The rotational nature of shifting cultivation poses several challenges to its detection by
remote sensing. Consequently, there is a lack of spatial data on the dynamics of shifting
cultivation landscapes on a regional, ie sub-national, or national level. We present an
approach based on a time series of Landsat and MODIS data and landscape metrics to
delineate the dynamics of shifting cultivation landscapes. Our results reveal that shifting
cultivation is a land use system still widely and dynamically utilized in northern Laos. While …

Despite the rapid agricultural transition that has occurred in the past decade, shifting
cultivation remains a widespread agricultural practice in the northern uplands of Lao PDR.
Little information is available on the basic socio-economic situation and respective possible
patterns in shifting cultivation landscapes on a regional level. On the basis of a recent
approximation of the extent of shifting cultivation landscapes for two time periods and
disaggregated village level census data, this paper characterizes these landscapes in terms …