Chapter
1.1 Definition of the Tropics
1.2.1 Tropical rainforest climate
1.2.2 Tropical wet–dry (savanna) climate
1.2.3 Desert and semi-desert climates
1.2.5 Mild temperate (mesothermal) climate
1.3.1 Tropical rainforest
1.3.4 Desert and semi-desert
1.6 Socio-economic Conditions
1.6.1 Low per-capita income
1.6.2 Low level of industrialization
1.6.3 Demographic characteristics
1.6.4 Political instability
1.7.1 Shifting cultivation
1.7.2 Permanent cultivation of field crops
1.7.3 Plantation agriculture
1.7.4 Livestock production
2 Shifting Cultivation: Definition, Basic Features and Types
2.2 Characteristics of Shifting Cultivation
2.3 Why Fields are Shifted
2.4 Forms of Shifting Cultivation
2.4.1 Slash-and-burn agriculture in forest and savanna lowlands
2.4.2 The chitemene system
2.4.3 The Hmong system – a migratory shifting cultivation
2.4.4 Shifting cultivation in the Orinoco floodplain
2.4.5 The slash–mulch system
2.4.6 The plough-in-slash system
3 Soil Dynamics during Cultivation
3.1 Effects of Vegetation Clearing
3.1.1 Effects on microclimate
3.1.2 Effects on the soil
3.1.3 Nutrient and organic matter cycles
3.1.4 Forest nutrient cycle
3.1.5 Savanna nutrient cycle
3.1.6 Nutrient cycling in shifting cultivation agroecosystems
3.2 Vegetation Slash Burning
3.2.1 Why vegetation slash is burned
3.2.2 Effects on the soil
3.3 Organic Matter Decline
3.4 Nutrient Decline during Cropping
3.5 Decline in Soil Physical Status
3.7 Shifting Cultivation in River Floodplains
4 Soil Dynamics during the Fallow Period
4.1 Soil Organic Matter Dynamics
4.1.1 Organic matter equilibrium concept
4.1.2 Organic matter equilibrium concept: an explanatory model
4.1.3 Organic matter accretion in fallow soil in different ecological zones
4.3 Improvement in Soil Physical Status
4.4 Soil Organic Matter and Nutrient Dynamics in High-altitude Fallows
5 Fallow Vegetation Dynamics
5.1 Fallow Vegetation as a Resource
5.1.1 Intangible benefits
5.2 Rainforest Succession
5.2.1 General features of rainforest secondary succession
5.2.2 Characteristics of secondary or successional tree species
5.2.3 Changes infloristic composition of vegetation
5.2.4 Changes in number of species and species diversity
5.2.5 Changes in vegetation structure
5.3 Succession in Deciduous Seasonal (Monsoon) Forest
5.4 Succession in Savanna Ecosystems
5.4.1 Temporal dynamics of savanna vegetation
5.4.2 Succession in savanna vegetation subjected to burning
5.4.3 Succession in fire-protected savanna vegetation
5.4.4 Succession in fire-protected savanna plots in West Africa
5.4.5 Succession in fire-protected savanna in South America
5.5.1 Delleected succession in Africa
5.5.2 Dellected succession in tropical Asia
5.5.3 Dellected succession in tropical America
5.6 Succession in Areas of High Altitude on Tropical Mountains
5.7 Management of Fallow Vegetation
5.8 Nutrient Storage in Fallow Vegetation
6 Relationships between Fallow Soil and Vegetation
6.1 Fallow Soil–Vegetation Interrelationships: Correlation Analysis
6.1.1 Relationships between plant life forms and soil properties
6.1.2 Relationships between vegetation structural/floristic characteristics and soil chemical properties
6.2 Fallow Soil–Vegetation Interrelationships: Multiple Regression Analysis
6.3 Implications of Fallow Soil–Vegetation Interrelationships
7 Ecological Succession Theory and Models
7.1 Definition, Basic Features and Concepts of Ecological Succession
7.2 Types of Ecological Succession
7.3 Theoretical Viewpoints on the Nature, Processes and Causal Factors of Succession
7.3.1 The Clementsian holistic hypothesis
7.3.2 The individualistic theory
7.3.3 The resource-ratio hypothesis
7.3.4 The initial floristic composition hypothesis
7.3.5 The facilitation, in hibition and tolerance hypotheses
7.3.6 Initial soil–substrate conditions
7.3.7 The nucleation model
7.3.8 The spatio–temporal model
7.4 Changes that Occur in Ecosystems during Succession
8 Theory and Models of Soil Fertility Restoration under Bush Fallow
8.4 The Spatio–Temporal Model
8.4.1 Core–periphery analogy
8.4.2 Stages of the process of soil fertility restoration
8.5 A Unified Theory of Succession and Soil Fertility Restoration
9 Intensification of Shifting Cultivation
9.2 Traditional Agroforestry Systems Involving Other Trees
9.2.1 Tree legumes in farms in Java
9.2.2 Trees in farms and fallows of Bora Indians, Peru
9.2.3 Casuarina trees in farms in Papua New Guinea
9.3 Enriched Fallows of Soil-improving Trees
9.3.1 Pada in rice fields and fallow vegetation in northern Thailand
9.3.2 Gliricidia-enriched fallows of south-western Nigeria
9.4.1 Seasonal or short-duration fallows
9.4.2 Multi-seasonal or long-duration planted fallows
9.5.1 Faidherbia (Acacia) albida-based agroforestry in tropical African savanna
9.5.2 Leguminous/commercial trees in farms in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh
9.5.3 Fodder trees in bush fallow in the Philippines
9.5.4 Cassava–pigeon pea system in Bas-Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo
9.5.5 Maize cultivation intensification with soybean in Zimbabwe
9.5.6 Hedgerow intercropping in south-eastern Nigeria
9.7 Green Manure and Cover Crops
9.9 Socio-economic and Technological Aspects of Intensification
10 Alternative Farming Systems and the Future of Shifting Cultivation
10.1 Continuous Cultivation Based on Application of Inorganic Fertilizers
10.1.1 Problems associated with the use of inorganic fertilizers
10.2 Continuous Cultivation Based on Manure Application
10.3.1 Adoption of alley farming by small-scale farmers
10.3.2 Problems associated with alley farming
10.4 Quesungual Slash-and-Mulch Agroforestry System
10.5 Shifting Cultivation in Retrospect
10.5.4 Agricultural innovation and global warming
10.6 The Future of Shifting Cultivation
10.6.1 Stages and processes of intensifying shifting cultivation
10.6.2 Effects of land grabbing
10.6.3 Agricultural imperialism
10.6.4 Long-term prospects