Used as abbreviation agg. after the binomial species name.

Sensu lato

Meaning "in the broad sense", this Latin phrase is often used after a binomial species name, often abbreviated as s.l., to indicate a species complex represented by that species.

Identifications

Distinguishing close species within a complex requires the study of often very small differences. Morphological differences may be minute and only visible using adapted methods, such as microscopy. However, distinct species may sometimes have no morphological differences. In these cases, other characters, e.g. in the species' life history, behavior, physiology or karyology can be explored. As an example, territorial songs are indicative of species in the treecreepers, a bird genus with little morphological differences. Mating tests are common in some groups such as fungi to confirm the reproductive isolation of two species.

Analysis of DNA sequences is becoming increasingly standard for species recognition and may in many cases be the only useful method. Different methods are used to analyse such genetic data, for example molecular phylogenetics or DNA barcoding.Such methods have greatly contributed to the discovery of cryptic species, including such emblematic species as the fly agaric or the African elephant.

Salamandra corsica

Salamandra atra

Salamandra salamandra

Similarity can be misleading: The Corsican fire salamander (left) was previously considered a subspecies of the fire salamander (right), but is in fact more closely related to the uniformly black Alpine salamander (center).

Evolution and ecology
Speciation Process

Species forming a complex have typically diverged very recently from each other, allowing in some cases to retrace the process of speciation. Species with differentiated populations such as ring species are sometimes seen as an example of early, ongoing speciation, i.e. a species complex in formation. Nevertheless, similar but distinct species have sometimes been isolated for a long time without evolving differences, a phenomenon called "morphological stasis". As an examples, the Amazonian frog Pristimantis ockendeni is actually at least three different species that diverged over 5 million years ago.

A species complex typically forms a monophyletic group that has diversified rather recently, as shown by the short branches between the species A–E (blue box) in this phylogenetic tree.

Stabilizing selection has been invoked as a force maintaining similarity in species complexes, especially when adaptation to special environments, such as a host in the case of symbionts, or extreme environments, constrains possible directions of evolution: In such cases, strongly divergent selection is not to be expected. Also, asexual reproduction, such as through apomixis in plants, may separate lineages without producing a great degree of morphological differentiation.

A species complex is usually a group that has one common ancestor (a monophyletic group), although closer examination can sometimes disprove this. As an example, the yellow-spotted "fire salamanders" in the genus Salamandra, formerly all classified as one species S. salamandra,are not monophyletic: the Corsican fire salamander, closest relative was shown to be the entirely black Alpine salamander. In such cases, similarity has arisen from convergent evolution.

Possible processes explaining simiilarity of species in a species complex:
a – morphological stasis
b – hybrid speciation

Hybrid speciation can lead to unclear species boundaries through a process of reticulate evolution, where species have two parent species as their most recent common ancestor. In such cases, the hybrid species may have intermediate characters, as demonstrated e.g. in Heliconius butterflies. Hybrid speciation has been observed in various species complexes, such as insects, fungi, and plants. In plants, hybridization often takes place through polyploidization, and hybrid plant species are called nothospecies.

Range

In regards to whether or not members of a species group share a range, sources differ. A source from Iowa State University Department of Agronomy says that members of a species group usually have partially overlapping ranges but do not interbreed with each other. A Dictionary of Zoology (Oxford University Press,1999) describes a species group as complex of related species that exist allopatrically and explains that this "grouping can often be supported by experimental crosses in which only certain pairs of species will produce hybrids. "The examples given below may support both uses of the term "species group."

Often such complexes only become evident when a new species is introduced into the system, breaking down existing species barriers. An example is the introduction of the Spanish slug in Northern Europe, where interbreeding with the local black slug and red slug, traditionally considered clearly separate species that did not interbreed, shows they may be actually just subspecies of the same species.

Where closely related species coexist in sympatry, it is often a particular challenge to understand how these similar species persist without outcompeting each other. Niche partitioning is one mechanism invoked to explain this. Studies in some species complexes indeed suggest that species divergence went in par with ecological differentiation, with species now preferring different microhabitats. Similar methods also found that the Amazonian frog Eleutherodactylus ockendeni is actually at least 3 different species that diverged over 5 million years ago. A species flock may arise when a species penetrates a new geographical area and diversifies to occupy a variety of ecological niches; this process is known as adaptive radiation. The first species flock to be recognized as such was the 13 species of Darwin's finches on the Galápagos Islands described by Charles Darwin.

