XVI International Botanical Congess
Although agriculture is commonly the most important activity among indigenous peoples, household economy frequently involves other practices such as silviculture and harvesting a number of plant products from both wild and managed populations. Based on a series of examples from Mesoamerica, this paper shows that by combining both temporarily and spatially different land use forms, indigenous peoples maximize the number and variety of products available for subsistence. From an ecological point of view, indigenous subsistence strategies involve the manipulation of plant populations and communities as well as managing forest regeneration. The sustainability and the form in which these practices are combined, is a result of the balance between the demand of the plant products and the availability of the plant resources in time and space.