Increasing human activities during the past 2,100 years in southwest China inferred from a fossil pollen record

Xie, Ying; Wang, Yongbo; Liu, Xingqi; Shen, Jian; Wang, Yong

doi:10.1007/s00334-020-00799-7

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Such temporal variation of regional vegetation failed to capture the major climate fluctuations during the past 2000 years, for instance, the synthesized temperature record of China (Ge et al, 2013) and moisture variations in stalagmites from southwestern China (Wang et al, 2005; Supplementary Figure S3). Instead, such vegetation change was attributed to increasing regional human activities, as a result of forest clearance and cultivation of agricultural plants (Xie et al, 2021), which is broadly consistent with the reported anthropogenic processes from Yunnan lakes, for instance, Lake Xingyun (Hillman et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2015), and Lake Erhai (Xu et al, 2015; Supplementary Figure S3). According to the historical documents, gathering and hunting acted as the major human activities in southwestern China before AD 800 (Shi, 2009), while the establishment of Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms promoted regional economic development as well as human activities (Elvin et al, 2002).…”

Section: Vegetation History and Potential Influences From Human Activ...supporting

confidence: 80%

“…Therefore, the abrupt increase of Myriophyllum between AD 1200 and 1350, as well as higher abundance of Pediastrum after AD 800, possibly resulted from the increased nutrient supply following the anthropogenic forest clearance. In addition, a slightly weaker summer monsoon signal was preserved in the stable oxygen isotope record (Wang et al, 2005; see Supplementary Figure S3), that possibly caused water level decline in Beihai Wetland as indicated by higher coarse sediment content and sedimentation rate (Xie et al, 2021). Subsequently, the declined water depth might have favorited the expansion of the submerged macrophyte ( Myriophyllum ) during this period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extremely low correlations associated with high p -values were inferred for the period after AD 1350, revealing rather limited influences from climate change on the vegetation diversity. The overwhelming human activities in this stage might have contributed significantly to the vegetation diversity (Wu et al, 2015; Xie et al, 2021). Besides the variations in correlation with climate records, the amplitudes of Hill number CIMFs decreased as well, indicating a gradual stabilization process in the vegetation diversity from the climate-driven to human-dominant conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moore et al, 1991; Wang et al, 1997). The pollen assemblages have previously been interpreted in terms of vegetation and climate changes (Wang et al, 2020; Xie et al, 2021). Algae and fern spores were also identified and counted, and the pollen percentages were calculated based on the sum of terrestrial pollen counts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, records with significant human impacts have also been reported, dated back to the mid-Holocene (Dearing et al, 2008; Shen et al, 2006; Zhang et al, 2014). Intensified influences from human activities during the late-Holocene have been further deduced from lake sediment records (Hillman et al, 2014; Wu et al, 2015), historical documents (Cui, 2008), as well as regional vegetation changes (Xie et al, 2021). Therefore, the investigation of fossil pollen deduced diversity change from Yunnan Plateau provides us with the opportunity of exploring the interactions among regional vegetation diversity, climate change, and human activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate and human induced 2000-year vegetation diversity change in Yunnan, southwestern China

et al. 2021

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Understanding long-term vegetation diversity patterns and their potential responses to climate and/or human driven processes are important for ecosystem modeling and conservation. Late-Holocene fossil pollen assemblage and associated vegetation diversity estimates provide an opportunity to explore the interactions among vegetation, climate, and human activities. A continuous 2000-year palynological record was obtained from the Beihai Wetland, southwestern China, to represent regional vegetation history, particularly the vegetation diversity changes. The results indicate that regional vegetation was dominated by deciduous broadleaved forest components (e.g. Alnus, deciduous Quercus), which showed a gradual decrease accompanied by expansion of herbaceous taxa (mainly Poaceae) after AD 800. Such progressive decline of forest was attributed to regional deforestation driven by intensified human activities, which was further confirmed by the increasing non-pollen polymorph abundance, particularly an abrupt rise after AD 1350. Vegetation diversity based on the Hill numbers ( N0, N1, and N2) showed a dramatic decline between ca. AD 200–400, which was triggered by regional fire events as shown by increased charcoal abundance from a nearby lake. The vegetation diversity reduced gradually after AD 800, especially the vegetation richness reflected by N0, revealing the transitional process from climate-driven to human-dominated vegetation changes. Minor increases of vegetation diversity occurred during Chinese dynastical transitions, probably due to reduced human activities following war-induced population crises. On the multidecadal scale, variations in vegetation diversity correlated significantly with climate fluctuations (revealed by synthesized temperature of China and stable oxygen isotope record from Dongge Cave) before AD 800, indicating a climate dominant condition. Then, the correlation between vegetation diversity and climate declined after AD 800, representing a progressive transition to human-dominant condition. In addition, the compositional turnover based on DCCA of the fossil pollen assemblage revealed a stepwise decrease, indicating reduced vegetation turnovers under anthropogenic influences.

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Section: Vegetation History and Potential Influences From Human Activ...supporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate and human induced 2000-year vegetation diversity change in Yunnan, southwestern China

et al. 2021

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Differences in forest composition following two periods of settlement by pre-Columbian Native Americans

Commerford

Gittens

Gainforth

et al. 2022

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Temperate broadleaf forests in eastern North America are diverse ecosystems whose vegetation composition has shifted over the last several millennia in response to climatic and human drivers. Yet, detailed records of long-term changes in vegetation composition and diversity in response to known periods of human activity, particularly multiple distinct periods of human activity at the same site, are still relatively sparse. In this study, we examine a sediment record from Avery Lake, Illinois, USA, using multiple metrics derived from pollen data to infer vegetation composition and diversity over the last 3,000 years. This 3,000-year history encompasses the Baumer (300 bce-300 ce) and Mississippian settlements (1150-1450 ce) at Kincaid Mounds (adjacent to Avery Lake), and captures differences in the impact that these groups had on vegetation composition. Both groups actively cleared the local landscape for settlement and horticultural/agricultural purposes. Given the persistence of fire-tolerant Quercus in conjunction with declines in other tree taxa, this clearing likely occurred through the use of fire. We also apply a self-organized mapping technique to the multivariate pollen assemblages to identify similarities and differences in vegetation composition across time. Those results suggest that the vegetation surrounding Avery Lake was compositionally similar before and after the Baumer settlement, but compositionally different after the Mississippian settlement. The end of the Mississippian settlement occurred simultaneously with a regional shift in moisture characterized by drier summers and wetter winters associated with the Little Ice Age (1250-1850 ce), which likely prevented this ecosystem from returning to its pre-Mississippian composition.

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Middle-late Holocene environment change induced by climate and human based on multi-proxy records from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, eastern China

Xiao

Chi

et al. 2023

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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Increasing human activities during the past 2,100 years in southwest China inferred from a fossil pollen record

Cited by 16 publications

References 60 publications

Climate and human induced 2000-year vegetation diversity change in Yunnan, southwestern China

Climate and human induced 2000-year vegetation diversity change in Yunnan, southwestern China

Differences in forest composition following two periods of settlement by pre-Columbian Native Americans

Middle-late Holocene environment change induced by climate and human based on multi-proxy records from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, eastern China

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