Ecological Studies of Reduced Forest-Fallow Shifting Cultivation of Karen People in Mae Chaem Watershed, Northern Thailand, and Implications for Sustain Ability
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ECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF REDUCED FOREST-FALLOW SHIFTING CULTIVATION OF KAREN PEOPLE IN MAE CHAEM WATERSHED, NORTHERN THAILAND, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAIN ABILITY by PRASIT WANGPAKAPATTANAWONG B.Sc, Chiang Mai University, 1993 M.Sc, Iowa State University, 1996 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES FACULTY OF FORESTRY (Department of Forest Sciences) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2001 © Prasit Wangpakapattanawong, 2001 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Fbreff Sci'l^Cf? The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) 11 Abstract The forest-fallow system of shifting cultivation of upland rice and other food plants practiced by the Karen people of Mae Hae Tai village, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, is changing due to increasing population and a resulting decrease in per capita arable land-base. This has resulted in a reduction of the fallow period, which was 10 or more years in the past. The fallow is traditionally believed to act to restore and sustain soil fertility and control weed populations, but may also be important for the maintenance of upland rice productivity by maintaining soil structure and in other ways. Presently, this system involves one year of cropping followed by five years of crop-free fallow. The national Thai government is trying to change shifting cultivation to fixed-field agriculture, but some ecologists and social scientists oppose the idea using arguments about the ecological and cultural integrity of this traditional farming practice. There has been little empirical research to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the system. Ecological studies were conducted to examine nutritional aspects of the forest-fallow shifting cultivation using field experiments and a chronosequence of fields. The farmers were interviewed about their traditional knowledge of shifting cultivation system management. The yield of the upland rice crop under this system was found to be about 1 t/ha, but is variable within fields, between fields, and between years. The chronosequence study revealed that during the five years of fallow there was an increase in soil organic matter and total N attributed to the addition of litterfall from the fallow species, but a decline in pH, available P, and extractable K, Ca, and Mg. These decreases are attributed to nutrient uptake by the fallow vegetation and the decline in the effect of the burning at the end of the previous rotation. The largest changes in soil conditions took place when the 5-year fallow field was slashed, burned, and cropped. Standing-tree biomass Ill increased gradually during the fallow period. Chromolaena odorata dominated the first two years of the fallow period, and it accumulated about 7 t/ha of aboveground biomass within one year after rice harvesting. Fertilizer trials of the regular first-year and the experimental second-year upland rice crop showed that N was the most deficient nutrient in upland rice productivity, which support the nutritional role of the fallow. Growing rice for a second-year also revealed that soil pathogens may play an important role in decreasing upland rice productivity in consecutive-year cropping. Interviews with farmers were explainable in an ecological context; for example, the variability within and between crop fields which reflects variability of soil fertility, which in turn depends on localized topography and physical characteristics of the soils. The farmers responded that the fallow period could be reduced to a minimum of two to three years, and the data support that this might be associated with increased weed competition and less ash. The biogeochemical studies of the forest-fallow shifting cultivation system showed that nutrient losses via slash burning and harvested rice grain are important outputs of N. P was found to be lost the most via harvested rice grain, while losses in erosion and leaching may be important for K, Ca, and Mg. Quantitative assessment of other pathways of nutrient inputs (e.g. N fixation and soil weathering) and outputs (e.g. erosion and leaching) are needed for a complete bipgeochemistry of the ecosystem of the forest-fallow shifting cultivation in order to examine its sustainability. A series of carefully controlled and replicated field and pot experiments is needed to resolve the relative