Practical implications

Biodiversity Estimates

It has been suggested that cryptic species complexes are very common in the marine environment.  Although this suggestion came before the detailed analysis of many systems using DNA sequence data, it has been proven correct. The increased use of DNA sequence in the investigation of organismal diversity (also called Phylogeography and DNA barcoding) has led to the discovery of a great many cryptic species complexes in all habitats. In the marine bryozoan Celleporella hyalina,  detailed morphological analyses and mating compatibility tests between the isolates identified by DNA sequence analysis were used to confirm that these groups consisted of more than 10 ecologically distinct species that had been diverging for many million years.

Evidence from the identification of cryptic species has led some to conclude that current estimates of global species richness are too low.

Disease and Pathology Control

The Anopheles gambiae mosquito complex contains malaria vector and non-vector species.

Pests, species causing diseases, and their vectors, have direct importance for humans. When they are found to be cryptic species complexes, the ecology and virulence of each of these species needs to be reevaluated to devise appropriate control strategies. An example are cryptic species in the malaria vector Anopheles, or the fungi causing cryptococcosis. 

Conservation Biology

When a species is found to comprise in fact several phylogenetically distinct species, each of these typically have smaller distribution ranges and population sizes than reckoned before. These different species can also differ in their ecology, e.g. having different breeding strategies or habitat requirements, which has to be taken into account for appropriate management. For example, giraffe populations and subspecies differ genetically to such an extent that they may be considered species; while the giraffe as a whole is not considered threatened, considering each cryptic species separately would mean a much higher level of threat.

References

1. ^ Ron, Santiago; Caminer, Marcel (2014). "Systematics of treefrogs of the Hypsiboas calcaratus and Hypsiboas fasciatus species complex (Anura, Hylidae) with the description of four new species". ZooKeys 370: 1–68. doi:10.3897/zookeys.370.6291. ISSN 1313-2970.
2. ^ ^a b Geml J, Tulloss RE, Laursen GA, Sasanova NA, Taylor DL. (2008). "Evidence for strong inter- and intracontinental phylogeographic structure in Amanita muscaria, a wind-dispersed ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution48 (2): 694–701. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.029. PMID 18547823.
3. ^ ^a b Roca AL, Georgiadis N, Pecon-Slattery J, O'Brien SJ. (2001). "Genetic evidence for two species of elephant in Africa". Science 293 (5534): 1473–1477. doi:10.1126/science.1059936. PMID 11520983.
4. ^ Moran P, Kornfield I. (1993). "Retention of an Ancestral Polymorphism in the Mbuna Species Flock (Teleostei: Cichlidae) of Lake Malawi (PDF). Molecular Biology and Evolution10 (5): 1015–1029.
5. ^ Brown JK, Frohlich DR, Rosell RC. (1995). "The sweetpotato or silverleaf whiteflies: biotypes of Bemisia tabaci or a species complex?". Annual Review of Entomology 40 (1): 511–534. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.002455.
6. ^ De Queiroz, Kevin (2007). "Species Concepts and Species Delimitation". Systematic Biology 56 (6): 879–886. doi:10.1080/10635150701701083 ISSN 1063-5157.
7. ^ ^a b Mayr E. (1970). "Morphological species characters and sibling species". Populations, Species, and Evolution. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 21–36. ISBN 0-674-69013-3.
8. ^ ^a b Horandl, E.; Greilhuber, J.; Klimova, K.; Paun, O.; Temsch, E.; Emadzade, K.; Hodalova, I. (2009). "Reticulate evolution and taxonomic concepts in the Ranunculus auricomus complex (Ranunculaceae): insights from analysis of morphological, karyological and molecular data" Taxon 58 (4): 1194–1215. PMC 2855680 PMID 20401184.
9. ^ Moritz C, Schneider CJ, Wake DB. (1992). "Evolutionary relationships within the Ensatina eschscholtzii complex confirm the ring species interpretation". Systematic Biology41 (3): 273–291. doi:10.1093/sysbio/41.3.273.
10. ^ Bowen BW, Bass AL, Rocha LA, Grant WS, Roberston DR. (2001). "Phylogeography of the trumpetfishes (Aulostomus): Ring species complex on a global scale". Evolution 55 (5): 1029–1039. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00619.x.

