Spatiotemporal Degradation of Abandoned Farmland and Associated Eco-Environmental Risks in the High Mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas

Suresh Chaudhary, Yukuan Wang, Amod Mani Dixit, Narendra Raj Khanal, Pei Xu, Bin Fu, Kun Yan, Qin Liu, Yafeng Lu and Ming Li
Additional contact information
Suresh Chaudhary: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Yukuan Wang: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Amod Mani Dixit: National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal, Kathmandu Lalitpur Po. Box 13667, Nepal
Narendra Raj Khanal: Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, University Campus, Kirtipur Po. Box 44613, Nepal
Pei Xu: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Bin Fu: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Kun Yan: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Qin Liu: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Yafeng Lu: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Ming Li: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China

Land, 2019, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Globally, farmland abandonment has been a major phenomenon for eco-environmental and social landscape changes in the mountain regions. Farmland abandonment led to endangering the capacity of mountain ecosystems as well as variety of eco-environmental processes that play a pivotal role in regional as well local level eco-environment security. This research aims to (i) assess the spatiotemporal degradation of abandoned farmlands, (ii) identify the major causes of farmland degradation, and (iii) analyze the eco-environmental risks triggered or exacerbated by the degradation of abandoned farmlands. We conducted an inventory of the spatiotemporal distribution of abandoned farmlands and their degradation status with Google earth images and by modeling and interpreting low-height remote sensing images taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Geomorphic damages were mapped at the scale of individual abandoned farms. A multivariate regression statistical (MRS) model was used to identify the major causes of degradation. This research revealed that out of the total surveyed farmlands, 92% were already completely irreversibly damaged. The damages started with the disruption of terraces and bulging processes that occurred within the year after abandonment. This degradation induced diverse hazardous processes, such as landslides, debris flows, rock falls, the formation of gullies, soil erosion, and the development of sinkholes, which increase the negative effects of on both land resources and plant succession. Farmland abandonment does not automatically lead to plant colonization because geomorphic damage is intensified prior to colonization. Therefore, land management is required for plant colonization as well as other efforts to reduce degradation induced eco-environmental risk. This study thus could help land planners and environmentalists in the development of suitable guidelines (pre- or post-abandonment) plans, programmes, and legislation to effectively address the problem of abandoned farmland.

Keywords: farmland abandonment; spatiotemporal degradation; eco-environmental risk; regression model; mountain region; Nepal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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