Effects of Landscape Segregation on Livelihood Vulnerability: Moving From Extensive Shifting Cultivation to Rotational Agriculture and Natural Forests in Northern Laos

This study investigates four decades of socio-economic and environmental change in a shifting cultivation landscape in the northern uplands of Laos. Historical changes in land cover and land use were analyzed using a chronological series of remote sensing data. Impacts of landscape change on local livelihoods were investigated in seven villages through interviews with various stakeholders. The study reveals that the complex mosaics of agriculture and forest patches observed in the study area have long constituted key assets for the resilience of local livelihood systems in the face of environmental and socio-economic risks. However, over the past 20 years, a process of segregating agricultural and forest spaces has increased the vulnerability of local land users. This process is a direct outcome of policies aimed at increasing national forest cover, eradicating shifting cultivation and fostering the emergence of more intensive and commercial agricultural practices. We argue that agriculture-forest segregation should be buffered in such a way that a diversity of livelihood opportunities and economic development pathways can be maintained.     

Efficacy of Integrating Herder Knowledge and Ecological Methods for Monitoring Rangeland Degradation in Northern Kenya

The world-wide debate on land degradation in arid lands, usually linked to local land use practices, does not reflect methodological advancements in terms of assessments and monitoring that integrate local communities’ knowledge with ecological methods. In this paper, we evaluated the efficacy of three different methods related to herder assessments and monitoring of land degradation; herder knowledge and ecological methods of assessing impacts of livestock grazing along gradients of land use from settlement and joint monitoring of selected marked transects to understand long-term vegetation changes in southwestern Marsabit northern Kenya. The performance of each method was carefully evaluated and interpreted in terms of the indicators used by herders and ecologists. Herder interpretations were then related to ecologists’ empirical analysis of land degradation. The Rendille nomads have a complex understanding of land degradation which combines environmental and livestock productivity indicators, compared to conventional scientific approaches that use plant-based indicators alone. According to the herders, the grazing preference of various livestock species (e.g., grazers versus browsers) influences perceptions of land degradation, suggesting degradation is a relative term. The herders distinguished short-term changes in vegetation cover from long-term changes associated with over-exploitation. They attributed current environmental degradation around pastoral camps, which shift land use between the alternating wet and dry seasons, to year-round grazing. We deduced from long-term observation that herders interpret vegetation changes in terms of rainfall variability, utilitarian values and intensification of land use. Long-term empirical data (23 years) from repeated sampling corroborated herder interpretations. Land degradation was mostly expressed in terms of declines in woody plant species, while spatial and temporal dynamics of herbaceous species reflected the effects of seasonality. The efficacy of the three methods were inferred using explanatory strengths of ecological theory; insightfulness of the methods for describing land degradation and the likelihood of using the methods for promoting local community participation in the implementation of the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (CCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).     

Assessment of mangrove management alternatives in village-fringe forests of Indian Sunderbans: resilient initiatives or short-term nature exploitations?

The village-fringe mangroves throughout the Indian Sunderbans have become ecologically fragile due to decades of unsustainable utilization practices and changes in hydro-geomorphic conditions. These mangroves are generally managed by the state-run Forest Department, community institutions and non-governmental organizations either separately or in collaboration. This paper attempts to assess the forest health of three such mangrove sites managed by these different institutions using quantitative vegetation surveys. Transformations of land use and land cover patterns of these sites from 2003 to 2013 have also been analyzed by geospatial techniques. Moreover, a qualitative estimation of the products and services provided by these mangroves was performed through participatory appraisals among the local forest dependents to comprehend the level of economic sustenance achieved. Results indicate that the overall performance of the site managed by a non-governmental organization in collaboration with local forest dependents was better than the other two sites managed by Forest Department and joint state-community institution respectively. Proper recognition of the causes of forest degradation and subsequent creation of zonal plantations with respect to species associations and utilization patterns were identified as the prime determinants of comparative success of the former site. Restructuring of community institutions by strengthening participation of actual forest dependents in decision making was suggested to be beneficial for mangrove restoration of sites performing poorly. In general, adaptation of collaborative approaches towards addressing the issues of tenure rights, legitimate sharing of mangrove produces and services, conflict resolutions among and within these institutions were found to be imperative for resilient management of these mangroves.     

