Analysis of Monsoon Climate Variability for Swidden Agriculture in Northern Laos

Kanemaru, Kaya; Rezza, Muhammad; Hirota, Isao

doi:10.1007/978-4-431-54956-7_5

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The MODIS Reprojection Tool is applied to composite MOD09A1 and MOD13Q1 with the same projected coordinate system (UTM48N). MOD09A1 is preprocessed into 16d in line with MOD13Q1 to depict the temporal development of varied stages (e.g., slashing and burning) of swidden agriculture [40]. Then, the surface reflectance of Blue (459~479 nm), Red (620~670 nm), NIR 1 (841~876 nm), NIR 2 (1230~1250 nm), Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) 1 (1628~1652 nm), and SWIR-2 (2105~2155 nm) bands were used to calculate NDVI [41], EVI [42], Land Surface Water Index (LSWI [43]), and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR [44]).…”

Section: Modis Vegetation Indices Products and Preprocessingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, NDVI and EVI were statistically calculated in consecutive two months based on the abrupt changes in vegetation indices, e.g., February-March, March-April, and April-May. The rule of a sharp decrease in NDVI and EVI during the period of slash and burn or before cultivating crops is often applied to detect newly opened swiddens in that very year [40]. Next, threshold ranges of MODIS NDVI and EVI between February and May 2001-2020, in particular those in March-April and April-May, were consistently determined.…”

Section: Threshold Ranges Of Vegetation Indices For Detecting Swidden...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Swidden Agriculture Landscape Mapping Using MODIS Vegetation Index Time Series and Its Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Northern Laos

Yang

2022

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Swidden agriculture or shifting cultivation is still being widely practiced in tropical developing countries and Laos has spared no effort to eradicate it since the mid-1990s. So far, the development of swidden agriculture in this land-locked mountainous country during the 2000–2020 bi-decade remains poorly examined. Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series products have shown potential in monitoring vegetative status; however, only extremely limited cases of remote sensing of swidden agriculture landscapes have been reported. Taking northern Laos as a study area and using 2001–2020 MODIS vegetation indices products, the Savitzky–Golay filter, the Mann–Kendall trend test and a threshold method were employed to delineate and monitor annual patterns and dynamics of swidden agriculture landscape at the village level. The results showed that: MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series perform better in delineating the temporal development of swidden agriculture. The swidden agriculture landscape has shown a general descending trend in the past decades, especially in the 2010s, with an annual average of 14.70 × 104 ha. The total number of swidden-practicing villages (or districts) also displayed a declining trend and there were 957 villages or 91 districts practicing it continuously between 2001 and 2020. An average of 32 villages per year or two districts per decade highlights the difficulty in ending swidden agriculture in Laos, although the government of Laos has established a number of policies for the eradication of swidden agriculture by 2020. This study provides a necessary methodological reference for monitoring a two-decade evolution and transformation of swidden agriculture in the tropics.

show abstract

Section: Modis Vegetation Indices Products and Preprocessingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Threshold Ranges Of Vegetation Indices For Detecting Swidden...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Swidden Agriculture Landscape Mapping Using MODIS Vegetation Index Time Series and Its Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Northern Laos

Yang

2022

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Land preparation, such as slashing fallow forest or shrub vegetation and burning the dry fallow forest or shrub vegetation (Roder 1997) at the end of the dry season in March, is an important activity and sensitive to climate events. Kanemaru et al (2014) pointed out that the rainy season in northern Laos has begun earlier and its variability has also increased over 56 years (from 1951 to 2007) and climate change has become apparent, as seen in the 2011 climate event at the research site. These climate events face upland farmers with a major problem because they are prevented from burning biomass to begin swidden cultivation to support their livelihoods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to Livelihood Assets under the Influence of a Climate Event in Upland Northern Laos

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines the effects of a climate event on livelihood assets of households in upland northern Laos, when the early onset of the rainy season as a result of climate change led to a failure to burn swidden systems. A Sustainable Livelihoods Framework is applied to estimate rural livelihood assets associated with differences in climate conditions, such as the 2010 normal climate and the 2011 climate event, and to compare household strategies in each climate condition. The findings indicate that natural capital had the highest index value in the 2010 normal climate, whereas human capital had the highest value in the 2011 climate event. Financial capital had the lowest index in both climate conditions. Residents at the research site were better off in terms of natural capital but worse off in terms of financial capital. This indicates that the government and other rural development agencies should not only manage natural resources; income-generation activities are also needed. We conclude that natural resources, as well as non-timber forest product (NTFP) gathering and off-farm activity, were the most important strategies for the entire research site under the normal climate condition. NTFP gathering and outside work are important in meeting subsistence needs and augmenting income levels in households when the rainy season begins early as a result of climate change. Outside employment was an additional strategy in households to achieve their livelihood goals, including food security and household income generation, under conditions of economic change and climate events.

show abstract

Livelihood factors and household strategies for an unexpected climate event in upland northern Laos

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Analysis of Monsoon Climate Variability for Swidden Agriculture in Northern Laos

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Swidden Agriculture Landscape Mapping Using MODIS Vegetation Index Time Series and Its Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Northern Laos

Swidden Agriculture Landscape Mapping Using MODIS Vegetation Index Time Series and Its Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Northern Laos

Access to Livelihood Assets under the Influence of a Climate Event in Upland Northern Laos

Livelihood factors and household strategies for an unexpected climate event in upland northern Laos

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About