Late-Holocene changes in vegetation composition and fire regimes in the subalpine western Nanling Mountains in subtropic China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12265229 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mingying Quan (0000-0003-3972-0841, South China Normal University), Wei Zhong (0000-0002-4157-3097, South China Normal University, corresponding author), Xiaojun Wang (0009-0006-0120-7275, South China Normal University), Bingxiang Wang (0009-0001-1202-4144, South China Normal University), Tianhang Li (0000-0001-6578-2283, South China Normal University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 707-717 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Holocene (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09596836231157058 |
| OpenAlex | W4323925388 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 43 |
Understanding the responses of vegetation composition to climate, fire regimes and human disturbance is crucial to provide valuable insights to protect current and future ecosystems. However, relevant studies were poorly performed on the heavily forested montane areas in subtropic East Asia. In this study, we present pollen and charcoal records from a 95-cm long peat core in the subalpine Daping swamp in the western Nanling Mountains in subtropic China, to discuss the possible interactions among vegetation, fire, climatic change, and human activities in the late-Holocene. Our results suggest that the vegetation in the study area was composed of deciduous–evergreen mixed forests with few fire events during 3140–630 cal yr BP, and its changes were mainly controlled by climate with rare human impacts reflected by low concentrations of charcoals, low proportions of Poaceae pollen, and high AP/NAP ratios. After 630 cal yr BP, pollen data indicate an obvious shift from dense forests to more open landscape. The sharp increase of charcoal concentrations, the extremely low AP/NAP and increased Poaceae percentages suggest that this vegetation shift is not only impacted by the dry climate conditions, but also by the intensified deforestation due to enhanced human activities such as the slash-and-burn cultivation, etc. This study reveals a vital transitional timing from the natural to the superimposed anthropogenic forcing of vegetation composition and fire regimes at ~630 cal yr BP. Regional comparison of charcoal records indicates that the onset timing of intensified human disturbance in the inland montane areas is much later than that in the coastal areas in subtropic China. We infer the obstacle impacts of the montane terrain and the different responses of the dissemination of agriculture and enhanced population migration have played a crucial role in this asynchronous spreading pattern
Archaeology · Biology · Charcoal · Climate change · Deciduous · Deforestation (computer science · Ecosystem · Evergreen · Fire regime · Geography · Holocene · Peat · Physical geography · Subtropics · Swamp · Vegetation (pathology · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Landslides and related hazards · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology
High-resolution evidence from southern China of an early holocene optimum and a mid-Holocene dry event during the Past 18,000 Years
Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset
Microscopic charcoal as a fossil indicator of fire
Coniss
Holocene fire and forest histories in relation to climate change and agriculture development in southeastern China
Revealing the vegetation, fire and human activities in the lowland of eastern Taiwan during Late Holocene
Increases of population and expansion of rice agriculture in Asia, and anthropogenic methane emissions since 5000BP
The wet Little Ice Age recorded by sediments in Huguangyan Lake, tropical South China
Pollen-based temporal-spatial land cover reconstruction in North China for the last 6,000 years
The ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ drought recorded in Lake Huguangyan, tropical South China
Last deglacial and Holocene vegetation evolution and climate variability in the subalpine western Nanling Mountains in South China
Investigation of peat sediments from Daiyun Mountain in southeast China
The emergence of agriculture in southern China
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |