Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Besides natural climate variations, human activities can also cause significant changes in regional vegetation composition, especially during the late Holocene period. Southwest China has experienced a long history of human activities in terms of deforestation and agricultural development. Here we present a continuous fossil pollen record covering the past 2,100 years from Beihai Wetland in western Yunnan Province, for a better understanding of regional vegetation history and potential human activities. The pollen results indicate that the forest components show decreasing trends, including Alnus dominated deciduous broadleaved forest and evergreen broadleaved forest represented by evergreen Quercus. On the other hand, herbs such as Poaceae and Artemisia expanded along with the decline of forest, especially during the period after ad 1120. The results of ordination analysis further confirm such a pattern in which the first PCA component (PC1, capturing 42.2% of total variance) represents an increasing trend, which is subsequently interpreted as an index of human activities. Our findings show broadly identical patterns to previously published sedimentary records from Yunnan as well as historical documents. The human activities increased following the expansion in regional population, in the form of deforestation and regional agricultural development. They may also have caused the expansion of herbs, especially Poaceae, which replaced forest. Therefore, as indicated by the fossil pollen record from the Beihai Wetland, human activities in southwest China increased gradually during the past 2,100 years and more rapidly after ad 1120. Results of sediment influx and grain size analyses showed generally consistent patterns with the signs of summer monsoons captured by stable oxygen isotope records from stalagmites, indicating limited influence from human activities within the wetland system compared to the regional landscape.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abel-Schaad D, López-Sáez JA (2013) Vegetation changes in relation to fire history and human activities at the Peña Negra mire (Bejar Range, Iberian Central Mountain System, Spain) during the past 4000 years. Veget Hist Archaeobot 22:199–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Akimichi T, Yin ST, Zhang HC et al (2007) Ecology and history: an anthropological perspective. Yunnan University Press, Kunming (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Alba-Sánchez F, López-Sáez JA, Abel-Schaad D et al (2019) The impact of climate and land-use changes on the most southerly fir forests (Abies pinsapo) in Europe. Holocene 29:1,176–1,888

    Google Scholar 

  • An ZS, Clements SC, Shen J et al (2011) Glacial-interglacial Indian Summer Monsoon dynamics. Science 333(6043):719–723

    Google Scholar 

  • Bai YJ, Zhang PZ, Gao T et al (2017) The 5400 a bp extreme weakening event of the Asian Summer Monsoon and cultural evolution. Sci China Earth Sci 60:1,171–1,182

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks HJB, Herri O, Seppä H et al (2010) Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative climate reconstructions based on late-Quaternary biological proxies. Open Ecol J 3:68–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaauw M, Christen AJ (2011) Flexible paleoclimate age depth models using an autoregressive gamma process. Bayesian Anal 6:457–474

    Google Scholar 

  • Briles C, Serenchenko O, Stevens L et al (2019) Late Holocene anthropogenic and climatic impact on a tropical island ecosystem of northern Vietnam. Front Ecol Evol 7:121. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buntgen U, Tegel W, Nicolussi K et al (2011) 2500 years of European climate variability and human susceptibility. Science 331(6017):578–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush MB (2002) On the interpretation of fossil Poaceae pollen in the lowland humid neotropics. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 177:5–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen ZY (2001) Introduction to Yunnan climate. China Meteorological Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JA, Wan G (1999) Sediment particle size distribution and its environmental significance in Lake Erhai, Yunnan Province. Chin J Geochem 18:314–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XM, Chen FH, Zhou A et al (2014) Vegetation history, climatic changes and Indian Summer Monsoon evolution during the Last Glaciation (36,400–13,400 cal yr bp) documented by sediments from Xingyun Lake, Yunnan, China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 410:179–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook CG, Jones RT, Turney CSM (2013) Catchment instability and Asian Summer Monsoon variability during the early Holocene in Southwestern China. Boreas 42:224–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui W (2008) The Southwest Yis and Southern Silk Road. Forum Chin Cult S2:114–120 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • De Oliveira Portes MCG, Safford H, Behling H (2018) Humans and climate as designers of the landscape in Serra da Bocaina National Park, southeastern Brazil, over the last seven centuries. Anthropocene 24:61–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Dearing JA, Jones RT, Shen J et al (2008) Using multiple archives to understand past and present climate–human–environment interactions: the lake Erhai catchment, Yunnan Province, China. J Paleolimnol 40:3–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding CJ (2019) On the governance and development of Yunnan in Ming dynasty. Soc Sci Rev 34:127–131 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding W, Pang RM, Xu QH et al (2011) Surface pollen assemblages as indicators of human impact in the warm temperate hilly areas of eastern China. Chin Sci Bull 56:996–1,004

