Soil bioengineering measures in Latin America: Authocthonal cuttings suitability

Abstract

The variety of Soil bioengineering techniques usable for disaster mitigation, environmental restoration and poverty reduction is nowadays little known in developing countries. Research on authochtonal plants suitable for this kind of works is the essential first step for the divulgation of this discipline. The present paper is focused on this issue related to the realization of various typologies of Soil Bio-engineering works in the Humid tropic of Ecuador. Realizing live palisades alongside an unpaved road, an experimental plot was obtained by planting 100 cuttings of each of the following species: Brugmansia versicolor Lagerh (local common name: Guanto); Euphorbia cotinifolia L. (local common name: Lechoso); Malvaviscus penduliflorus DC. (local common name: Cucarda), Trichanthera gigantea (Humb. & Bonpl.) Nees (local common names: Nacedero, quiebrabarriga, inchabarriga). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.