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The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology

The rehabilitation or intensified use of Imperata grasslands will require a much better understanding of their area, distribution, and characteristics. We generated estimates of the area of Imperata grasslands in tropical Asia, and suggested a typology of Imperata grasslands that may be useful to de...

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Main Authors:	Garrity, Dennis Philip, Soekardi, M., Van Noordwijk, Meine, De La Cruz, R., Pathak, P. S., Gunasena, H. P. M., Van So, N., Huijun, G., Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kluwer Academic Publishers 1996
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/1/The%20Imperata%20grasslands%20of%20tropical%20Asia%20area%2C%20distribution%2C%20and%20typology.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00142865
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spelling	my.upm.eprints.424692016-04-13T07:46:07Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/ The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology Garrity, Dennis Philip Soekardi, M. Van Noordwijk, Meine De La Cruz, R. Pathak, P. S. Gunasena, H. P. M. Van So, N. Huijun, G. Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad The rehabilitation or intensified use of Imperata grasslands will require a much better understanding of their area, distribution, and characteristics. We generated estimates of the area of Imperata grasslands in tropical Asia, and suggested a typology of Imperata grasslands that may be useful to define the pathways toward appropriate land use intensification. We conclude that the area of Imperata grasslands in Asia is about 35 million ha. This about 4% of the total land area. The countries with the largest area of Imperata grasslands are Indonesia (8.5 million ha) and India (8.0 million ha). Those with the largest proportion of their surface area covered with Imperata are Sri Lanka (23%), the Philippines (17%), and Vietnam (9%). Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh evidently all have similar proportions of their land area infested with Imperata (about 3 to 4%). Malaysia (< 1%), Cambodia (1%), and the southern part of China (2%) have but a minor proportion of their total land area in Imperata. The species was found widely distributed on the full range of soil orders. It occupied both fertile (e.g. some of the Inceptisols and Andisols) and infertile soils (Ultisols and Oxisols) across a wide range of climates and elevations. Imperata lands fall into four mapping scale-related categories: Mega-grasslands, itmacro-grasslands, meso-grasslands, and micro-grasslands. The mega-grasslands are often referred to as ‘sheet Imperata’. They are the large contiguous areas of Imperata that would appear on small-scale maps of say 1:1,000,000. We propose that this basic typology be supplemented with a number of additional components that have a key influence on intensification pathways: land quality, market access, and the source of power for tillage. The typology was applied in a case study of Indonesian villages in the vicinity of Imperata grasslands. We propose an international initiative to map and derive a more complete and uniform picture of the area of the Imperata grasslands. This should include selected studies to understand conditions at the local level. These are critical to build the appreciation of change agents for the indigenous systems of resource exploitation, and how they relate to local needs, values and constraints. Kluwer Academic Publishers 1996 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/1/The%20Imperata%20grasslands%20of%20tropical%20Asia%20area%2C%20distribution%2C%20and%20typology.pdf Garrity, Dennis Philip and Soekardi, M. and Van Noordwijk, Meine and De La Cruz, R. and Pathak, P. S. and Gunasena, H. P. M. and Van So, N. and Huijun, G. and Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad (1996) The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology. Agroforestry Systems, 36 (1-3). pp. 3-29. ISSN 0167-4366; ESSN: 1572-9680 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00142865 10.1007/BF00142865
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
building	UPM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source	UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language	English
description	The rehabilitation or intensified use of Imperata grasslands will require a much better understanding of their area, distribution, and characteristics. We generated estimates of the area of Imperata grasslands in tropical Asia, and suggested a typology of Imperata grasslands that may be useful to define the pathways toward appropriate land use intensification. We conclude that the area of Imperata grasslands in Asia is about 35 million ha. This about 4% of the total land area. The countries with the largest area of Imperata grasslands are Indonesia (8.5 million ha) and India (8.0 million ha). Those with the largest proportion of their surface area covered with Imperata are Sri Lanka (23%), the Philippines (17%), and Vietnam (9%). Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh evidently all have similar proportions of their land area infested with Imperata (about 3 to 4%). Malaysia (< 1%), Cambodia (1%), and the southern part of China (2%) have but a minor proportion of their total land area in Imperata. The species was found widely distributed on the full range of soil orders. It occupied both fertile (e.g. some of the Inceptisols and Andisols) and infertile soils (Ultisols and Oxisols) across a wide range of climates and elevations. Imperata lands fall into four mapping scale-related categories: Mega-grasslands, itmacro-grasslands, meso-grasslands, and micro-grasslands. The mega-grasslands are often referred to as ‘sheet Imperata’. They are the large contiguous areas of Imperata that would appear on small-scale maps of say 1:1,000,000. We propose that this basic typology be supplemented with a number of additional components that have a key influence on intensification pathways: land quality, market access, and the source of power for tillage. The typology was applied in a case study of Indonesian villages in the vicinity of Imperata grasslands. We propose an international initiative to map and derive a more complete and uniform picture of the area of the Imperata grasslands. This should include selected studies to understand conditions at the local level. These are critical to build the appreciation of change agents for the indigenous systems of resource exploitation, and how they relate to local needs, values and constraints.
format	Article
author	Garrity, Dennis Philip Soekardi, M. Van Noordwijk, Meine De La Cruz, R. Pathak, P. S. Gunasena, H. P. M. Van So, N. Huijun, G. Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
spellingShingle	Garrity, Dennis Philip Soekardi, M. Van Noordwijk, Meine De La Cruz, R. Pathak, P. S. Gunasena, H. P. M. Van So, N. Huijun, G. Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
author_facet	Garrity, Dennis Philip Soekardi, M. Van Noordwijk, Meine De La Cruz, R. Pathak, P. S. Gunasena, H. P. M. Van So, N. Huijun, G. Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
author_sort	Garrity, Dennis Philip
title	The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
title_short	The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
title_full	The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
title_fullStr	The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
title_full_unstemmed	The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology
title_sort	imperata grasslands of tropical asia: area, distribution, and typology
publisher	Kluwer Academic Publishers
publishDate	1996
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/1/The%20Imperata%20grasslands%20of%20tropical%20Asia%20area%2C%20distribution%2C%20and%20typology.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/42469/ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00142865
_version_	1643833292319883264
score	13.211869

The Imperata grasslands of tropical Asia: area, distribution, and typology

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