Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations - Kootenay Local Agricultural Society

280
nitrogen fertilization (continued)
sion application and, 242; productivity
and, 184, 191, 193, 196–97, 239
Nobel Peace Prize, 169, 197
North African agriculture, 64–65, 69–73
North Carolina, erosion in, 139, 140–41
no-till methods: adoption of, 211, 213, 241,
242; advantages of, 211–13; erosion
and, 24, 212; organic farming movement
and, 205–7, 211–13
nutrients in soil, 18, 119, 189; availability of,
191–92, 205; dependence of life on,
14–15; discovery of, 183–84
oasis hypothesis, 30
Ocean Island, 187, 188
Oddson, Gisli, 225
O horizon, 21
Oklahoma Territory, 146
organic intensive farming: long-run advantages
of, 205–10; origins of, 202–5
organic matter: erosion rate and, 20–21, 23;
floodplains and, 41; healthy soil and,
104, 201, 204–5; methods for retention
of, 202–5, 242; O horizon and,
21; terra preta soil and, 142–44
organic methods: adoption of, 241, 242;
Cuba and, 231–32; soil building and,
208–9
outsourcing of food production, 110, 125;
industrialization in Europe and,
110
overgrazing: African Sahel and, 167;
ancient agriculture and, 36, 55, 65,
70, 72, 73; cattle in Amazon and, 117;
Chinese soil loss and, 46; Iceland
and, 225, 226
Pacific Islands Company, 187
Palissy, Bernard, 93
Panama, 78–79
Parthenon, 53
Pausanias, 62
Peale, C. W., 125
Pennsylvania agriculture, 127, 129, 194. See
also Rodale Institute, Kutztown,
Pennsylvania
Persian Gulf, silt buildup in, 39
index
Pertinax, 64
Peru: Colca Valley agriculture in, 80–81;
island guano deposits and, 185–87
pest control, natural methods of, 207, 242
pesticides: costs of, and profitability, 199;
genetically engineered crops and, 205;
soil-dwelling organisms and, 20
El Petén, Guatamala, 76–77
Philippines, 165
Phoenician civilization, 71–72
phosphate mining: South American guano
islands and, 187–88; in U.S., 193–94
phosphorus, 16, 18, 193; fertilization with,
and productivity, 239; precision application
of, 242
Piedmont region, in southeastern United
States, 138
Pierce, Franklin, 187
Pimentel, David, 174–75
plants: affinities with soil types and, 96;
cycle of life and, 14–16; domestication
of, 30–31, 32–33, 34; elements needed
for growth, 16; nitrogen fixing and,
18; symbiotic soil biota and, 16–17.
See also vegetation
Plato, 51, 58
Playfair, John, 105–6
plowing: ancient agriculture and, 37, 41;
ancient Greece and, 51–52, 53, 54–55;
ancient Rome and, 58, 61; cautions
against, 156, 162; conservation tillage
and, 211–13; as conterproductive,
203–4, 205, 206; effects of, 180; erosion
in China and, 45–46; mechanization
and, 146, 150–51, 151; medieval
Europe and, 89, 90, 91; for soil
improvement, 61, 95, 124, 149, 211–13.
See also no-till methods
Plowman’s Folly (Faulkner), 203
Poike Peninsula, Easter Island, 220–21
politics: conservation programs and,
173–74; nomadic cultures and, 166.
See also colonialism; social factors;
war
polyculture, 206–7
Pontine Marshes, 58
population growth: control of, 106–8, 167,
223–24; early spread of agriculture