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Littoral wetland plant species such as Typha domingensis and Schoenoplectus californicus both locally called tul provide diverse ecosystem services (ES) in Lake Atitlan. These ES include removal of pollutants, oxygenation, and raw material for handicrafts. Human communities, most of whom are Indigenous Maya, actively steward littoral wetlands informed by their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Our goal was to assess the wetland condition in four Maya Tz'utujil communities (Santiago Atitlan, San Pedro, San Juan and San Pablo La Laguna, Guatemala), each with different management practices. We used a four-level wetland condition assessment: (1) littoral vegetation extent measured with remote Sentinel-2 and Google Earth photographs; (2) field plant surveys to measure vegetation structure and plant diversity; (3) wetland stressor assessment (stressors analyzed were land use, non-native macrophyte species [Hydrilla verticillata] and lake-level fluctuations); and (4) interviews with Maya Tz’utujil tuleros, fishers and artisans. Santiago stood out as having the highest cover and number of patches for all three species, reflecting its distinctive characteristics (e.g., lakeshore landforms and extent of wetlands) and the role of Indigenous wetland management. Of the four Maya communities, Santiago and San Juan had healthier wetlands despite being most affected by fluctuations in lake water level, reflecting the value of traditional management practices. Indigenous wetland management, informed by TEK, includes actions that sustain wetlands from stressors and global changes, including tul planting, harvesting, and extraction of non-native invasive macrophytes. Ecological value embedded in Indigenous resource management suggests the need to include these practices in governmental environmental management and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lacandon Maya have managed their lands in Chiapas, Mexico for hundreds of years without long-term soil degradation by applying their traditional swidden agroforestry system. Lacandon land managers plant and care for a number of tree species during the fallow period in part to facilitate natural succession and enhance soil fertility. We evaluated the effects of five of these species (Poulsenia armata, Cedrela odorata, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Swietenia macrophylla, and Lonchocarpus guatemalensis) on soil-dwelling nematodes, which play an important role in biogeochemical cycling. Only L. guatemalensis had a significant effect on the population of plant parasitic nematodes relative to the total nematode population, which demonstrates its potential utility in reducing pressures on plant growth and facilitating the regeneration of vegetation in secondary forests. In general, larger diameter trees tended to support larger nematode populations in nearby soils, possibly due to organic matter enrichment. Bacterivorous nematodes dominated the nematode community throughout succession, as is typical in agroecosystems with regular organic matter enrichment. However, counter to expectations, bacterivorous nematode dominance did not appear to be directly related to organic matter deposition in Lacandon agroforests. Nematode trophic group populations changed over time in secondary Lacandon agroforests, alternating between elevated and low populations in successive Lacandon agroforestry management stages. Our results demonstrate that the effects these trees have on soil fertility are likely species-specific and not necessarily a function of altering surrounding nematode communities. The inconclusiveness of our findings underscores the challenge of discriminating the individual species' effects in the context of the agroforestry systems of which they are a part, particularly with regard to highly variable soil microfauna communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Lacandon Maya is expressed in their swidden (i.e., slash-and-burn), sequential agroforestry system. Successional pathways are initiated through controlled burns of secondary forest and by cultivating milpa: a swidden polyculture agroecosystem dominated by maize (corn; Zea mays). While past research demonstrated that traditional Maya milpas yield large quantities of corn that can meet caloric requirements for Lacandon communities, no studies have comprehensively quantified the yields of other crops cultivated in Lacandon milpas or assessed whether they can meet other nutritional requirements for local people. Using a case study approach, this research measured the agricultural yields and nutritional content of all foods (including crops and wild game) harvested from a traditional Lacandon milpa. Following traditional Lacandon agroforestry management practices, we performed a controlled burn of secondary forest and planted crops and trees in an experimental milpa in Lacanja Chansayab, Chiapas, Mexico. Over 3 years, we harvested, weighed, and calculated the nutritional content of all foodstuffs obtained from the milpa. Assuming an average family size of 5.3 individuals, yields from an average-sized milpa can meet most United States Food and Drug Administration daily value nutritional requirements per capita, including calories, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, zinc, and niacin. Diets derived exclusively from milpa may be deficient in saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, calcium, and iodine, and harvests vary intra- and inter-annually. Lacandon farmers can supplement these harvests by foraging in their managed forest. These results underscore the potential of Lacandon agroforestry management to provide rural smallholder farmers in the Lacandon rainforest with food sovereignty while maintaining nearby forest cover to conserve biodiversity and other ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]