森林退化/衰退的研究与实践

森林退化可以理解为森林面积减少、结构丧失、质量降低、功能下降;森林衰退则是森林退化的一种形式,指森林（树木）在生长发育过程中出现的生理机能下降、生长发育滞缓、生产力降低甚至死亡,以及地力衰退等状态.国内外研究表明,森林采伐/毁林是造成森林面积减少的最主要原因,有关森林采伐/毁林引起的森林退化研究主要集中在森林退化的后果、国家/国际政策的影响、加强全球性合作以及寻求解决途径等方面.森林衰退原因可归纳为：工、农业污染,自然胁迫/致衰因子,林分动态发生变化,森林衰退病或生态病,人工纯林以及纯林连栽导致的地力、生产力衰退等.中国的森林退化/衰退现状与世界各地森林退化基本一致,但由于历史原因,中国森林退化又有其自身特点：近一个世纪的强烈人为干扰,使大部分原始天然林退化为次生林;中国拥有世界上最多的人工林,且多数人工林均具有质量差、功能低等衰退特征.本文在综述森林退化/衰退研究与实践基础上,提出中国现代森林退化/衰退的的主要原因,给出中国森林退化/衰退的基本对策.     

Carbon benefits from Forest Transitions promoting biomass expansions and thickening

The growth of the global terrestrial sink of carbon dioxide has puzzled scientists for decades. We propose that the role of land management practices—from intensive forestry to allowing passive afforestation of abandoned lands—have played a major role in the growth of the terrestrial carbon sink in the decades since the mid twentieth century. The Forest Transition, a historic transition from shrinking to expanding forests, and from sparser to denser forests, has seen an increase of biomass and carbon across large regions of the globe. We propose that the contribution of Forest Transitions to the terrestrial carbon sink has been underestimated. Because forest growth is slow and incremental, changes in the carbon density in forest biomass and soils often elude detection. Measurement technologies that rely on changes in two‐dimensional ground cover can miss changes in forest density. In contrast, changes from abrupt and total losses of biomass in land clearing, forest fires and clear cuts are easy to measure. Land management improves over time providing important present contributions and future potential to climate change mitigation. Appreciating the contributions of Forest Transitions to the sequestering of atmospheric carbon will enable its potential to aid in climate change mitigation.     

Predation of potential insect pests in oil palm plantations,rubber tree plantations,and fruit orchards

In human‐modified landscapes, important ecological functions such as predation are negatively affected by anthropogenic activities, including the use of pesticides and habitat degradation. Predation of insect pests is an indicator of healthy ecosystem functioning, which provides important ecosystem services, especially for agricultural systems. In this study, we compare predation attempts from arthropods, mammals, and birds on artificial caterpillars in the understory, between three tropical agricultural land‐use types: oil palm plantations, rubber tree plantations, and fruit orchards. We collected a range of local and landscape‐scale data including undergrowth vegetation structure; elevation; proximity to forest; and canopy cover in order to understand how environmental variables can affect predation. In all three land‐use types, our results showed that arthropods and mammals were important predators of artificial caterpillars and there was little predation by birds. We did not find any effect of the environmental variables on predation. There was an interactive effect between land‐use type and predator type. Predation by mammals was considerably higher in fruit orchards and rubber tree than in oil palm plantations, likely due to their ability to support higher abundances of insectivorous mammals. In order to maintain or enhance natural pest control in these common tropical agricultural land‐use types, management practices that benefit insectivorous animals should be introduced, such as the reduction of pesticides, improvement of understory vegetation, and local and landscape heterogeneity.     

Do Property Rights Matter for Conservation? Family Land, Forests and Trees in Saint Lucia, West Indies

Property rights are a central topic in conservation debates, but their influence on environmental outcomes is rarely carefully assessed. This study compared land use, tree planting practices and arboreal vegetation on government, estate private, smallholder private and communal ??family?? lands in Saint Lucia. The influence of tenure was apparent, but overall not a strong predictor of either farmer practices or vegetation characteristics. Higher abundance of planted trees on smallholder private lands was offset by greater abundance of natural forest trees on estate and family lands. Tree planting and abandonment of cultivation (with ensuing afforestation) were commonplace on all three types of land. The influence of tenure was swamped by other factors shaping farmer decisions to plant trees, cut trees or abandon cultivation, including local topography and changing commodity and labor markets. Findings from this study challenge the assumption that property rights necessarily determine resource and environmental outcomes.     

