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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.

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.

The swidden agroforestry system of the Lacandon Maya has allowed them to sustainably manage their land for hundreds of years without observed soil degradation. Lacandon land managers plant and care for many particular tree species during the fallow period of their multi-successional swidden system to facilitate the restoration of soil fertility. Soil samples were taken around six of tree species ( Poulsenia armata , Cedrela odorata , Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Swietenia macrophylla, Lonchocarpus guatemalensis , and Heliocarpus appendiculatus ) in different-aged sites to evaluate their effect on soil fertility. Soil nutrient levels increased in the later successional stages of the Lacandon agroforestry system. Available phosphorus was elevated in soils beneath P. armata, C. odorata, and L. guatemalensis trees, and decreased with distance away from the trunk. L. guatemalensis presented similar effects with total nitrogen and soil organic matter content. These results demonstrate that Lacandon Maya agroforestry management choices relate positively to soil restoration. This TEK could lend guidance to countering the ecological degradation of the surrounding Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve region and for other humid Neotropical lowland forests.

The Lacandon Maya is an indigenous group who live in Chiapas, Mexico. Their traditional lifeways involve swidden, sequential agroforestry management that mimics ecological disturbance and modifies succession. Lacandon farmers use fire to clear small plots for polyculture milpa agroforests, which they subsequently fallow. They actively manage all stages of their agroforests to provide ecosystem services and facilitate site recovery. However, it is unclear whether or how quickly the ecosystem structure of Lacandon agroforests matches that of a mature forest. Therefore, this study quantified canopy cover, basal area, ground cover, and litter layers and depth to empirically evaluate successional trends in vegetation and litter structure. Our results show that the Lacandon agroforest structure typically recovers to mature forest levels, but the speed and nature of this recovery vary by metric. They also indicate Lacandon traditional agroforestry is predicated on nuanced understanding of tropical forest successional dynamics, as illustrated by Lacandon farmers’ recognition of successional stages that correspond to patterns in vegetation and leaf litter structure. As such, Lacandon ecological knowledge has the potential to facilitate the restoration of degraded tropical forests in Chiapas, Mexico. However, our findings also demonstrate that shortening fallow periods will undermine the ecological integrity of this traditional agricultural system.