Agroecological profile of plants used as production factors and as management components in tropical polyculture systems.

Polyculture plantings enriched by controlled growth of secondary vegetation after slash and burn treatment are suitable systems for recuperation of degraded areas in Central Amazonia. In order to adapt polycultures to their indivicual sites, predominantly indigenous useful plants have to be combined. These plants act as production factors and as site management components. There is urgent need to study the inherent ecological adaptability and phenotype flexibility of these plants, their specific nutrient needs, their reaction to environmental factors and their impact on their specific sites in order to work out rational combinations of plants for resistant and resilient polyculture systems. The development of a descriptor system for polyculture system plants is on its way. The results of the SHIFT Projects ENV 23, 23/2, 42, 45, and 52 contribute to this descriptor system