The term "barren hills" has been a keyword for land degradation in the uplands of Vietnam for over a decade. Nevertheless, the "barren" land is still not adequately ecologically characterized. In this work, we analyze land use-induced changes in vegetation and soil properties along a sequence of barren hills types formed on one physiotope. The study is undertaken in the Bac Kan province, one of the poorest upland regions where livestock plays an important role. A transition from an old-growth laurel forest to a sparse manmade grassland is characterized by a total of 177 species, rapid species turnover, and discrete dominants, and an overwhelming effect of disturbance history on both soil and vegetation patterning. Land degradation is most apparent in land use-induced maintenance of arrested successions, and the regeneration course is shifted towards drier formations. We hypothesize a conceptual model as an aid to understanding the process of early fallow differentiation in response to ...the patterned, fine-scale disturbances. The larger-scale implications of the observed trends in regeneration potentials deviation, and, in particular, the effect of water buffaloes in halting fallow successions, are discussed.
Keywords:
water buffalo / Vietnam / land use policy / land degradation / fallow succession / barren hills
TY - JOUR
AU - Nikolić, Nina
AU - Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
AU - Nikolic, Miroslav
AU - Boecker, Reinhard
AU - Holz, Ingo
PY - 2008
UR - http://rimsi.imsi.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/252
AB - The term "barren hills" has been a keyword for land degradation in the uplands of Vietnam for over a decade. Nevertheless, the "barren" land is still not adequately ecologically characterized. In this work, we analyze land use-induced changes in vegetation and soil properties along a sequence of barren hills types formed on one physiotope. The study is undertaken in the Bac Kan province, one of the poorest upland regions where livestock plays an important role. A transition from an old-growth laurel forest to a sparse manmade grassland is characterized by a total of 177 species, rapid species turnover, and discrete dominants, and an overwhelming effect of disturbance history on both soil and vegetation patterning. Land degradation is most apparent in land use-induced maintenance of arrested successions, and the regeneration course is shifted towards drier formations. We hypothesize a conceptual model as an aid to understanding the process of early fallow differentiation in response to the patterned, fine-scale disturbances. The larger-scale implications of the observed trends in regeneration potentials deviation, and, in particular, the effect of water buffaloes in halting fallow successions, are discussed.
PB - Springer, New York
T2 - Environmental Management
T1 - Land degradation on barren hills: A case study in northeast Vietnam
EP - 36
IS - 1
SP - 19
VL - 42
DO - 10.1007/s00267-008-9099-1
ER -
@article{
author = "Nikolić, Nina and Schultze-Kraft, Rainer and Nikolic, Miroslav and Boecker, Reinhard and Holz, Ingo",
year = "2008",
abstract = "The term "barren hills" has been a keyword for land degradation in the uplands of Vietnam for over a decade. Nevertheless, the "barren" land is still not adequately ecologically characterized. In this work, we analyze land use-induced changes in vegetation and soil properties along a sequence of barren hills types formed on one physiotope. The study is undertaken in the Bac Kan province, one of the poorest upland regions where livestock plays an important role. A transition from an old-growth laurel forest to a sparse manmade grassland is characterized by a total of 177 species, rapid species turnover, and discrete dominants, and an overwhelming effect of disturbance history on both soil and vegetation patterning. Land degradation is most apparent in land use-induced maintenance of arrested successions, and the regeneration course is shifted towards drier formations. We hypothesize a conceptual model as an aid to understanding the process of early fallow differentiation in response to the patterned, fine-scale disturbances. The larger-scale implications of the observed trends in regeneration potentials deviation, and, in particular, the effect of water buffaloes in halting fallow successions, are discussed.",
publisher = "Springer, New York",
journal = "Environmental Management",
title = "Land degradation on barren hills: A case study in northeast Vietnam",
pages = "36-19",
number = "1",
volume = "42",
doi = "10.1007/s00267-008-9099-1"
}
Nikolić, N., Schultze-Kraft, R., Nikolic, M., Boecker, R.,& Holz, I.. (2008). Land degradation on barren hills: A case study in northeast Vietnam. in Environmental Management
Springer, New York., 42(1), 19-36.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9099-1
Nikolić N, Schultze-Kraft R, Nikolic M, Boecker R, Holz I. Land degradation on barren hills: A case study in northeast Vietnam. in Environmental Management. 2008;42(1):19-36.
doi:10.1007/s00267-008-9099-1 .
Nikolić, Nina, Schultze-Kraft, Rainer, Nikolic, Miroslav, Boecker, Reinhard, Holz, Ingo, "Land degradation on barren hills: A case study in northeast Vietnam" in Environmental Management, 42, no. 1 (2008):19-36,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9099-1 . .
