Slash and burn practices in Finland in 1892

Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields for agriculture or pasture for livestock, or for a variety of other purposes. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria Ecologically a woodland is an area covered in trees differentiated from a Forest. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Pasture is land with Herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of Ungulate Livestock as part of a Farm or Ranch. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food It is sometimes part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock herding. For methods see Slash and burn Shifting cultivation is an Agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily then abandoned Transhumance is a term with two accepted usages Older sources use transhumance for vertical seasonal Livestock movement typically to higher

Historically, the practice of slash and burn has been widely practiced throughout most of the world, in grasslands as well as woodlands, and known by many names. Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody In temperate regions, such as Europe and North America, the practice has been mostly abandoned over the past few centuries. Today the term is mainly associated with tropical forests. The Tropics are centered on the Equator and limited in Latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23

Older English terms for slash and burn include assarting, swidden, and fire-fallow cultivation. Assarting is the act of clearing Forested lands for use in Agriculture or other purposes

Slash and burn is a specific functional element of certain farming practices, often shifting cultivation systems. For methods see Slash and burn Shifting cultivation is an Agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily then abandoned In some cases such as parts of Madagascar, slash and burn may have no cyclical aspects (e. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern g some slash and burn activities can render soils incapable of further yields for generations), or may be practiced on its own as a single cycle farming activity with no follow on cropping cycle. Shifting cultivation normally implies the existence of a cropping cycle component, whereas slash-and-burn actions may or may not be followed by cropping.

Slash-and-burn defined

Burned farmland near Santa Fé (Veraguas Province), Panamá. Santa Fé is the name of the capital of the Santa Fé district in the province of Veraguas in Panamá.

An area of primary or secondary forest is selected, and the vegetation is cut and allowed to dry. Secondary, or second-growth, forest is a Forest or Woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as Fire, Insect Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region it refers to the Ground cover provided by plants Large trees are often girdled and allowed to die standing. Girdling, also called ring barking or ring-barking, is the process of completely removing a strip of Bark (consisting of Secondary Phloem tissue cork cambium Some trees are often left standing, especially those viewed as useful, such as food producing trees like chestnuts or economically valuable trees like teak. Chestnut ( Castanea) (including some chinkapin or Chinquapin) is a Genus of eight or nine Species of Deciduous Teak ( Tectona) is a genus of tropical Hardwood Trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia Portions of the cut timber or saplings are often gathered to use for firewood or to make charcoal. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Firewood was the primary source of fuel until the 1800s when it was displaced by coal and later by oil Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation After some period of time (a week to a few months) the residual dry vegetation is burned. Plots are cultivated for a few seasons (usually one to five years) and then abandoned as fertility declines and weeds invade. Soil fertility is the characteristic of soil that supports abundant plant life

Such abandoned plots often become used as pasture for livestock. If the forest is allowed to recover, pasture becomes rough pasture for a while. Rough pasture is non-intensive Grazing Pasture, commonly found on poor soils especially in hilly areas throughout the world Recovering woodlands are sometimes treated as "fallow" land, which means it is to be subjected to another round of slash and burn in the future. ^[1]

Burning removes the vegetation and may release a pulse of nutrients to fertilize the soil. Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region it refers to the Ground cover provided by plants A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment Ash also increases the pH of the soil, a process which makes certain nutrients (especially phosphorus) more available in the short term. pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a Solution. Phosphorus, (ˈfɒsfərəs is the Chemical element that has the symbol P and Atomic number 15 Burning also temporarily drives off soil microorganisms, pests, and established plants long enough for crops to be planted in their ashes. Before artificial fertilizers were available, fire was one of the most widespread methods of fertilization. ^[2]

Slash and burn requires a relatively low human population density or a continuing supply of new "frontier" lands, since the recovery of forests may require many decades or even human generations.

Various forms of slash-and-burn have been used in nearly every forested environment, from the temperate coniferous forests of Northern Europe (e. Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial Biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest g. , Svedjebruk in Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway) to the tropical moist broadleaf forests of Indochina and the Amazon Rainforest. Svedjebruk is a Swedish term for slash-and-burn agriculture that is derived from the Old Norse word sviða which means "to burn" Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. The Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía Much of the temperate forest cutting was followed by sustainable grazing or crop rotation practices. An almost total conversion of forests to farmland and pasture has occurred in many temperate regions, such as England. In many tropical forests, sustainable forms of slash and burn have been practiced for millennia, but population growth and large-scale industrial logging, among other factors, have made traditional slash and burn practices less sustainable and more likely to result in catastrophic wildfires. ^[3]