- Wikipedia 

NURSE CROP

In agriculture, a nurse crop is an annual crop used to assist in establishment of a perennial crop. The widest use of nurse crops is in the establishment of legumaceous plants such as alfalfa, clover, and trefoil. Occasionally nurse crops are used for establishment of perennial grasses.

Oats as nurse crop for alfalfa.

Nurse crops reduce the incidence of weeds, prevent erosion, and prevent excessive sunlight from reaching tender seedlings. Often the nurse crop can be harvested for grain, straw, hay, or pasture. Oats are the most common nurse crop, though other annual grains are also. Nurse cropping is also tall or dense-canopied plants, may protect more vulnerable species through shading or by providing a wind break.

POLYCULTURE

Polyculture is agriculture using multiple crops in the same space, in imitation of the diversity of natural ecosystems, and avoiding large stands of single crops, or monoculture. It includes multi-cropping, intercropping, companion planting, beneficial weeds, and alley cropping. It is the raising at the same time and place of more than one species of plant or animal. Polyculture is one of the principles of permaculture.

Advantages

Polyculture, though it often requires more labor, has two main advantages over monoculture.

Polyculture reduces susceptibility to disease. For example, a study in China showed that planting several varieties of rice in the same field increased yields by 89%, largely because of a dramatic (94%) decrease in the incidence of disease, which made pesticides redundant.

Polyculture increases local biodiversity. This is one example of reconciliation ecology, or accommodating biodiversity within human landscapes. This may also form part of a biological pest control program.

References

1. ^ Youyong Zhu; et al. (2000). "Genetic Diversity and Disease Control in Rice". Nature(406): 718–722. doi:10.1038/35021046.

- Wikipedia 

FOREST GARDENING

Forest gardening is a low maintenance sustainable plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut, trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting,  these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers, to build a woodland habitat.

Forest gardening is a prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas. In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates.

Robert Hart's forest garden in Shropshire.

History

Forest gardens are probably the world's oldest form of land use and most resilient agroecosystem. They originated in prehistoric times along jungle-clad river banks and in the wet foothills of monsoon regions. In the gradual process of  families improving their immediate environment, useful tree and vine species were identified, protected and improved whilst undesirable species were eliminated. Eventually superior foreign species were selected and incorporated into the gardens.

Forest gardens are still common in the tropics and known by various names such as: home gardens in Kerala in South India, Nepal, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania;  Kandyan forest gardens in Sri Lanka;  huertos familiares, the "family orchards" of Mexico; and pekarangan, the gardens of "complete design", in Java. These are also called agroforests and, where the wood components are short-statured, the term shrub garden is employed. Forest gardens have been shown to be a significant source of income and food security for local populations.

Robert Hart adapted forest gardening for the United Kingdom's temperate climate during the 1980s. His theories were later developed by Martin Crawford from the Agroforestry Research Trust and various permaculturalists such as Graham Bell, Patrick Whitefield, Dave Jacke and Geoff Lawton.

In tropical climates

Forest gardens, or home gardens, are common in the tropics, using intercropping to cultivate trees, crops and livestock on the same land. In Kerala in south India as well as in northeastern India  the home garden is the most common form of land use and is also found in Indonesia. One example combines coconut, black pepper, cocoa and pineapple. These gardens exemplify polyculture, and conserve much crop genetic diversity and heirloom plants that are not found in monocultures. Forest gardens have been loosely compared to the religious concept of the Garden of Eden.
Americas

The BBC's Unnatural Histories claimed that the Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness, has been shaped by humans for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening and terra preta. This was also explored in the bestselling book 1491 by author Charles C. Mann. Since the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have also been discovered on deforested land in the Amazon rainforest, furthering the evidence about Pre-Columbian civilizations.

On the Yucatán Peninsula, much of the Maya food supply was grown in "orchard-gardens", known as pet kot. The system takes its name from the low wall of stones (pet meaning circular and kot wall of loose stones) that characteristically surrounds the gardens.

