Abstract
Shifting cultivation is a widely practiced agriculture system in the tropics. Regardless of the dominant land use, the dynamics of shifting cultivation over large areas are of limited knowledge. We conducted patch-based assessments and characterization of shifting cultivation extracted from already developed dataset, which detected shifting cultivation by a trajectory-based analysis using annual Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI time series images from 2000 to 2014 in Myanmar. An accuracy assessment was conducted in terms of the size and number of cleared areas compared with reference polygons of shifting cultivation, which were manually delineated by visual interpretation using Landsat and high-resolution satellite images from Google Earth™ in the selected areas. The producer’s and user’s accuracies in detecting the number of shifting cultivation patches were 78.1% and 88.4%, respectively. In whole study area, the probability of disturbances caused by shifting cultivation was significantly affected by distance to the nearest village, indicating the importance of accessibility from residences. The number of shifting cultivation patches showed a decreasing trend in this region and it will lead to less cleared forests such as located far from residences. These dynamics of shifting cultivation have possibility to affect the mosaic patterns of landscape and function maintained in the landscape in this region.
Highlights
Shifting cultivation is a subsistence agricultural practice characterized by a field rotation with the slashing and burning of forests for a short term cropping period followed by a long term fallow period [1]
We investigated the characteristics of shifting cultivation in patch-based change detection using annual Landsat time series images in a mountainous region of Myanmar
We investigated the characteristics of patch-based disturbances caused by shifting cultivation detected in the trajectory-based analysis using annual Landsat time series images in Myanmar
Summary
Shifting cultivation ( known as slash-and-burn agriculture or swidden agriculture) is a subsistence agricultural practice characterized by a field rotation with the slashing and burning of forests for a short term cropping period followed by a long term fallow period [1]. A trajectory-based analysis, which analyzes the temporal trajectories of spectral indices (e.g., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index or Enhanced Vegetation Index) to detect forest changes, has been accomplished by constructing near annual Landsat time series images Since this trajectory-based analysis provides insights on the conditions of pre- and post- disturbance through the trajectories of spectral indices, detecting disturbances caused by shifting cultivation in this approach has great potential for understanding temporal and spatial dynamics. In this regard, Schneibel et al [22] investigated cultivation patterns from 1989 to 2013 using annual Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI time series images based on a trajectory segmentation in Angola. The patch-based characteristics of shifting cultivation including the size of cleared area and spatial and temporal change were investigated by analyzing the temporal trajectories of Landsat time series images
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