A new study from Ohio State University investigates an ancient farming method, slash-and-burn agriculture, and its unexpected effects on forest biodiversity. The researchers looked at how this practice—clearing a patch of forest and then burning it before planting—can create mosaic habitats that support a wider variety of plants and animals in the surrounding ecosystem. The work appears in a scientific publication focused on Earth health and environments. Credit for these insights goes to the Ohio State University team.
Slash-and-burn farming has deep historical roots and remains in use among some Indigenous communities worldwide. While it is often discussed in the context of land management and agricultural cycles, the study highlights a more nuanced effect: small to medium scale burn patches can boost species diversity by altering light, soil nutrients, and microhabitats within the forest matrix.
In Belize, two Qeqchi villages provided a living laboratory for the inquiry. The researchers examined how shifting cultivation practices influence forest biodiversity through field observations and comparative assessments of areas recently burned versus untouched forest zones. The Belizean communities offered practical context for understanding how traditional land-use patterns intersect with ecological processes over time.
Technology played a crucial role in the assessment. Drone-based remote sensing captured high-resolution imagery across study plots, while ground surveys catalogued the presence of trees, shrubs, and herb species. The researchers then linked these biological inventories to measurements of canopy openness and forest structure to gauge how burn-induced changes in light and space affect species assemblages. This approach allowed for a robust estimation of vegetation types and their distribution across the landscape.
A key finding indicates that moderate slash-and-burn intervals create forest mosaics that foster biodiversity. Spectral analyses of leaf light absorption and reflection helped identify shifts in vegetation communities, revealing more varied assemblages in burned zones compared with long-unburned areas. In practical terms, the openings created by burn events let sunlight reach the forest floor, which promotes the growth of understory plants and allows a broader range of species to establish and persist.
As the lead author explained, mature forests with dense canopies limit light penetration, which suppresses the establishment of certain plant groups. When a portion of the forest is opened through shifting cultivation, sunlight becomes a resource rather than a constraint, enabling a succession of plant species to take root and mature. This dynamic can contribute to a richer, more complex understorey and a more diverse overall forest composition. The Costa Rican and Belizean field contexts provided concrete illustrations of how this mechanism operates across different tropical forest settings.
Beyond plant diversity, the study considered the implications for animal communities that rely on diverse plant structures, including understory shrubs, fallen logs, and a variety of tree species. A more heterogeneous forest landscape tends to support a wider range of insects, birds, and arboreal mammals, creating a network of interactions that reinforce ecological resilience. Burn-created gaps also attract light-loving species and transient wildlife that use the transitional habitat as a resource corridor between denser forest patches.
While the findings challenge some common assumptions about slash-and-burn practices, they also call for careful, context-specific management. The ecological benefits appear to depend on burn size, frequency, and the health of the surrounding forest. Smaller, well-spaced burns within a mosaic framework may foster habitat diversity without triggering severe fragmentation or long-term degradation. Conversely, large or frequent burns could overwhelm the system, reducing resilience and limiting habitat availability. The study underscores the importance of balancing traditional land-use practices with ongoing ecological monitoring and community-based stewardship.
Experts emphasize that the results should not be read as blanket endorsement of slash-and-burn methods. The ecological outcomes are nuanced, highly dependent on local conditions, and require cautious planning to avoid adverse effects on soil fertility, water cycles, and wildlife habitats. The Belizean and regional contexts demonstrate how cultural practices intersect with ecological outcomes, offering a model for integrating Indigenous knowledge with scientific assessment to inform sustainable land management.
The research team highlights the value of combining modern measurement tools with field observations to understand the complexities of forest ecosystems. Drone imagery provides broad-scale context, while on-the-ground surveys deliver detail about species presence and ecological interactions. The synthesis of these methods yields a clearer picture of how burn mosaics influence biodiversity across space and time. The work contributes to a growing body of evidence about how traditional agricultural practices can interact with biodiversity in ways that are not always obvious at first glance. Credit for these insights belongs to an interdisciplinary team at Ohio State University and its collaborators in Belize and the broader tropical forest research community.
This study adds a new chapter to the long-running discussion about land management in tropical forests. It highlights the potential for carefully managed shifting cultivation to create habitat heterogeneity that supports a range of species while maintaining the ecosystem’s overall integrity. The findings point to the importance of context, scale, and deliberate planning when evaluating the ecological consequences of slash-and-burn practices. In the end, the research suggests that with thoughtful application and continuous monitoring, traditional land-use patterns can coexist with efforts to preserve forest biodiversity in tropical landscapes.