Accelerating forest loss in Southeast Asian Massif in the 21st century: A case study in Nan Province,Thailand

Farmers are carving a new agricultural frontier from the forests in the Southeast Asian Massif (SAM) in the 21st century, triggering significant environment degradation at the local scale; however, this frontier has been missed by existing global land use and forest loss analyses. In this paper, we chose Thailand's Nan Province, which is located in the geometric center of SAM, as a case study, and combined high resolution forest cover change product with a fine‐scale land cover map to investigate land use dynamics with respect to topography in this region. Our results show that total forest loss in Nan Province during 2001–2016 was 66,072 ha (9.1% of the forest cover in 2000), and that the majority of this lost forest (92%) had been converted into crop (mainly corn) fields by 2017. Annual forest loss is significantly correlated with global corn price (p < 0.01), re‐confirming agricultural expansion as a key driver of forest loss in Nan Province. Along with the increasing global corn price, forest loss in Nan Province has accelerated at a rate of 2,616 ± 730 ha per decade (p < 0.01). Global corn price peaked in 2012, in which year annual forest loss also reached its peak (7,523 ha); since then, the location of forest loss has moved to steeper land at higher elevations. Spatially, forest loss driven by this smallholder agricultural expansion emerges as many small patches that are not recognizable even at a moderate spatial resolution (e.g. 300 m). It explains how existing global land use/cover change products have missed the widespread and rapid forest loss in SAM. It also highlights the importance of high‐resolution observations to evaluate the environmental impacts of agricultural expansion and forest loss in SAM, including, but not limited to, the impacts on the global carbon cycle, regional hydrology, and local environmental degradation.     

Prehistoric human impact on rainforest biodiversity in highland New Guinea

In the highlands of New Guinea, the development of agriculture as an indigenous innovation during the Early Holocene is considered to have resulted in rapid loss of forest cover, a decrease in forest biodiversity and increased land degradation over thousands of years. But how important is human activity in shaping the diversity of vegetation communities over millennial time-scales? An evaluation of the change in biodiversity of forest habitats through the Late Glacial transition to the present in five palaeoecological sites from highland valleys, where intensive agriculture is practised today, is presented. A detailed analysis of the longest and most continuous record from Papua New Guinea is also presented using available biodiversity indices (palynological richness and biodiversity indicator taxa) as a means of identifying changes in diversity. The analysis shows that the collapse of key forest habitats in the highland valleys is evident during the Mid–Late Holocene. These changes are best explained by the adoption of new land management practices and altered disturbance regimes associated with agricultural activity, though climate change may also play a role. The implications of these findings for ecosystem conservation and sustainability of agriculture in New Guinea are discussed.     

基于1980—2018年土地利用变化的福建省生境质量时空演变

分析土地利用变化引起生境质量的时空演变特征可以为区域生态文明建设提供科学依据。本研究以生态文明先行示范区福建省为例,以1980—2018年土地利用变化数据为基础,利用InVEST模型对福建省生境质量进行评估,通过地理探测器分析影响因素,结合土地利用变化规律分析福建省生境质量时空演化特征。结果表明: 研究期间,福建省主要土地利用变化类型是耕地转为林地和建设用地,林地转为耕地、草地和建设用地,草地转为林地,分别占总土地利用变化面积的8.4%、14.5%、7.6%、17.1%、6.4%和31.7%。1980—2018年,福建省总体生境质量处于较高级别(0.6～0.8),局部区域呈现生境退化和生境质量降低的趋势。影响福建省生境质量空间分异的第一主导因素是土地利用类型的变化,社会经济因素对沿海县市生境质量的影响显著高于对全域及内陆县市生境质量的影响。沿海地区建设用地快速侵占周边的林草地,使得生境加速退化,且这个过程具有不可逆性;内陆地区中心城区的生境退化会经历相似的过程,只是在速度和规模上可能低于沿海地区。从长远来看,可通过控制城市规模、发展城市生态绿化及构建生态安全格局,以减缓生境退化的速度。     