Historical background

During the Neolithic Revolution, or "new stone age revolution" which included agricultural advancements, groups of prehistoric humans started domesticating various plants and animals, shifting from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward agriculture and pastoralism. The Neolithic Revolution was the first Agricultural revolution &mdashthe transition from hunting and gathering communities and bands to Agriculture and A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild Foraging and Hunting The origins of domestication are not known. One theory is that it was mainly due to the end of the Ice Age (ie. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets about 9-11,000 years ago), resulting in the extinction of many of prehistoric man's game, such as the wooly mammoth. The woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) also called the tundra mammoth, is an extinct species of Mammoth. Due to this decrease in food from hunting, some groups started to turn to agriculture. Some groups could easily plant their seeds in open fields, but others had forests blocking their farming land. Since Neolithic times, slash and burn techniques have been widely used for converting forests into crop fields and pasture. ^[4] Fire was used before the Neolithic as well, and by hunter-gatherers up to present times. Clearings created by fire were made for many reasons, such as to draw game animals and to promote certain kinds of edible plants such as berries and mushrooms.

Assessments of slash-and-burn

Slash-and-burn agriculture is usually labeled as ecologically destructive, but it may be workable when practiced by small populations in large forests, where fields have sufficient time to recover before again being slashed, burned, and cultivated. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Given the present worldwide high population densities, it is not common to find such conditions. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. It is also more effective when used in mixed plots, with more than one crop (usually two or more plant species that complement each other's growth) being planted at or around the same time. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Even when relatively small populations practice slash-and-burn agriculture, as in the eastern Madagascar rainforests, the cumulative effect has been destructive of the forest integrity, because of the slow regeneration times and the large number of vulnerable and endangered species. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Problems with ecological unsustainability can arise with significant increases of population, leading to increased pressure on the land and failure to let fields lie fallow for enough time, as has been seen in the late 20th century in parts of the rainforests of Mexico and Brazil. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld

Slash and burn has been replaced by other methods in most temperate zones. It is still practiced in some parts of Mexico, South America, Indonesia, India and Indochina. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It is common in parts of Africa such as Zambia and southern DR Congo where it is known as chitemene, and in Madagascar, where it is known as tavy. The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern A number of countries have established Biodiversity Action Plans that address the effect of human activities on the environment, and biodiversity in particular. This article is about a conservation biology topic For other uses of BAP see BAP (disambiguation. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Some, such as that of Australia, proscribe slash and burn practices. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.

Since the 1990s, a rise in the use of slash and burn agriculture to plant coca, marijuana and opium poppy as part of the illegal drugs trade has contributed to a yearly deforestation of more than 100,000 acres (400 km²) in Colombia. Not to be confused with Cocoa. Coca is a Plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to north-western South America Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the type of Poppy from which Opium and many refined opiates such as Morphine, Thebaine The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America.

Ecological implications

Although a dilemma for overpopulated tropical countries where subsistence farming may be the easiest method of sustaining many families, the consequences of slash-and-burn techniques to ecosystems are almost always deleterious when practiced on a large scale. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficient farming in which farmers grow only enough food to feed the family and to pay taxes or feudal dues An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( The principal vulnerability is the nutrient-poor soil, pervasive in most tropical forests. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest When biomass is extracted even for one harvest of wood or charcoal, the residual soil value is heavily diminished for further growth of any type of vegetation. Sometimes there are several cycles of slash-and-burn within a few years time span; for example in eastern Madagascar the following scenario occurs commonly. The first wave might be cutting of all trees for wood use. A few years later, saplings are harvested to make charcoal, and within the next year the plot is burned to create a quick flush of nutrients for grass to feed the family zebu. Zebus ( Bos primigenius indicus) sometimes known as 'humped Cattle ' or 'indicus' cattle are a type of cattle better-adapted to tropical environments If adjacent plots are treated in a similar fashion, large scale erosion will usually ensue, since there are no roots or temporary water storage in nearby canopies to arrest the surface runoff. Surface runoff is a term used to describe when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess Water, from Rain, Snowmelt, or other sources flows Thus, any small remaining amounts of nutrients are washed away. The area is an example of desertification, and no further growth of any type may arise for generations. Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting primarily from human activities and influenced by climatic variations

The ecological ramifications of the above scenario are further magnified, because tropical forests are habitats for extremely biologically diverse ecosystems, typically containing large numbers of endemic and endangered species. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation Therefore, the role of slash-and-burn is significant in the current Holocene extinction event occurring on the planet Earth. The Holocene extinction event is the widespread ongoing Mass extinction of Species during the modern Holocene epoch.

Trivia

Eero Järnefelt has painted the famous painting The Wage Slaves (Raatajat rahanalaiset or Kaski, 1893, [1]) about slash-and-burn agriculture. Eero Erik Nikolai Järnefelt (1863 - 1937 was a Finnish realist painter. Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

See also

• Deforestation
• Milpa
• Overpopulation
• Terra preta

References