Land use history of swidden cultivation and long-term change in forest ecosystem around a Karen village, Myanmar

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As a result of swidden cultivation in a Karen village in the Bago Mountaions, Myanmar, part of tree-dominated forest became bamboo-dominated forest. However, fallow vegetation in various recovery stages would increase biodiversity and many useful plants were collected from the fallow lands. Swidden cultivation by opening bamboo-dominated forest observed in our research site seems reasonable from the viewpoint of vegetation recovery because it stimulates rapid bamboo recovery during the fallow period. It is likely that felling and recovery of vegetation in this area has reached some equilibrium state. It appears that swidden cultivation in this village might be sustainable in terms of vegetation recovery, as long as the present population density is maintained.