We use cookies on our website. Some are necessary for the operation of the website. You can also allow cookies for statistical purposes. You can adjust the data protection settings or agree to all cookies directly.
Data Protection Declaration
Imprint
SFB 564: C2.1 - Ecological assessment of barren hills using vegetation classification for subsequent rehabilitation strategies
Project
Project code: DFG SFB 564: C2.1
Contract period: 01.07.2000
- 30.06.2003
Purpose of research: Applied research
The rehabilitation of degraded land and recommendations for a sustainable land use require an understanding of the ecosystem and, in particular, knowledge about vegetation and soil characteristics. The widespread occurrence of degraded barren, i.e. unproductive, land is a severe problem for agricultural development in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, despite governmental efforts to counteract, the share of the land classified as barren is still increasing and has reached about 40 percent, most of it in hillside areas. Up to now the delineating system for classifying land as barren is based mainly on political stipulation whereas ecological information on vegetation and soils is scarce. Past rehabilitation strategies focussed on reforestation measures only whereas adapted crop or pasture plant species were neglected. In view of the demographic pressure on land resources, it is evident that the rehabilitation of degraded land can contribute significantly to food security and income generation. In particular legumes have the potential to play a major role for sustainable rehabilitation strategies. The present project aims at classifying the plant communities from barren hillsides with different types and levels of degradation, in a region where livestock husbandry plays a role. A further objective is the preliminary assessment of the soil rehabilitation potential of a tropical multiple-purpose legume shrub.
On barren hills of the Son La and Bac Kan provinces in Northern Vietnam, vegetation community groups will be assigned, and soil characteristics and land use history analysed at twenty sites with about fifteen micro-sites each. Cluster analyses, principal component analysis and multivariate ordination are used to explore and define relationships among ecological site characteristics and vegetation. The detailed ground analysis in this project leads to a basic framework for further land evaluation that is needed for land rehabilitation and the development of planning strategies for land use. Indigenous knowledge about the use of plant species found in the sampled vegetation will be inquired in a survey among local people. Seeds of potential forage plants will be collected and stored for future evaluation and use. Samples of above-ground material of potential forage plants will be analysed for forage value and, eventually, anti-nutritive components.
A first field evaluation of a core collection of Flemingia macrophylla will be conducted on a very degraded barren-hill site in Ba Vi, Ha Tay province, with the objective to describe the species' variability regarding relevant agronomic traits and its potential for soil rehabilitation. The collection consists of 20 genotypes from South China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Cameroon, Ghana, and Colombia.
The interdisciplinary character of this project is enhanced by strong methodological and strategic links to project D2 (Smallholder animal husbandry), D3 (Sustainability of mountain farming systems) and B3 (Soil conservation and crop productivity). Project sites will be used jointly, common surveys are conducted and intensive data exchange will be done. The experiences on the potentials and limitations of participatory research methods will be exchanged with project A1 (Participatory research approaches). The information gained from this interdisciplinary approach will be further explored and used for a regional application in a subsequent SFB phase when the focus will be on the use of remote sensing and on the development of rehabilitation strategies for barren land.
Section overview
Subjects
- Crop Production
- Agroecology
- Soil science
Collaborative Project
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Department of Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics (490f)
