The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant chang...The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by展开更多
Dr. Lixing Lao, an internationally known scholar of Chinese medicine renowned for his clinical and mechanisms research, is the Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） Program at the Center for Integrative...Dr. Lixing Lao, an internationally known scholar of Chinese medicine renowned for his clinical and mechanisms research, is the Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） Program at the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland （UM） School of Medicine; the Co-Chair of the Acupuncture Research Society; and the former Editor-in-Chief of the American Acupuncturist, the official journal of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The Baltimore Magazine has listed Dr. Lao as one of the nation＇s top acupuncture practitioners （Figure 1 ）.展开更多
Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land...Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land use management. A combination of LST and the EVI indices in the global disturbance index (DI) has been proven to be useful for detecting and monitoring of changes in land covers at continental scales. However, this model has not been adequately applied or assessed in tropical regions. We aimed to demonstrate and evaluate the DI algorithm used to detect spatial change in land covers in Lao tropical forests. We used the land surface temperature and enhanced vegetation index of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer time-series products from 2006-2012. We used two dates Google EarthTM images in 2006 and 2012 as ground truth data for accuracy assessment of the model. This research demonstrated that the DI was capable of detecting vegetation changes during seven-year periods with high overall accuracy;however, it showed low accuracy in detecting vegetation decrease.展开更多
The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use a...The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use at the village and household level. The objectives of this policy are to alleviate poverty and to introduce more sustainable management of agricultural resources. In order to achieve these objectives, the government has initiated a program of relocation to upland ‘focal areas’ from which marketing, distribution and other services can be supplied, these being essential preconditions for effective agricultural development in these regions. This diagnostic study has examined communal and household strategies for addressing food security issues, and has highlighted the main problems encountered in the pursuit of food security on the local level. The specific objective was to conduct a broadly focused participatory problem diagnosis of the study areas in two districts Phonsay and Namo, in order to understand farmers’ problems, livelihood goals and how their perspectives on food security have changed, and to investigate food security in shifting cultivation systems in Luang Prabang andOudomxay provinces. Within these two provinces Phonsay and Namo districts were selected as the research areas. The two districts are the poorest districts in the Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces and two of ten priority poorest districts in the whole country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. The results of this study were reviewed against the sustainable land use systems strategy formulated from the Lao PDR policy. The study highlights both the benefits and stresses on household welfare, food insecurity conditions in the study areas, and interrelated problems of insufficient rice for household consumption. Finally based on these results the authors propose recommendations and future research indications.展开更多
文摘The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by
文摘Dr. Lixing Lao, an internationally known scholar of Chinese medicine renowned for his clinical and mechanisms research, is the Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） Program at the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland （UM） School of Medicine; the Co-Chair of the Acupuncture Research Society; and the former Editor-in-Chief of the American Acupuncturist, the official journal of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The Baltimore Magazine has listed Dr. Lao as one of the nation＇s top acupuncture practitioners （Figure 1 ）.
文摘Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land use management. A combination of LST and the EVI indices in the global disturbance index (DI) has been proven to be useful for detecting and monitoring of changes in land covers at continental scales. However, this model has not been adequately applied or assessed in tropical regions. We aimed to demonstrate and evaluate the DI algorithm used to detect spatial change in land covers in Lao tropical forests. We used the land surface temperature and enhanced vegetation index of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer time-series products from 2006-2012. We used two dates Google EarthTM images in 2006 and 2012 as ground truth data for accuracy assessment of the model. This research demonstrated that the DI was capable of detecting vegetation changes during seven-year periods with high overall accuracy;however, it showed low accuracy in detecting vegetation decrease.
文摘The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use at the village and household level. The objectives of this policy are to alleviate poverty and to introduce more sustainable management of agricultural resources. In order to achieve these objectives, the government has initiated a program of relocation to upland ‘focal areas’ from which marketing, distribution and other services can be supplied, these being essential preconditions for effective agricultural development in these regions. This diagnostic study has examined communal and household strategies for addressing food security issues, and has highlighted the main problems encountered in the pursuit of food security on the local level. The specific objective was to conduct a broadly focused participatory problem diagnosis of the study areas in two districts Phonsay and Namo, in order to understand farmers’ problems, livelihood goals and how their perspectives on food security have changed, and to investigate food security in shifting cultivation systems in Luang Prabang andOudomxay provinces. Within these two provinces Phonsay and Namo districts were selected as the research areas. The two districts are the poorest districts in the Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces and two of ten priority poorest districts in the whole country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. The results of this study were reviewed against the sustainable land use systems strategy formulated from the Lao PDR policy. The study highlights both the benefits and stresses on household welfare, food insecurity conditions in the study areas, and interrelated problems of insufficient rice for household consumption. Finally based on these results the authors propose recommendations and future research indications.
