Wet rice cultivation represents one of the most intensive uses of tropical karst. Under wet field conditions karstlands can be highly resilient, but nevertheless vulnerable to change. The karst environment in this study has been cultivated for at least five centuries. However, the post-World War II era has fostered a host of pressures that have altered the local ecology. Resulting stress in the irrigation systems and society threaten the maintenance of this viable karst-based agricultural economy.