This paper presents an application of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem
Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to the analysis of rural land uses. Using secondary data on farming
systems in Laos, we illustrate how the concept of metabolic pattern can be used to establish links
between the various indicators of performance of rural systems. To this purpose, we characterize the
socioeconomic activities in rural Laos by a series of quantitative indicators defined across: (i) different
hierarchical levels of organization described at different scales (i.e. households, rural villages, administrative
regions and the whole country) and (ii) different dimensions of analysis, including economic,
agronomic, social, biophysical, and ecological analysis. The MuSIASEM approach simultaneously employs
two non-equivalent criteria for quantification. The observed rural system is described in terms of an integrated
set of flow elements (money,food, energy, water,fertilizer and other materials), which are mapped
against two distinct fund elements: (i) a multi-level matrix of human activity (flows being expressed in
terms of intensity per hour) and (ii) a multi-level matrix of land uses (flows being expressed as density
per hectare). Our case study shows that in this way it is possible to move across different hierarchical levels,
scales and dimensions, to arrive at an integrated representation of the metabolic pattern of farming
systems.