Shifting cultivation in the Nghe An Province of Vietnam’s Northern Mountain Region produces a characteristic land-cover pattern of small and larger fields. The pattern is the result of farmers cultivating either individually or in spatially clustered groups. Using spatially explicit agent-based modelling, and relying on empirical data from fieldwork and observations for parameterization of vari...

A low-input cropping system has been developed at Yurimiaguas, Peru, to serve as a transition technology between shifting and continuous cultivation for acid soiln of the humid tropics. Principal features are slash-andburn clearing, rotation of acid-tolerant upland rice and cowpea cultivars, maximum residue return, no tillage, and no lime or fertilizer apoiications. When yields decline as a res...

The long-term ecological response to recurrent deforestation associated with shifting cultivation remains poorly investigated, especially in the dry tropics. We present a study of phosphorus (P) dynamics in the southern Yucatán, highlighting the possibility of abrupt shifts in biogeochemical cycling resulting from positive feedbacks between vegetation and its limiting resources. After three cul...

Aerial photographs have been widely used to monitor large-scale spatial changes taking place over long periods. In this study, the types and trajectories of landscape changes in Sabal Forest Reserve in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo over a period of 26 years (1972-1998) were investigated using 1:25,000 scale aerial photographs and ground surveys. The aerial photographs showed typical la...

Shifting cultivation is a widespread land-use in many tropical countries that also harbours significant levels of biodiversity. Increasing frequency cycles and expansion into old-growth forests have intensified the impacts shifting on biodiversity carbon sequestration. We assessed how bird diversity responds to potential for co-benefits both such landscapes inform carbon-based payments ecosyste...