The Guano Wars: The War on Poop
Before human civilization, plants obtained phosphorus from
the flooding and weathering of soils, as well as the natural
composting of organic matter. After the dawn of
agriculture, humans eventually figured out
that adding manure and compost to their
crops would increase their harvests.
This was furthered by the addition
of the inedible remains of animals,
including bones and fish. After
the famines of the 18th century,
a surge in farm production was
necessary to revamp the withered
populations of Western Europe.
Then in 1802, explorer Alexander
von Humboldt (yes, the namesake
of Humboldt County) documented
the agricultural techniques used by
the indigenous people of Peru, who
used seabird guano as a fertilizer. The
local inhabitants understood the value of the
phosphorus-rich guano, as harm to the seabirds
was punishable by death.
Islands off South America containing large seabird guano
reserves as deep as 300 ft. were soon coveted by the Western
world. The guano reserves peaked and declined, and
political and military battles broke out over control of the
resource. This culminated in the Guano Wars of the mid1860s between Spain and an alliance between Chile and
Peru. Yes, it was a war over piles of bird poop. The guano
reserves were mostly depleted and unattractive to market
demands by 1900, and the world found a new source of
phosphorus: mined rock phosphate.
of available phosphorus must be developed and our entire
system of global food production must be re-evaluated.
The Phosphorus Cycle: From Mine to Fork
The current system of getting phosphorus to
a plant and then to humans is extremely
inefficient. For example, 80% of the rock
phosphate mined for agricul