Amelioration of Soil by Trees: A Review of Current Concepts and Practices

The utilization of marginal and degraded lands, often associated with regions of high population densities, has high international priority for food and fuel production, erosion control and conservation. It is commonly believed that the enhancement of fertility of these soils can be achieved by the use of trees, particularly by manipulation of the associated soil biological processes. In this volume, this belief is subject to initial scrutiny and various proposals are made for the research to investigate the links between trees and soil fertility.This volume represents the collection of papers presented at the Commonwealth Science Council’s Agroforestry meeting in India in March 1986 for Africa and Asia.