Demographic, socio-political and climatic changes can drastically alter agricultural land management practices, affecting the availability of agriculturally relevant nutrients in the soil. This project investigates the use, reconstruction and abandonment of agricultural terraces and the implications these conditions have on agricultural soil properties of the Andagua Valley in the Western Cordillera of the Southern Peruvian Andes. During the 2016 summer field season, topsoil samples were collected from cultivated and abandoned agricultural terraces between 3229m and 3688m a. s. l. with a range of aspects and ages. Collaboration with a team of archaeologists and anthropologists gave insight into the local and regional history, and helped with the interpretation of the soil data. Organic carbon percentage and pH of abandoned soils are slightly lower than cultivated soils, similar to results in the Colca Valley (Sandor and Eash 1996), but are not dramatically different enough to negatively impact the long-term fertility. However, the variable distribution of cultivation and abandonment across the Andagua Valley is distinct from the vertical terrace organization in the Colca Valley. These patchworks of terraces are further enabled by the soil properties in the valley within the particular sociopolitical and cultural contexts of the Peruvian Andes.
","abstract_html":"<p>Demographic, socio-political and climatic changes can drastically alter agricultural land management practices, affecting the availability of agriculturally relevant nutrients in the soil. This project investigates the use, reconstruction and abandonment of agricultural terraces and the implications these conditions have on agricultural soil properties of the Andagua Valley in the Western Cordillera of the Southern Peruvian Andes. During the 2016 summer field season, topsoil samples were collected from cultivated and abandoned agricultural terraces between 3229m and 3688m a. s. l. with a range of aspects and ages. Collaboration with a team of archaeologists and anthropologists gave insight into the local and regional history, and helped with the interpretation of the soil data. Organic carbon percentage and pH of abandoned soils are slightly lower than cultivated soils, similar to results in the Colca Valley (Sandor and Eash 1996), but are not dramatically different enough to negatively impact the long-term fertility. However, the variable distribution of cultivation and abandonment across the Andagua Valley is distinct from the vertical terrace organization in the Colca Valley. These patchworks of terraces are further enabled by the soil properties in the valley within the particular sociopolitical and cultural contexts of the Peruvian Andes.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Murphy, Blaise"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["J. Michael Daniels, Ph.D.","Donald G. Sullivan","Erika Trigoso","Lawrence Conyers"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:30Z","subjects":["Agricultural terraces","Andes","Erosion","Land management","Peru","Soil","Agronomy and Crop Sciences","Geography","Latin American Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Terracing, Land Management and Agricultural Soils in the Andagua Valley of the Southern Peruvian Andes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["J. Michael Daniels, Ph.D.","Donald G. Sullivan","Erika Trigoso","Lawrence Conyers"],"dc:creator":["Murphy, Blaise"],"dc:date.available":["2017-07-25T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Demographic, socio-political and climatic changes can drastically alter agricultural land management practices, affecting the availability of agriculturally relevant nutrients in the soil. This project investigates the use, reconstruction and abandonment of agricultural terraces and the implications these conditions have on agricultural soil properties of the Andagua Valley in the Western Cordillera of the Southern Peruvian Andes. During the 2016 summer field season, topsoil samples were collected from cultivated and abandoned agricultural terraces between 3229m and 3688m a. s. l. with a range of aspects and ages. Collaboration with a team of archaeologists and anthropologists gave insight into the local and regional history, and helped with the interpretation of the soil data. Organic carbon percentage and pH of abandoned soils are slightly lower than cultivated soils, similar to results in the Colca Valley (Sandor and Eash 1996), but are not dramatically different enough to negatively impact the long-term fertility. However, the variable distribution of cultivation and abandonment across the Andagua Valley is distinct from the vertical terrace organization in the Colca Valley. These patchworks of terraces are further enabled by the soil properties in the valley within the particular sociopolitical and cultural contexts of the Peruvian Andes.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1257"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["Agricultural terraces","Andes","Erosion","Land management","Peru","Soil","Agronomy and Crop Sciences","Geography","Latin American Studies"],"dc:title":["Terracing, Land Management and Agricultural Soils in the Andagua Valley of the Southern Peruvian Andes"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:30Z"}