Slash-and-Burn Agriculture in the Wet Coastal Lowlands of Papua New Guinea: Response of Birds, Butterflies and Reptiles

Bowman, David M. J. S.; Woinarski, John C. Z.; Sands, D. P. A.; Wells, Alice; McShane, V. J.

doi:10.2307/2845121

Cited by 112 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Apo massif of Mindanao Island. Another important focus in Southeast Asia of research on biodiversity in swidden fallows is Papua New Guinea (Sillitoe The total number of farmers who grew the specified variety at least once during the 5 years study c Number of farmers who started to grow the variety after not growing it for more than 1 year during the 5 years study d Number of farmers who grew the variety and then stopped for at least 1 year during the 5 years study e Paddy rice 1995; Bowman et al 1990) With respect to the regional foci of this paper, northern Thailand and West Kalimantan, important contributions to our knowledge of biodiversity in fallow swiddens were made for West Kalimantan by Colfer et al (1997), Lawrence (2004a, b), Lawrence et al (1995), and Lawrence and Mogea (1996), and for northern Thailand by Lötsch (1958), Nakano (1978), Kunstadter 1978;Kunstadter et al (1978a, b), Sabhasri (1978), and SchmidtVogt (1998SchmidtVogt ( , 1999. Amazingly, fallows were once viewed as an acceptable, if "backward" way of restoring fertility, and they were often decried as "unproductive, unmanaged, and interesting only from the perspective of how [they] could be shortened" (Cairns 2007c).…”

Section: The Fallow Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Swidden agriculture, once the dominant form of land use throughout the uplands and much of the lowlands of Southeast Asia, is being replaced by other land uses. While change and adaptation are inherent to swiddening, the current rapid and widespread transitions are unprecedented. In this paper we review some recent findings on changes in biodiversity, especially plant diversity at various scales, as swidden farming is replaced by other land uses. We focus particularly on two areas of Southeast Asia:northern Thailand and West Kalimantan. We examine actual and potential changes in the diversity of crops that characterize regional swidden systems, as well as that of the spontaneously occurring plants that appear in swidden fields and fallows. Severe declines in plant diversity have been observed in most areas and at most spatial scales when swidden is replaced by permanent land use systems. However, shifts away from swidden agriculture do not invariably result in drastic declines or losses of biological diversity, but may maintain or even enhance it, particularly at finer spatial scales. We suggest that further research is necessary to understand the effects of swidden transitions on biodiversity.

show abstract

Section: The Fallow Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This assumption is based on previous large-scale secondary studies indicating a negligible effect on bird diversity [e.g., [39][40][41][42], whereas other studies [19,43] have shown that diversity is affected in small-scale studies that do not make up a matrix of surrounding primary (or close to primary) habitats and edge habitats. While the short duration of our survey and the sampling limitations intrinsic to the sampling design used recommend caution with the interpretation of the data presented, the results suggest that shifting cultivation fallows seem to have similar abundances but different richness of bird species compared to primary forest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies in Canada, the United States, France, and Papua New Guinea report, that insectivores have consistently declined and are often the most heavily impacted [1,[3][4][5][6]. They seem to be particularly sensitive to different forms of disturbance, including selective logging [7][8], forest degradation and fragmentation [9][10][11][12], slash-and-burn agriculture [13], and surface fires [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bird Abundances in Primary and Secondary Growths in Papua New Guinea: A Preliminary Assessment

Tvardíková

2010

Tropical Conservation Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Papua New Guinea is the third largest remaining area of tropical forest after the Amazon and Congo basins. However, the growing intensity of large-scale slash-and-burn agriculture and logging call for conservation research to assess how local people´s traditional land-use practices result in conservation of local biodiversity, of which a species-rich and diverse component is the avian community. With this in mind, I conducted a preliminary survey of birds in small-scale secondary plots and in adjacent primary forest in Wanang Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea. I used mist-netting, point counts, and transect walks to compare the bird communities of 7-year-old secondary growth, and neighboring primary forest. The preliminary survey lasted 10 days and was conducted during the dry season (July) of 2008. I found no significant differences in summed bird abundances between forest types. However, species richness was higher in primary forest (98 species) than in secondary (78 species). The response of individual feeding guilds was also variable. Two habitats differed mainly in presence of canopy frugivores, which were more abundant (more than 80%) in primary than in secondary forests. A large difference (70%) was found also in understory and mid-story insectivores. Species occurring mainly in secondary forest were Hooded Butcherbird (Cracticus cassicus), Brown Oriole (Oriolus szalayi), and Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides). Examples of primary forest species were Red-bellied Pitta (Pitta erythrogaster), Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla), and Zoe's Imperial Pigeon (Ducula zoeae). My results suggest that changes in bird assemblages occur even in relatively undisturbed landscapes in response to small-scale shifting agriculture that is crucial for local people's livelihood; it also seems that traditional land use by local people favors the persistence of a rich bird species pool in the forested and traditionally managed landscape.

show abstract

“…The present study tests September, 1995. Annual rainfall in the Madeng area amounts to 3558 mm, usually with a distinct dry season from July to September, whilst annual mean air temperature is 26.5 'C (Bowman et al, 1990 …”

Section: L34mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Baited Traps for the Sampling of Hymenoptera.

Springate¹

1997

Tropics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture in the Wet Coastal Lowlands of Papua New Guinea: Response of Birds, Butterflies and Reptiles

Cited by 112 publications

References 26 publications

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

Bird Abundances in Primary and Secondary Growths in Papua New Guinea: A Preliminary Assessment

On the Use of Baited Traps for the Sampling of Hymenoptera.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About