Evidence of incipient forest transition in southern Mexico

Case studies of land use change have suggested that deforestation across Southern Mexico is accelerating. However, forest transition theory predicts that trajectories of change can be modified by economic factors, leading to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in rates of change that may take the form of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This study aimed to assess the evidence regarding potential forest transition in Southern Mexico by classifying regional forest cover change using Landsat imagery from 1990 through to 2006. Patterns of forest cover change were found to be complex and non-linear. When rates of forest loss were averaged over 342 municipalities using mixed-effects modelling the results showed a significant (p<0.001) overall reduction of the mean rate of forest loss from 0.85% per year in the 1990-2000 period to 0.67% in the 2000-2006 period. The overall regional annual rate of deforestation has fallen from 0.33% to 0.28% from the 1990s to 2000s. A high proportion of the spatial variability in forest cover change cannot be explained statistically. However analysis using spline based general additive models detected underlying relationships between forest cover and income or population density of a form consistent with the EKC. The incipient forest transition has not, as yet, resulted in widespread reforestation. Forest recovery remains below 0.20% per year. Reforestation is mostly the result of passive processes associated with reductions in the intensity of land use. Deforestation continues to occur at high rates in some focal areas. A transition could be accelerated if there were a broader recognition among policy makers that the regional rate of forest loss has now begun to fall. The changing trajectory provides an opportunity to actively restore forest cover through stimulating afforestation and stimulating more sustainable land use practices. The results have clear implications for policy aimed at carbon sequestration through reducing deforestation and enhancing forest growth.     

Linking changes in knowledge and attitudes with successful land restoration in indigenous communities

Successful land restoration in impoverished rural environments may require adoption of new resource management strategies; however, feedbacks between local knowledge and introduced restoration technologies have rarely been articulated. We used interview scenarios to analyze the role of local knowledge in land restoration at a large‐scale, long‐term watershed rehabilitation and wet meadow restoration program in the highland Andes. Indigenous communities built over 30,000 check dams, terraces and infiltration ditches, and the density of erosion control structures and visible restoration varied greatly across participant communities. We developed a survey reaching across the highest restoration management intensity, lowest restoration management intensity, and non‐project (control) communities. We interviewed 49 respondents using 14 scenarios based on photos depicting biophysical phenomena related to land degradation and restoration. The scenarios generated 5,828 statements that were coded into 964 distinct concepts. As expected, respondents that built more erosion control structures had more detailed knowledge of check dam construction and ecosystem development following physical interventions. More significantly, there was a shift in the conceptualization of and attitudes toward land degradation and restoration. Respondents who built more erosion control structures were more likely to: attribute wetland hydrology to groundwater recharge rather than myth constructs about seeps and springs; attribute land degradation to human rather than mythological causes; and have more proactive attitudes regarding land restoration. Evidence suggests that when addressing severe land degradation or restoring ecosystem processes not readily observable by indigenous people, such as groundwater flow and wetland recharge, restoration success will depend on combining local and scientific knowledge.     

Local adaptation,dispersal evolution,and the spatial eco‐evolutionary dynamics of invasion

Local adaptation and dispersal evolution are key evolutionary processes shaping the invasion dynamics of populations colonizing new environments. Yet their interaction is largely unresolved. Using a single‐species population model along a one‐dimensional environmental gradient, we show how local competition and dispersal jointly shape the eco‐evolutionary dynamics and speed of invasion. From a focal introduction site, the generic pattern predicted by our model features a temporal transition from wave‐like to pulsed invasion. Each regime is driven primarily by local adaptation, while the transition is caused by eco‐evolutionary feedbacks mediated by dispersal. The interaction range and cost of dispersal arise as key factors of the duration and speed of each phase. Our results demonstrate that spatial eco‐evolutionary feedbacks along environmental gradients can drive strong temporal variation in the rate and structure of population spread, and must be considered to better understand and forecast invasion rates and range dynamics.     

