Vegetation change and human-environment interactions in the Qinghai Lake Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, since the last deglaciation

CATENA ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 105892
Author(s):  
Naimeng Zhang ◽  
Xianyong Cao ◽  
Qinghai Xu ◽  
Xiaozhong Huang ◽  
Ulrike Herzschuh ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manping Sun ◽  
Yongjuan Sun ◽  
Haicheng Wei ◽  
Guangliang Hou ◽  
Ji Xianba ◽  
...  

The study of ancient city sites provides valuable evidence for understanding human-land relationships. Qinghai Lake Basin, on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, was a key location for economic and cultural exchanges between East and West in ancient China and archaeological surveys have identified the remains of many ancient cities. Although there are relatively good historical records for some ancient cities, their absolute ages are still unclear due to a lack of systematic chronological dating. In this study, OSL dating of ceramic and tile remains from three ancient cities in Qinghai Lake Basin, Xihaijun (XHJGC), Beixiangyang (BXYGC), and Fuxi (FSC), was combined with documentary and paleoclimate evidence to investigate historical human-land relationships. Relics from XHJGC and BXYGC were dated to 0–220 AD, in the Han Dynasty, while tiles from FSC were dated to 120–520 AD, largely corresponding to the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties. Luminescence ages were generally consistent with dates recorded in historical documents, indicating that the OSL method can be reliably used to date buried tiles in ancient cities on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Comparing the dates with paleoclimatic records suggests that the warm and humid climate at c. 2 ka was an important driver of immigration to the region that led to the construction of cities in the Qinghai Lake area during the late Western Han Dynasty. During the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties (220–589 AD), communication between East and the West flourished, and human activities in the area were strong with the continuation of the war in Central China and Hexi Corridor. Fuxi was largely abandoned in the later Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties, although it was still used intermittently until the Ming Dynasty. Pollen records confirm that humans were extensively engaged in agricultural production in the Qinghai Lake area during the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-cheng Wei ◽  
Guang-liang Hou ◽  
Qi-shun Fan ◽  
David B Madsen ◽  
Zhan-jie Qin ◽  
...  

The history of permanent human settlement in the high-altitude regions (>3000 m above sea level [masl]) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is important in understanding human adaptation to this cold “Third Pole” region. The Qinghai Lake Basin was an important corridor used by prehistoric humans migrating to the inner QTP. Pastoralism is currently the most important means of sustaining permanent human settlement in the high-altitude regions of the QTP. However, the lack of reliable proxy measures reflecting prehistoric pastoral activities impedes our understanding of how pastoralism developed. The identification of coprophilous fungi in prehistoric cultural deposits may help refine the history of pastoralism. We collected 21 modern domesticated herbivore dung samples and 66 surface soil samples from the Qinghai Lake Basin for fungal spore analyses. We then evaluated how useful such analyses are for identifying grazing activities. Fifty-three samples were also collected from the JXG2 stratigraphic profile (∼10.0–0 ka; 3312 masl) for fungal spore analysis. Results indicate that low and stable values of the total concentration of coprophilous fungi were present from ∼10.0 to ∼5.5 ka. Concentrations gradually increased from ∼5.5 to ∼4.2 ka, significantly increased from ∼4.2 to ∼2.6 ka, and then increased dramatically after ∼2.6 ka. By combining these results with charcoal concentrations (>50 µm), lithic artifacts, bones and potsherds recovered from the JXG2 site, we infer that early pastoralism in Qinghai Lake Basin appeared between ∼6.0 to ∼5.5 ka and gradually intensified throughout the remainder of the Holocene as herding and farming gradually replaced hunting–gathering as the primary subsistence strategies. These results are supported by pollen records, archeological remains and historical records in the northeastern QTP.


CATENA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 345-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunli Li ◽  
Qi Li ◽  
Liang Zhao ◽  
Shidong Ge ◽  
Dongdong Chen ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naimeng Zhang ◽  
Qinghai Xu ◽  
Dongju Zhang ◽  
Ulrike Herzschuh ◽  
Zhongwei Shen ◽  
...  

<p>Understanding the paleoenvironment (such as climate and landscape) in the area where the early ancient human appears on the Tibetan Plateau is an interesting topic. Based on the results of pollen data on the Yaowuyao loess section of the Qinghai Lake Basin, we used landscape reconstruction algorithms to reconstruct the changes in vegetation cover for 15,000 years. It is shown that the vegetation in the Yaowuyao area changed from temperate steppe (15-7.5 ka) to forest-steppe (7.5-4 ka). Compared with previous studies on the sediment in Qinghai Lake, our study can better reflect the local environment of the Qinghai Lake basin. Furthermore, based on the paleoclimate change data and archeological data from the surrounding areas, it is noticed that while precipitation increases and trees increase, human activities decrease. This may be caused by the substance and strategies of the ancient human beings that have adapted to the steppe. In addition, our results also show that the intensity of ancient human activity has a negative correlation with plant biodiversity, which may be related to human disturbance to the environment. Our paleoecological and environmental study not only shows the paleoenvironment of the early human activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau but also revealed possible early human activity signals.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 430 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruijie Lu ◽  
Feifei Jia ◽  
Shangyu Gao ◽  
Yuan Shang ◽  
Jinfeng Li ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Y. Wang ◽  
R. S. Gao ◽  
J. J. Cao ◽  
J. P. Schwarz ◽  
D. W. Fahey ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document