Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes
Abstract Shifting cultivation, an age-old agricultural practice, is a major factor in forest cover change across Southeast Asia, where repeated cycles of vegetation disturbance and regrowth lead to far-reaching environmental and socio-economic impacts. The present study aims to assess the spatio-tem...
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78089-9 |
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| author | Yamini Bhat Subrata Nandy Krishna Das Muna Tamang Hitendra Padalia Arun Jyoti Nath Koushik Majumdar Rocky Pebam Pynkhlainbor Thongni Bandana Kurmi Ashesh Kumar Das S. P.S. Kushwaha R. P. Singh |
| author_facet | Yamini Bhat Subrata Nandy Krishna Das Muna Tamang Hitendra Padalia Arun Jyoti Nath Koushik Majumdar Rocky Pebam Pynkhlainbor Thongni Bandana Kurmi Ashesh Kumar Das S. P.S. Kushwaha R. P. Singh |
| author_sort | Yamini Bhat |
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| description | Abstract Shifting cultivation, an age-old agricultural practice, is a major factor in forest cover change across Southeast Asia, where repeated cycles of vegetation disturbance and regrowth lead to far-reaching environmental and socio-economic impacts. The present study aims to assess the spatio-temporal patterns of vegetation disturbance and regrowth caused by shifting cultivation in Tripura state of India, over the past three decades, utilizing temporal segmentation of time-series Landsat data. The study analyzed vegetation disturbance and regrowth patterns in a shifting cultivation landscape from 1991 to 2020 using normalized burn ratio trends through LandTrendr, validated by the TimeSync tool. Six land use and land cover classes, viz., forests and trees outside forests, rubber plantation, shifting cultivation, water bodies, agriculture, and settlements, were mapped with an accuracy of 83.08% using a random forest classifier. This classification enabled the identification of the effective study area, which included forest areas with shifting cultivation patches. The analysis revealed that 2533.96 km2 of the study area remained undisturbed, 568.43 km2 experienced low-magnitude disturbance, 1501.11 km2 were moderately disturbed, and 184.82 km2 were highly disturbed. The shifting cultivation cycles in the study area show considerable variation. Low-magnitude disturbance indicates a single slash-and-burn event in the past three decades, moderate-magnitude disturbance involves fallow periods of over 10 years, and high-magnitude disturbance occurs with fallow periods of less than 8 years. The study revealed a shift from traditional shifting cultivation to more permanent agricultural practices in parts of Tripura. In response to incentives for commercial crops, cultivators are increasingly adopting long-term cultivation, including the growing of pineapple, areca nut, and rubber, as well as intercropping with papaya, banana, lemon, tapioca, pepper, and ginger. These plots are, however, abandoned if the yields become economically unviable. The expansion of monoculture cultivation significantly reduces the available area for shifting cultivation, thereby compelling jhum cultivators to revisit their jhum patches more frequently. This study is a first-of-its-kind attempt in the Indian context and sheds light on changing patterns in an age-old agricultural practice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f4650ea8010c4a6f837cf5e5aa8a6126 |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-f4650ea8010c4a6f837cf5e5aa8a61262025-01-19T12:24:45ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-11-0114111210.1038/s41598-024-78089-9Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapesYamini Bhat0Subrata Nandy1Krishna Das2Muna Tamang3Hitendra Padalia4Arun Jyoti Nath5Koushik Majumdar6Rocky Pebam7Pynkhlainbor Thongni8Bandana Kurmi9Ashesh Kumar Das10S. P.S. Kushwaha11R. P. Singh12Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam UniversityDepartment of Botany, Tripura UniversityNorth Eastern Space Applications Centre, Department of Space, Government of IndiaNorth Eastern Space Applications Centre, Department of Space, Government of IndiaDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam UniversityDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam UniversityIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaIndian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space, Government of IndiaAbstract Shifting cultivation, an age-old agricultural practice, is a major factor in forest cover change across Southeast Asia, where repeated cycles of vegetation disturbance and regrowth lead to far-reaching environmental and socio-economic impacts. The present study aims to assess the spatio-temporal patterns of vegetation disturbance and regrowth caused by shifting cultivation in Tripura state of India, over the past three decades, utilizing temporal segmentation of time-series Landsat data. The study analyzed vegetation disturbance and regrowth patterns in a shifting cultivation landscape from 1991 to 2020 using normalized burn ratio trends through LandTrendr, validated by the TimeSync tool. Six land use and land cover classes, viz., forests and trees outside forests, rubber plantation, shifting cultivation, water bodies, agriculture, and settlements, were mapped with an accuracy of 83.08% using a random forest classifier. This classification enabled the identification of the effective study area, which included forest areas with shifting cultivation patches. The analysis revealed that 2533.96 km2 of the study area remained undisturbed, 568.43 km2 experienced low-magnitude disturbance, 1501.11 km2 were moderately disturbed, and 184.82 km2 were highly disturbed. The shifting cultivation cycles in the study area show considerable variation. Low-magnitude disturbance indicates a single slash-and-burn event in the past three decades, moderate-magnitude disturbance involves fallow periods of over 10 years, and high-magnitude disturbance occurs with fallow periods of less than 8 years. The study revealed a shift from traditional shifting cultivation to more permanent agricultural practices in parts of Tripura. In response to incentives for commercial crops, cultivators are increasingly adopting long-term cultivation, including the growing of pineapple, areca nut, and rubber, as well as intercropping with papaya, banana, lemon, tapioca, pepper, and ginger. These plots are, however, abandoned if the yields become economically unviable. The expansion of monoculture cultivation significantly reduces the available area for shifting cultivation, thereby compelling jhum cultivators to revisit their jhum patches more frequently. This study is a first-of-its-kind attempt in the Indian context and sheds light on changing patterns in an age-old agricultural practice.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78089-9Slash-and-burnTime-seriesLandTrendrMulti-decadal vegetation changeNortheast India |
| spellingShingle | Yamini Bhat Subrata Nandy Krishna Das Muna Tamang Hitendra Padalia Arun Jyoti Nath Koushik Majumdar Rocky Pebam Pynkhlainbor Thongni Bandana Kurmi Ashesh Kumar Das S. P.S. Kushwaha R. P. Singh Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes Scientific Reports Slash-and-burn Time-series LandTrendr Multi-decadal vegetation change Northeast India |
| title | Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| title_full | Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| title_fullStr | Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| title_short | Vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| title_sort | vegetation disturbance and regrowth dynamics in shifting cultivation landscapes |
| topic | Slash-and-burn Time-series LandTrendr Multi-decadal vegetation change Northeast India |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78089-9 |
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