importance of the different contributions of fallow to the sustainability of upland rice. The following topics also deserve further research work: dynamics of N in the system, change in iv resource-allocation patterns between above- and belowground tree components, soil microbial activities and their effects on N cycling, and other roles of the fallow periods (e.g. maintaining good soil structure and providing useful plants and animals). The current fallow period of five years appears to be sustainable at the present landscape condition, but a further reduction in fallow length may pose a risk to the apparent sustainability of this forest-fallow shifting cultivation. Comparison of nutrient cycling between forest-fallow shifting cultivation and fixed- field farming by simple and/or computer models is needed to assess their sustainability. V Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents ..v List of Tables xii List of Figures xxi Acknowledgements xxii Dedication xxiv Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Thailand and Deforestation 1 1.2 Northern Thailand and Its Land-Use 2 1.3 Shifting Cultivation 4 1.4 Shifting Cultivation in Northern Thailand 5 1.5 Shifting Cultivation Research 7 1.6 Shifting Cultivation Research in Thailand 8 1.7 Thesis Rationale 9 1.8 Thesis Approach 12 1.9 Major Hypothesis 14 1.10 Thesis Objectives and Strategies 14 1.11 Thesis Organization 15 Chapter 2 Research Site 2.1 Location • 17 2.2 Climate 19 2.3 Vegetation 21 vi 2.4 Population and Land-Use 21 2.5 Mae Hae Tai Karen Village 22 Chapter 3 Soils 3.1 Introduction 24 3.2 Objectives 25 3.3 Methods 3.3.1 Soil Sampling 25 3.3.2 Soil Chemical Analyses 28 3.3.3 Measurement of Mineralizable Nitrogen 29 3.3.4 Burning Effects on Mineralizable Nitrogen 30 3.3.5 Atmospheric Inputs of Nutrients 30 3.3.6 Remeasurement of Selected Soil Properties after One Year 31 3.4 Results and Discussion 3.4.1 Soil Texture 32 3.4.2 Soil Bulk Density 34 3.4.3 Soil pH 36 3.4.4 Effects of Burning on Soil pH 38 3.4.5 Soil Organic Matter 39 3.4.6 Soil Nitrogen 41 3.4.7 Mineralizable Nitrogen 42 3.4.8 Burning Effects on Mineralizable Nitrogen 44 3.4.9 C:N Ratio 44 3.4.10 Soil Available Phosphorus 45 3.4.11 Soil Extractable Potassium 47 3.4.12 Soil Extractable Calcium 49 3.4.13 Soil Extractable Magnesium 50 3.4.14 Soil Cation Exchange Capacity 51 3.4.15 Soil Extractable Iron 51 3.4.16 Correlations Amongst Soil Variables 52 3.4.17 Atmospheric Inputs of Nutrients 53 3.4.18 Soil Erosion (Literature Review) 55 3.5 Summary 57 Chapter 4 Upland Rice and Role of Nutrients in Rice Productivity 4.1 Introduction 60 4.2 Objectives and Rationale 63 4.3 Methods 4.3.1 Upland Rice Sampling 64 4.3.2 Chemical Analyses of Upland Rice Samples 65 4.3.3 The Second-Year Rice Experiment 65 4.3.4 Fertilizer Trial 66 4.4 Results and Discussion 4.4.1 Upland Rice Biomass 66 4.4.2 Upland Rice Nutrient Contents 67 4.4.3 Biomass of the First-Year (1999) Upland Rice Receiving Fertilizer Treatments 69 4.4.4 Nutrient Contents of the First-Year (1999) Upland Rice Receiving Fertilizer viii Treatments 70 4.4.5 The Second-Year Rice Experiment and Fertilizer Trial 74 4.4.6 Comparison of Upland Rice Yield Amongst Various Studies 77 4.4.7 Nitrogen Limitation in Upland Rice Productivity 79 4.4.8 Effect of Sulfur on Upland Rice Productivity 80 4.4.9 Effect of Fallow-Period Reduction on Upland Rice Yield 81 4.4.10 Yield:Seed Ratio of the Upland Rice 82 4.4.11 Effects of Soil Diseases and Pathogens on the Second-Year Rice Crop 83 4.5 Summary 84 Chapter 5 Trees 5.1 Introduction 86 5.2 Objective and Rationale 88 5.3 Methods 5.3.1 Estimation of Aboveground Tree Biomass and Slash Biomass 88 5.3.2 Tree Species Identification 89 5.3.3 Nutrient Contents of Aboveground Tree Biomass 90 5.3.4 Litterfall Sampling 90 5.4 Results and Discussion 5.4.1 Biomass Estimation 91 5.4.2 Comparison of Tree Biomass Amongst Various Studies 95 5.4.3 Tree Species 98 5.4.4 Nutrient Concentrations of Aboveground Tree Biomass 100 5.4.5 Litterfall 106 ix 5.5 Summary 109 Chapter 6 Shrub 6.1 Introduction 10 6.2 Objective and Rationale 112 6.3 Methods 113 6.4 Results and Discussion 6.4.1 Biomass ofC. odorata 114 6.4.2 Nutrient Contents of C. odorata 115 6.4.3 Nutrient Contents of C. odorata, Upland Rice, and Tree Components 117 6.5 Summary 118 Chapter 7 Synthesis of the Reduced Forest-Fallow Shifting Cultivation 7.1 Introduction 121 7.2 The Role of Fallow in Shifting Cultivation System: Alternative Hypotheses 122 7.3 Biogeochemistry of Forest-Fallow Shifting Cultivation 125 7.3.1 Data Used in Biogeochemistry of Forest-Fallow Shifting Cultivation 126 7.3.2 Discussion of Nutrient Budgets 130 7.4