    Google Scholar 

  • Domic AI, Capriles JM, Escobar-Torrez K et al (2018) Two thousand years of land-use and vegetation evolution in the Andean highlands of northern Chile inferred from pollen and charcoal analyses. Quaternary 1:32. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat1030032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elvin M, Crook DS, Shen J et al (2002) The impact of clearance and irrigation on the environment in the Lake Erhai catchment from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century. East Asian Hist 23:1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K, Iversen J (1989) Textbook of pollen analysis, 4th edn. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Flantua SGA, Hooghiemstra H, Vuille M et al (2016) Climate variability and human impact in south America during the last 2000 years: synthesis and perspectives from pollen records. Clim Past 12:483–523

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcin Y, Deschamps P, Menot G et al (2018) Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:3,261–3,266

    Google Scholar 

  • Ge QS, Hao ZX, Zheng JY et al (2013) Temperature changes over the past 2000 yr in China and comparison with the Northern Hemisphere. Clim Past 9:1,153–1,160

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelorini V, Verschuren D (2013) Historical climate–human–ecosystem interaction in East Africa: a review. Afr J Ecol 51:409–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Glina B, Malkiewicz M, Mendyk Ł et al (2017) Human-affected disturbances in vegetation cover and peatland development in the late Holocene recorded in shallow mountain peatlands (Central Sudetes, SW Poland). Boreas 46:294–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm EC (2004) Tilia and Tilia Graph v. 2.0.2. Illinois State Museum, Springfield, USA

  • Haug GH, Cuenther D, Peterson LC et al (2003) Climate and the collapse of Maya civilization. Science 299(5613):1,731–1,735

    Google Scholar 

  • He YH (ed) (2011) The history of Yunnan Province. Chinese Society Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hicks S, Birks HJB (1996) Numerical analysis of modern and fossil pollen spectra as a tool for elucidating the nature of fine-scale human activities in boreal areas. Veget Hist Archaeobot 5:257–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman AL (2011) A 2500-year lake sediment record of drought and human activity from Southwestern China. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh

  • Hillman AL, Yu JQ, Abbott MB (2014) Rapid environmental change during dynastic transitions in Yunnan Province, China. Quat Sci Rev 98:24–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman AL, Abbott MB, Yu J et al (2016) The isotopic response of Lake Chenghai, SW China, to hydrologic modification from human activity. Holocene 26:906–916

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman AL, Abbott MB, Finkenbinder MS et al (2017) An 8,600-year lacustrine record of summer monsoon variability from Yunnan, China. Quat Sci Rev 174:120–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodell DA, Brenner M, Kanfoush SL et al (1999) Paleoclimate of Southwestern China for the past 50000 yr inferred from lake sediment records. Quat Res 52:369–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Holdren JP, Ehrlich PR (1974) Human population and the global environment. Am Sci 62:282–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang R, Zhu C, Zheng CG et al (2004) The characteristics of distribution of Rb and Sr and paleoclimatic changes in the stratigraphy at the site of Zhongba of the Three Gorges. Quat Sci 24:531–536 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirch PV (1996) Late Holocene human-induced modifications to a central Polynesian island ecosystem. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:5,296–5,300

    Google Scholar 

  • Laufer B (1967) Sino-Iranica. The Commercial Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li XQ (2010) History of science and technology in Kingdoms of Nanzhao and Dali. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li YY, Zhou LP, Cai HT (2008) Pollen indicators of human activity. Chin Sci Bull 53:1,281–1,293