Restoration of degraded lands through bioenergy plantations

Land degradation has become a worldwide problem. Increasing population, the conversion of forest land into cropland, and its gradual degradation due to unsustainable agricultural practices have led to this prevailing scenario. Unsustainable agriculture practices like use of chemical fertilizers for increasing crop productivity (recorded 281.75 lakh tonnes in the year 2010–2011) also leads to degradation of land. A total of 4.1 million hectares of culturable wasteland was recorded in the same year. Also, crude oil consumption is increasing at a rate of 1.7% which prompts for massive input of crude oil. Thus, biofuel plantations have recently attracted a lot of attention because of several advantages that they present. The genetically engineered bioenergy crops can help in land restoration by increasing the soil fertility, growing in stress conditions, and they also lead to the production of fuels through their various parts. The use of genetically engineered bioenergy crops will not only help in the prevention of degraded land but also yield biofuel as a product and enhance soil fertility and health for further sustainable agricultural practices.     

海南岛主要森林类型时空动态及关键驱动因子

天然林,橡胶林和浆纸林之间转化是海南岛森林生态系统演变的主要形式.以海南岛1988年(建省),1998年(提出生态省建设)和2008年(目前)3个年代的天然林,橡胶林和浆纸林遥感解译为基础,分析了三者的格局动态及关键驱动因子,得到以下结论:(1)1988-1998和1998-2008年间,天然林总面积呈现先明显增加(增加面积10.76万hm2),后明显减少(减少面积20.03万hm2)特点;橡胶林呈先小幅下降(下降面积7.14万hm2),后大幅度增加(增加面积20.03万hm2)的变化特点,浆纸林则一直呈增加的趋势;(2)三者年动态变化率在1998-2008年间最大(1.335％),1988-2008年间次之(0.965％),1988-1998年间最小(0.490％);(3)1988-1998年天然林空间范围转化呈内部增加,外部扩展的特征,增加的部分主要来自橡胶林和其他用地类型,同时,浆纸林空间转化呈局部增加和橡胶林呈局部减少的特点;1998-2008相比1988-1998年间,天然林空间范围呈外缘收缩,内部减少的特点,橡胶林和浆纸林则呈内外部都扩张的特点.类型间转化天然林向橡胶林,浆纸林和其他类型用地转化较明显;(4)不同时期的林地面积变化主要受政策,农业人口,农林产品市场价格等外在因素的作用,同时也受到道路,高程和坡度等内在因素的影响.最后,从林业监督,生态补偿,市场调节等角度提出海南省林业发展建议.     

Multidimensional analysis of landscape dynamics in a Central African forest-savannah mosaic

Most landscape cover assessments for conservation programmes rely largely on remote sensing analyses. These analyses, however, neglect how people inhabiting protected zones perceive and structure land cover. Using socio-ecological systems (SES) analysis in a forest-savannah mosaic on the Congo Basin forest edge (Democratic Republic of Congo), we investigated how human practices, landscape perceptions and land use patterns affected forest cover. We conducted remote sensing analysis using a Sentinel-2 satellite image and 187 GPS landmarks, producing a land cover map with 11 classes. Our results yielded an 81.85% correspondence with additional 164 GPS landmarks, a robust score in tropical areas. We conducted 40 individual interviews, eighteen focus group discussion workshops and nine months of participant observation of human practices to identify 19 land units and elaborate a granular SES system structuring the landscape. Integrating local knowledge and practices with general ecological and agronomic processes, we developed a landscape dynamics model revealing progressive forest colonisation of savannahs. Our methods demonstrate that a forest-edge landscape cover evaluation through remote sensing and local knowledge can contribute to finer-grained assessment of land cover and ecosystem services. This assessment can assist conservation efforts by considering local populations' practices on and perceptions of landscape change.     

Visions from Local Populations for Livelihood-Based Solutions to Promote Forest Conservation Sustainability in the Congo Basin

Forest management practices that aim to mitigate the threats of deforestation and forest degradation can inadvertently threaten the ability of forest-dependent local populations to meet basic daily sustenance needs. Stakeholder engagement can help find common ground between environmental goals and the livelihood needs of local populations. A starting point for local stakeholder engagement is to gather insights into how forest management differentially impacts the livelihoods and well-being of these populations, which may be quite heterogeneous in their perspectives and livelihood needs. Towards this end, we conducted semi-structured first-person interviews in forest-dependent communities in Cameroon about perspectives on and suggestions about forest resources and management. This study provides insights into commonalities and differences of perspectives within and among local populations and supports the use of stakeholder engagement strategies that facilitate bidirectional communication and take into consideration diverse perspectives and priorities.     