Africa

In many African countries, for example Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Tanzania, gardens are widespread in rural, periurban and urban areas and they play an essential role in establishing food security. Most well known are the Chaga or Chagga gardens on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. These are an excellent example of an agroforestry system. In many countries, women are the main actors in home gardening and food is mainly produced for subsistence. In North-Africa, oasis layered gardening with palm trees, fruit trees and vegetables is a traditional type of forest garden.

Nepal

In Nepal, the Ghar Bagaincha, literally "home garden", refers to the traditional land use system around a homestead, where several species of plants are grown and maintained by household members and their products are primarily intended for the family consumption (Shrestha et al., 2002). The term “home garden” is often considered synonymous to the kitchen garden. However, they differ in terms of function, size, diversity, composition and features (Sthapit et al., 2006). In Nepal, 72% of households have home gardens of an area 2–11% of the total land holdings (Gautam et al., 2004). Because of their small size, the government has never identified home gardens as an important unit of food production and they thereby remain neglected from research and development. However, at the household level the system is very important as it is an important source of quality food and nutrition for the rural poor and, therefore, are important contributors to the household food security and livelihoods of farming communities in Nepal. The gardens are typically cultivated with a mixture of annual and perennial plants that can be harvested on a daily or seasonal basis. Biodiversity that has an immediate value is maintained in home gardens as women and children have easy access to preferred food. Home gardens, with their intensive and multiple uses, provide a safety net for households when food is scarce. These gardens are not only important sources of food, fodder, fuel, medicines, spices, herbs, flowers, construction materials and income in many countries, they are also important for the in situ conservation of a wide range of unique genetic resources for food and agriculture (Subedi et al., 2004). Many uncultivated, as well as neglected and underutilised species could make an important contribution to the dietary diversity of local communities (Gautam et al., 2004).

In addition to supplementing diet in times of difficulty, home gardens promote whole-family and whole-community involvement in the process of providing food. Children, the elderly, and those caring for them can participate in this infield agriculture, incorporating it with other household tasks and scheduling. This tradition has existed in many cultures around the world for thousands of years.

In mediterranean climates

The mediterranean climate has long, hot, rainless summers and relatively short, cool, rainy winters (Köppen climate classification Csa). Its climate conditions are highly variable within an area and modified locally by altitude, latitude, and the proximity to the Mediterranean. In the 1950s the Forest Research Department of the Ministry of Agriculture founded a botanical forest garden in the Sharon region in Israel, the Ilanot Forest. As the only one of its kind in Israel, it harbours more than seven hundred and fifty species of trees from locations all over the world, including the Japanese sago palm cycas revoluta, fig trees (ficus glomerata) stone pine trees (pinus pinea) that produce tasty pine nuts and adds to the biodiversity of Israel.
In temperate climates

Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" during the 1980s. Hart began farming at Wenlock Edge in Shropshire with the intention of providing a healthy and therapeutic environment for himself and his brother Lacon. Starting as relatively conventional smallholders, Hart soon discovered that maintaining large annual vegetable beds, rearing livestock and taking care of an orchard were tasks beyond their strength. However, a small bed of perennial vegetables and herbs he planted was looking after itself with little intervention.

Robert Hart, forest gardening pioneer

Following Hart's adoption of a raw vegan diet for health and personal reasons, he replaced his farm animals with plants. The three main products from a forest garden are fruit, nuts and green leafy vegetables.  He created a model forest garden from a 0.12 acre (500 m²) orchard on his farm and intended naming his gardening method ecological horticulture or ecocultivation. Hart later dropped these terms once he became aware that agroforestryand forest gardens were already being used to describe similar systems in other parts of the world. He was inspired by the forest farming methods of Toyohiko Kagawa and James Sholto Douglas, and the productivity of the Keralan home gardens as Hart explains:

From the agroforestry point of view, perhaps the world's most advanced country is the Indian state of Kerala, which boasts no fewer than three and a half million forest gardens...As an example of the extraordinary intensivity of cultivation of some forest gardens, one plot of only 0.12 hectares (0.30 acres) was found by a study group to have twenty-three young coconut palms, twelve cloves, fifty-six bananas, and forty-nine pineapples, with thirty pepper vines trained up its trees. In addition, the small holder grew fodder for his house-cow.

