The mulberry dike-fish pond complex: A Chinese ecosystem of land-water interaction on the Pearl River Delta

The Pearl River Delta offers humans a variety of land-use alternatives. A complex ecosystem which has been in existence in the Delta for centuries has greatly contributed to the region's agricultural productivity. The principal components are mulberry trees, silkworms, pond fish, and humans, interrelated in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way. The system is not only highly efficient and soundly balanced ecologically, but provides much higher economic returns than do other agrarian practices in the Delta.