Transition of Shifting Cultivation and its Impact on People’s Livelihoods in the Miombo Woodlands of Northern Zambia and South-Western Tanzania

Shifting cultivation has long been a major livelihood for people in the miombo woodlands of southern, central and eastern Africa. However, increasing deforestation and forest degradation throughout the region are resulting in growing pressure on traditional shifting agricultural systems. Indeed, agricultural intensification and expansion itself is considered the primary cause of miombo deterioration, which is driven by both endogenous and exogenous variables operating at various scales. On the basis of data collected in the 1990s and 2010 from two villages in Northern Province, Zambia and two in the Rukwa Region, Tanzania, the paper will document the transition of shifting cultivation towards more intensive land use practices. It is argued that the main drivers influencing miombo degradation, and thereby the transition process of traditional shifting cultivation practices, have been a growing population, government policies, and an increasing commercialization/market integration. Questionnaires, focus group meetings, and in-depth interviews reveal that despite the breakdown of the traditional shifting cultivation practices, a general improvement of livelihoods has taken place. This has happened through adaptation and diversification in both agricultural practices and livelihood activities. However, it is also seen that because of the often rapidly changing external factors (market conditions and policies), life in the shifting cultivation communities involves a continual shift of emphasis among a variety of livelihood strategies.     

Shifting Cultivation and Fire Policy: Insights from the Brazilian Amazon

Fires in humid tropical forests are increasingly frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degradation and agricultural expansion. One agent implicated in current discourse surrounding tropical forest fires is the small-scale farming peasantry who rely on fire in swidden (shifting cultivation, slash-and-burn) agriculture. The environmental degradation associated with fire has led to government responses at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) via policies aimed mainly at managing ignition sources. However, continued increase in forest fires suggests that these policies may be having limited impact and a fresh evaluation of current policy approaches to fire management is needed. We review fire policy measures with insights of caboclo farming practices and perspectives from Eastern Amazonia and examine the congruence between policy and practice. We demonstrate a significant disparity between policy requirements such as firebreaks and actual fire management practices, in which measures rarely meet requirements outlined in legislation. We explore the origins and the impacts of these disparities, focussing on smallholder farm-level management measures and local capacity. Incomplete knowledge coupled with marginal awareness of legal requirements served to propagate widespread erroneous beliefs in what these are. This analysis at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) will contribute to developing greater congruence between fire policies and smallholder farming practices.     

Land‐use legacies in a central Appalachian forest: differential response of trees and herbs to historic agricultural practices

Question: Are contemporary herb and tree patterns explained by historic land use practices? If so, are observed vegetation patterns associated with life‐history characteristics, soil properties, or other environmental variables? Location: Southeastern Ohio, USA. Methods: Using archival records, currently forested sites were identified with distinct land use histories: cultivated, pasture (but not plowed), and reference sites which appear to have never been cleared. Trees were recorded by size and species on twenty 20 m × 20 m plots; percent cover was estimated for each herb species in nested 10 m × 10 m plots. Environmental characteristics were noted, and soil samples analysed for nutrient availability and organic matter. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination was performed separately on both tree and herb datasets to graphically characterize community composition among plots. Life‐history traits were investigated to explain observed compositional differences. Results: Vegetation patterns were explained by current environmental gradients, especially by land‐use history. Cultivated and pasture sites had similar tree composition, distinct from reference sites. Herb composition of pasture and reference sites was similar and distinct from cultivated sites, suggesting the ‘tenacity’ of some forest herbs on formerly cleared sites. Tilling removes rhizomatous species, and disfavors species with unassisted dispersal. These life‐history traits were underrepresented on cultivated sites, although ant‐dispersed species were not. Conclusions: Historic land‐use practices accounted for as much variation in species composition as environmental gradients. Furthermore, trees and herbs responded differently to past land‐use practices. Life‐history traits of individual species interact with the nature of disturbance to influence community composition.