Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize
Ying Ki Law explains how her team investigated post-landslide vegetation recovery patterns and the role of forests in occurrence and recurrence probability.
About the research
Overview
Our paper examines how landslides recover and what factors influence their regrowth and landslide risk. While landslide management often focuses on engineering solutions, we emphasize the role of vegetation recovery in long-term stability. Using a landslide inventory and LiDAR technology, we analyzed recovery patterns and identified key drivers of regrowth. Our research highlights the importance of forest proximity in accelerating recovery, reducing landslide recurrence and proposes an integrated framework that combines ecological restoration with landslide risk management for more sustainable mitigation strategies.
Challenges
We were surprised by how slowly landslides recover, how effective forests reduce the risk of landslide recurrence and how LiDAR provided a more detailed picture of regrowth than traditional satellite images. A major challenge was processing and interpreting LiDAR’s complex 3D data.
Additionally, integrating concepts from ecology, geomorphology, and disaster management required interdisciplinary analysis. These insights reinforce the need for a holistic approach to landslide management, emphasizing the role of forests in stabilizing slopes and reducing recurrence risks.
Next steps and broader implications
With raising availability of satellite and LiDAR scanning data, expanding remote sensing applications to other landslide-prone regions will help validate our findings. Moreover, it would be insightful if future research could integrate climate change projections into disaster vulnerability. Role of forest and forest resilience under threat of different disasters could be tested under climate change scenarios.
Our study underscores the importance of nature-based solutions in landslide management. By demonstrating the role of forest restoration in reducing landslide occurrence and recurrence, we provide policymakers with evidence to support afforestation and conserving existing forests. Identifying high-risk areas also enables better mitigation planning and prioritise restoration. Our research offers practical insights for land-use planning and environmental policies, promoting more resilient landscapes and communities through sustainable land management strategies.
About the author
Current position
I graduated from The University of Hong Kong in January, and I will move to the National University of Singapore as a research fellow in forest ecology.
Getting involved in ecology
Growing up in the highly urbanized yet mountainous city of Hong Kong, I developed a love for nature through hiking trips with my parents. These early experiences sparked my curiosity about the natural world.
Later, in college, I became fascinated by the incredible diversity of terrestrial plants in the tropics, which deepened my interest in ecology and inspired me to study how ecosystems function and recover from disturbances.
Current research focus
I am still working on tropical forest ecology. Beyond landslide restoration, I am now focusing on exploring how remote sensing techniques can be applied to quantify ecosystem functions in tropical forests and investigate the long-term impacts of forest management on ecosystem resilience.
Advice for fellow ecologists
Stay curious and embrace interdisciplinary thinking. Humans are deeply connected with the nature, and ecology is a fundamental science to link with other fields like geology and climate science to better understand this world. Understanding different perspectives will enhance your research and open new opportunities.
Read the full article “Unveiling the role of forests in landslide occurrence, recurrence and recovery” in Journal of Applied Ecology.
Find the other early career researchers and their articles that have been shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize here!
