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Insights into human transformation of landscapes from a comparison of historical and palaeoecological records from the Hunan–Jiangxi border region of China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2025

John Dodson Open the ORCID record for John Dodson [Opens in a new window] ,
Fengyan Lu ,
Menglin Song  and
Yan Hong
John Dodson*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Fengyan Lu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Menglin Song
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Yan Hong
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
*
Corresponding author: John Dodson; Email: john@ieecas.cn
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Abstract

This study from the Luoxiao Mountains, southeastern China, combines historical information with paleoecological data from two wetlands, yielding a detailed reconstruction of landscape changes over recent centuries. The historical record suggests that people first settled in the region in the late Tang dynasty (618 to 907 CE), and wetland sediments show an increase in charcoal from about this time. During the Qing dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century, a temple complex and a Tea and Salt trade road were constructed near the study sites. Greater impacts are recorded in the wetland closer to the temple site. In the last few hundred years, pollen data show a regional decline of forest cover and the expansion of open vegetation as nearby lowland areas were settled and cleared for agriculture. Proxies for erosion show human impacts in the vicinity of the wetlands. Changes in charcoal inputs reflect regional fire activity, with elevated values around 1500 CE, low values during the Qing dynasty, and a subsequent peak during the twentieth century.

Keywords

Landscape change in SE ChinaHuman impact on erosionFire and vegetationMountaintop environmental change

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , First View , pp. 1 - 8
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Quaternary Research Center.

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