A 1640-Year Vegetation and Fire History of the Lake Haixihai Catchment in Northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China

• DOI: 10.3390/f14050990
• Publication Date: 2023-05-11T08:29:01Z
• Authors: Qian Shi; Caiming Shen; Hongwei Meng; Linpei Huang; Qifa Sun
• Keywords: Deforestation

Vegetation and fire archives of the late Holocene are essential for understanding importance natural anthropogenic forcings on past future vegetation successions as well climate changes. Here we present a 1640-year record history Lake Haixihai catchment in northwestern Yunnan, southwest China. Pollen charcoal analyses XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analysis lacustrine sediments from were employed to reveal its regional vegetation, forest fire, soil erosion intensity changes over last 1640 years. The results show their significant attributed both climatic conditions human activities: lake witnessed densest forests (including pine hemlock forests, evergreen broadleaved forests) weakest years relatively frequent fires at 380–880 AD, when succession, mainly driven by forcings, i.e., conditions. A abrupt drop density, minor abundance components, gradually strengthening occurred transition 880 1040 such development agriculture systematic deforestation became dominant ones driving succession erosion. After this transition, density never returned level before implying that modern landscape was already established approximately early ca. AD. No component until 1940 most fires, strongest erosion, low after AD might be partially extensive around 1960