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JY, Zhao Y, Xu QH et al (2014) Human influence as a potential source of bias in pollen-based quantitative climate reconstructions. Quat Sci Rev 99:112–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Li SP, Li JF, Wu ZJ et al (2016) Climate and environmental changes of the Lugu Lake area during the Late Holocene. Acta Geol Sin 90:1,998–2,012 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu R (2005) The military immigrants into Yunnan during the course to unite Yunnan and to consolidate the southwestern borderland. China’s Borderl Hist Geogr Stud 15:68–76 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor HV, Dupont L, Stuut JBW et al (2009) Vegetation change, goats, and religion: a 2000-year history of land use in southern Morocco. Quat Sci Rev 28:1,434–1,448

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore PD, Webb JA, Collinson ME (1991) Pollen analysis, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller SD, Rhazi L, Andrieux B et al (2015) Vegetation history of the western rif mountains (NW Morocco): origin, late-Holocene dynamics and human impact. Veget Hist Archaeobot 24:487–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Munoz SE, Gajewski K, Peros MC (2010) Synchronous environmental and cultural change in the prehistory of the northeastern United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:22,008–22,013

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimer PJ, Bard E, Bayliss A et al (2013) IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50000 years cal bp. Radiocarbon 55:1,869–1,887

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen LX, Duan CB (2004) Study on vegetative types and environment status of Beihai Wetland Reserve. J West China For Sci 4:13–16 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen LX, Liang LH (2005) Analysis on the diversity and environmental conditions of plants and animals in Beihai Wetland Nature Reserve of Tengchong county. J Northeast For Univ 33:100–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Yang LY, Yang XD et al (2005) Lake sediment records on climate change and human activities since the Holocene in Erhai catchment, Yunnan Province, China. Sci China Ser D Earth Sci 48:353–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Jones RT, Yang XD et al (2006) The Holocene vegetation history of Lake Erhai, Yunnan province Southwestern China: the role of climate and human forcing. Holocene 16:265–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi S (2005) “Yi” of southwest ethnics during the Han Dynasty: implication and its change. Guizhou Ethn Stud 25:124–130 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi S (2009) The “Xi” as an ethnic group in the Southwest Yis: also discussing the migration of the Shu people toward the South and the fusion of the Shu and Southwest Yis. Ethno Natl Stud 06:72–79 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Song X, Yao Y, Wortley AH et al (2012) Holocene vegetation and climate history at Haligu on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan, SW China. Clim Change 113:841–866

    Google Scholar 

  • Ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (2002) CANOCO reference manual and Cano-Draw for Windows user’s guide: software for canonical community ordination (Version, 4.5). Microcomputer Power, Ithaca

  • Theurillat JP, Guisan A (2001) Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European Alps: a review. Clim Change 50:77–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Unkelbach J, Dulamsuren C, Punsalpaamuu G et al (2018) Late Holocene vegetation, climate, human and fire history of the forest-steppe-ecosystem inferred from core G2-A in the ‘Altai Tavan Bogd’ conservation area in Mongolia. Veget Hist Archaeobot 27:665–677

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Linden M, Vickery E, Charman DJ et al (2008) Vegetation history and human impact during the last 300 years recorded in a German peat deposit. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 152:158–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang FX, Chen N, Zhang Y et al (1997) Pollen flora of China. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang YJ, Cheng H, Edwards RL et al (2005) The Holocene Asian monsoon: links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science 308:854–857

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang YB, Liu XQ, Herzschuh U (2010) Asynchronous evolution of the Indian and East Asian Summer Monsoon indicated by Holocene moisture patterns in monsoonal central Asia. Earth Sci Rev 103:135–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang YB, Herzschuh U, Shumilovskikh LS et al (2014) Quantitative reconstruction of precipitation changes on the NE Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum: extending the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate reconstructions from large lakes. Clim Past 10:21–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Yang XD, Anderson NJ et al (2016) Direct versus indirect climate controls on Holocene diatom assemblages in a sub-tropical deep, alpine lake (Lugu Hu, Yunnan, SW China). Quat Res 86:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Wischnewski J, Kramer A, Kong ZC et al (2011) Terrestrial and aquatic responses to climate change and human impact on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the past two centuries. Glob Change Biol 17:3,376–3,391

