Land and Soil Health Assessment in the Mekong Sentinel Landscape

The LDSF was carried out at two-100 km2 sites within the Mekong Sentinel Landscape. Manlaxiang site in China and the Mbeng site in Laos. Field teams were trained by Tor Vågen and Leigh Winowiecki in May 2014. Field surveys were completed in July 2015. The LDSF is a spatially stratified, randomized sampling design, developed to provide a biophysical baseline at landscape level and a monitoring and evaluation framework for assessing processes of land degradation and effectiveness of rehabilitation measures over time. Measured variables include: land cover, tree and shrub densities, tree biodiversity, erosion prevalence, infiltration capacity, along with an assessment of impact to habitat and occurrence of soil conservation structures. Soil samples were also collected (320 top (0-20 cm) and sub (20-50 cm) soil samples per site) and were processed and analyzed in China. These combined data sets will be used to assess soil and ecosystem health for the landscape in more detail.