Seven-Layer System

The seven layers of the forest garden

Robert Hart pioneered a system based on the observation that the natural forest can be divided into distinct levels. He used intercropping to develop an existing small orchard of apples and pears into an edible polyculture landscape consisting of the following layers:

1. ‘Canopy layer’ consisting of the original mature fruit trees.
2. ‘Low-tree layer' of smaller nut and fruit trees on dwarfing root stocks.
3. ‘Shrub layer' of fruit bushes such as currants and berries.
4. ‘Herbaceous layer' of perennial vegetables and herbs.
5. ‘Rhizosphere' or ‘underground’ dimension of plants grown for their roots and tubers.
6. ‘Ground cover layer' of edible plants that spread horizontally.
7. ‘Vertical layer' of vines and climbers.

A key component of the seven-layer system was the plants he selected. Most of the traditional vegetable crops grown today, such as carrots, are sun loving plants not well selected for the more shady forest garden system. Hart favoured shade tolerant perennial vegetables.

Further Development

The Agroforestry Research Trust (ART), managed by Martin Crawford, runs experimental forest gardening projects on a number of plots in Devon, United Kingdom. Crawford describes a forest garden as a low-maintenance way of sustainably producing food and other household products.

Ken Fern had the idea that for a successful temperate forest garden a wider range of edible shade tolerant plants would need to be used. To this end, Fern created the organisation Plants for a Future (PFAF) which compiled a plant database suitable for such a system. Fern used the term woodland gardening, rather than forest gardening, in his book Plants for a Future.

The Movement for Compassionate Living (MCL) promote forest gardening and other types of vegan organic gardening to meet society's needs for food and natural resources. Kathleen Jannaway, the founder of MCL, wrote a book outlining a sustainable vegan future called Abundant Living in the Coming Age of the Tree in 1991. In 2009, the MCL provided a grant of £1,000 to the Bangor Forest Garden project in Gwynedd North West Wales.

In 2005, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier's two-volume book Edible Forest Gardensprovided a deeply researched reference focused on North American forest gardening climates, habitats, and species. The book attempts to ground forest gardening deeply in ecological science. The Apios Institute wiki grew out of their work, and seeks to document and share the experience of people around the world working with the species in polycultures.

Permaculture

Bill Mollison, who coined the term permaculture, visited Robert Hart at his forest garden in Wenlock Edge in October 1990. Hart's seven-layer system has since been adopted as a common permaculture design element.

Numerous permaculturalists are proponents of forest gardens, or food forests, such as Graham Bell, Patrick Whitefield, Dave Jacke, Eric Toensmeier and Geoff Lawton. Bell started building his forest garden in 1991 and wrote the book The Permaculture Garden in 1995, Whitefield wrote the book How to Make a Forest Garden in 2002, Jacke and Toensmeier co-authored the two volume book set Edible Forest Gardening in 2005, and Lawton presented the film Establishing a Food Forest in 2

Austrian Sepp Holzer practices "Holzer Permaculture" on his Krameterhof farm, at varying altitudes ranging from 1,100 to 1,500 metres above sea level. His designs create micro-climates with rocks, ponds and living wind barriers, enabling the cultivation of a variety of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers in a region that averages 4 °C, and with temperatures as low as -20 °C in the winter.

Projects

El Pilar on the Belize-Guatemala border features a forest garden to demonstrate traditional Maya agricultural practices. A further 1-acre model forest garden, called Känan K’aax (meaning well-tended garden in Mayan), is being funded by the National Geographic Society And developed at Santa Familia Primary School in Cayo. 

In the United States the largest known food forest on public land is believed to be the 7-acre Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, WA. Other forest garden projects include those at the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Basalt, Colorado and Montview Neighborhood farm in Northampton, Massachusetts.

In Canada food forester Richard Walker has been developing and maintaining food forests in the province of British Columbia for over 30 years. He developed a 3-acre food forest that when at maturity provided raw materials for a nursery and herbalism business as well as food for his family. The Living Centre have developed various forest garden projects in Ontario.

In the United Kingdom, other than those run by the Agroforestry Research Trust (ART), there are numerous forest garden projects such as the Bangor Forest Garden in Gwynedd,  North West Wales. Martin Crawford from ART administers the Forest Garden Network, an informal network of people and organisations around the world who are cultivating their own forest gardens.

Notes

1. ^ ^a b Crawford, Martin (2010). Creating a Forest Garden. Green Books. p. 18.
2. ^ Hart, Robert A. de J. (1996a), p.124: "Forest gardening, in the sense of finding uses for and attempting to cololntrol the growth of wild plants, is undoubtedly the oldest form of land use in the world."
3. ^ Douglas John McConnell (2003). The Forest Farms of Kandy: And Other Gardens of Complete Design, p.1, "Forest garden farms are probably the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem."
4. ^ Douglas John McConnell (1992). The Forest-Garden Farms of Kandy, Sri Lanka, p. 1. ISBN 9789251028988.
5. ^ Jacob, V. J.; Alles, W. S. (1987). "Kandyan gardens of Sri Lanka". Agroforestry Systems5 (2): 123. doi:10.1007/BF00047517.
6. ^ timeshighereducation.co.uk.
7. ^ Douglas John McConnell (1973). The economic structure of Kandyan forest-garden farms.
8. ^ Graham Bell (2004). The Permaculture Garden, p.129, "The Forest Garden...This is the original garden of Eden. It could be your garden too."
   • Also see Rob Hopkins (foreword), Martin Crawford (2010). Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops, p.10 "Perhaps what Hart created was the closest to what we imagine the Garden of Eden as being."
   • Helmut Lieth (1989). Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems: Biogeographical and Ecological Studies, p.611 "Important food plants, such as sago-producing palms, fruit-producing trees and medicinal plants were purposefully aggregated and tended in convenient places. Eventually, the forest garden, a kind of Garden of Eden, emerged. These jungle gardens on good soils of easy access required little maintenance and hardly any hard work."
   • Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier (2005). Edible Forest Gardens - Volume One, p.1
   • Robert Hart (1996a), p.80
   • Deborha d'Arms (2011). Jardin D'Or: A Treatise on Forest Gardening, Recreating Sustainable Gardens of Eden
9. ^ "Unnatural Histories - Amazon". BBC Four.
10. ^ Simon Romero (January 14, 2012). "Once Hidden by Forest, Carvings in Land Attest to Amazon’s Lost World". The New York Times.

References

• Crawford, Martin 2010. Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops. Totnes: Green Books. ISBN 1-900322-62-5.
• d'Arms, Deborha 2011. Jardin d’Or (Garden of Gold): A Treatise on Forest Gardening, Recreating Sustainable Gardens of Eden. Los Gatos, CA: Robertson Publishing. ISBN 978-161170029-9.
• Douglas, J. Sholto and Hart, Robert A. de J. 1985. Forest Farming. Intermediate Technology. ISBN 0-946688-30-3.
• Fern, Ken 1997. Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World. Hampshire: Permanent Publications. ISBN 1-85623-011-2.
• Hart, Robert A. de J. (1996a). Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape.  White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green. ISBN 0-930031-84-9.
• Hart, Robert A. de J. 1996b. Beyond the Forest Garden. Gaia Books. ISBN 1-85675-037-X.
• Jacke, Dave, and Toensmeier, Eric 2005. Edible Forest Gardens. Two volume set. Volume One: Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture, ISBN 1-931498-79-2. Volume Two: Ecological Design and Practice for Temperate Climate Permaculture, ISBN 1-931498-80-6. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.
• Jannaway, Kathleen 1991. Abundant Living in the Coming Age of the Tree, Movement for Compassionate Living. ISBN 0-9517328-0-3.
• Smith, Joseph Russell 1988 (first published in 1929). Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture. Island Press. ISBN 0-933280-44-0.
• Whitefield, P. 2002. How to Make a Forest Garden. Hampshire: Permanent Publications. ISBN 1-85623-008-2.

External Links

• Why Food Forests , Permaculture Research Institute
• Plant an Edible Forest Garde. Mother Earth News.
• The garden of the future?,  The Guardian.
• Edible Forest Gardens: an Invitation to Adventure, The Natural Farmer
• Forest gardens, Permaculture Association.
• El Pilar Forest Garden Network, information on traditional Maya forest gardening

- Wikipedia