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu D, Zhou AF, Liu JB et al (2015) Changing intensity of human activity over the last 2,000 years recorded by the magnetic characteristics of sediments from Xingyun Lake, Yunnan, China. J Paleolimnol 53:47–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao X, Haberle SG, Shen J et al (2014) Latest Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation and climate history inferred from an alpine lacustrine record, northwestern Yunnan Province, Southwestern China. Quat Sci Rev 86:35–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao X, Haberle SG, Li YL et al (2017) Evidence of Holocene climatic change and human impact in northwestern Yunnan Province: high-resolution pollen and charcoal records from Chenghai Lake, Southwestern China. Holocene 28:127–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu DK, Lu HY, Chu GQ et al (2019) Synchronous 500-year oscillations of monsoon climate and human activity in Northeast Asia. Nat Commun 10:4,105. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12138-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu H, Liu B, Wu F (2010) Spatial and temporal variations of Rb/Sr ratios of the bulk surface sediments in Lake Qinghai. Geochem Trans 11:3. https://doi.org/10.1186/1467-4866-11-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu H, Zhou XY, Lan JH et al (2015) Late Holocene Indian Summer Monsoon variations recorded at Lake Erhai, Southwestern China. Quat Res 83:307–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Yancheva G, Nowaczyk NR, Mingram J et al (2007) Influence of the intertropical convergence zone on the East Asian Monsoon. Nature 445(7123):74–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang XD, Shen J, Jones RT et al (2005) Pollen evidence of early human activities in Erhai basin, Yunnan Province. Chin Sci Bull 50:569–577

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang YP, Zhang HC, Chang FQ et al (2016) Vegetation and climate history inferred from a Qinghai Crater Lake pollen record from Tengchong, Southwestern China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 461:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • You Z (1994) The ethnic history of Yunnan. Yunnan University Press, Kunming (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng Y, Chen JG, Xiao JL et al (2013) Non-residual Sr of the sediments in Daihai Lake as a good indicator of chemical weathering. Quat Res 79:284–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang ZK, Wu RJ, Shen J et al (2000) Lacustrine records of climate change and human activities in the catchment of Erhai Lake, Yunnan province since the past 1800 years. J Lake Sci 12:297–303 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang PZ, Cheng H, Edwards R et al (2008) A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record. Science 322(5903):940–942

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang WX, Ming QZ, Shi ZT et al (2014) Lake sediment records on climate change and human activities in the Xingyun Lake catchment, SW China. PloS One 9(7):e102,167. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Werner JP, Garcia-Bustamante E et al (2018) East Asian warm season temperature variations over the past two millennia. Sci Rep 8:7702

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao WL, Xie SJ (1988) Population history of China. People’s Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y (2018) Vegetation and climate reconstructions on different time scales in China: a review of Chinese palynological research. Veget Hist Archaeobot 27:381–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou QY, Miao WJ (1989) Population of China (Yunnan). China Finance and Economics Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Zhitong Yu for his kind assistance during the field work. The study was financially supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41877282, 41861134030) and Capital Normal University. We are grateful to Yan Zhao (editor) and two anonymous referees for their constructive suggestions that improved our manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, 105 West 3rd Ring Rd N, Beijing, 100048, China

    Ying Xie, Yongbo Wang & Xingqi Liu

  2. School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Ji Shen

  3. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Yong Wang

Authors
  1. Ying Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yongbo Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xingqi Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ji Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongbo Wang.

Additional information

Communicated by Y. Zhao.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (XLSX 36 kb)

Supplementary file2 (DOCX 287 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xie, Y., Wang, Y., Liu, X. et al. Increasing human activities during the past 2,100 years in southwest China inferred from a fossil pollen record. Veget Hist Archaeobot 30, 477–488 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00799-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00799-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation