Phylogeographic History of Atraphaxis Plants in Arid Northern China and the Origin of A. bracteata in the Loess Plateau

AbstractSilo-cave is a unique human habitation form on the Loess Plateau in northern China, which consists of an excavated 6–7 m deep pit as the courtyard and cave dwellings in the surrounding four walls. This architecture has had a history of more than 7000 years, and yet such “living fossils for the history of dwellings” are now facing great crises and challenges during rapid social and economic development. In this paper, remote sensing and GIS techniques are used to comprehensively and systematically investigate the spatial distributions and morphological characteristics of silo-caves at both the macro and micro scales. The research shows that silo-cave villages are mainly distributed in economically underdeveloped areas, such as West Henan (Yuxi), South Shanxi (Jinnan), Central Shaanxi (Guanzhong), and East Gansu (Longdong). The morphological evolution patterns of typical silo-cave villages are identified, including: (1) retaining the periphery and rebuilding the inner parts of the villages, (2) retaining the inner parts and expanding the periphery of the villages, and (3) rebuilding the inner parts and expanding the periphery of the villages. These patterns are demonstrated to be influenced by many factors, including landforms, traffic conditions, economic development, population growth, and administrative division adjustment. Sustainable development of these traditional silo-cave villages relies on administrative policy and planning, people’s awareness of cultural heritage protection, culture inheritance, industrial transformation, and public services.

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Unique Traditional Villages on the Loess Plateau of China: Historic Evolution and Challenges to Sustainable Development of Silo-Caves

10.21203/rs.3.rs-415252/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Li Zhang ◽

Peng Lu ◽

Lijie Yan ◽

Xiang Li ◽

Ruixia Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Economic Development ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Morphological Evolution ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Northern China ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Industrial Transformation ◽

History Of ◽

Policy And Planning

Abstract Silo-cave is a unique human habitation form on the Loess Plateau in northern China, which consists of an excavated 6–7 m deep pit as the courtyard and cave dwellings in the surrounding four walls. This architecture has had a history of more than 7000 years, and yet such "living fossils for the history of dwellings" are now facing great crises and challenges during rapid social and economic development. In this paper, remote sensing and GIS techniques are used to comprehensively and systematically investigate the spatial distributions and morphological characteristics of silo-caves at both the macro and micro scales. The research shows that silo-cave villages are mainly distributed in economically underdeveloped areas, such as West Henan (Yuxi), South Shanxi (Jinnan), Central Shaanxi (Guanzhong), and East Gansu (Longdong). The morphological evolution patterns of typical silo-cave villages are identified, including: (1) retaining the periphery and rebuilding the interior, (2) retaining the interior and expanding the periphery, and (3) expanding both the interior and periphery. These patterns are demonstrated to be influenced by many factors, including landforms, traffic conditions, economic development, population growth, and administrative division adjustment. Sustainable development of these traditional silo-cave villages relies on administrative policy and planning, people’s awareness of cultural heritage protection, culture inheritance, industrial transformation, and public services.

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A scenario exploration of strategic land use options for the Loess Plateau in northern China

Agricultural Systems ◽

10.1016/s0308-521x(03)00069-6 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 79 (2) ◽

pp. 145-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

C.H. Lu ◽

M.K. van Ittersum ◽

R. Rabbinge

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Northern China ◽

The Loess Plateau

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The effects of different land uses on soil hydraulic properties in the Loess Plateau, Northern China

Land Degradation and Development ◽

10.1002/ldr.3138 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (11) ◽

pp. 3907-3916 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Shahmir Ali Kalhoro ◽

Xuexuan Xu ◽

Kang Ding ◽

Wenyuan Chen ◽

Abdul Ghaffar Shar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

Hydraulic Properties ◽

Northern China ◽

Land Uses ◽

Soil Hydraulic Properties ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Soil Hydraulic

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Stratigraphic Division of Holocene Loess in China

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200014302 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 37-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Weijian Zhou ◽

Zhisheng An ◽

M. J. Head

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Engineering Geology ◽

Global Climate ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Human Occupation ◽

South West ◽

Stratigraphic Division ◽

History Of ◽

Loess Deposition

Loess deposition within the Loess Plateau of China records the history of environmental change over the last 2.5 Myr. Loess-paleosol sequences of the last 10 ka, which have preserved information of global climate change, relate closely to human occupation of the area. Hence, studies of the deposition and development of Holocene loess are significant for studying environmental change and problems associated with engineering geology. We present here stratigraphic relations among four profiles from the south, west and center of the Loess Plateau. On the basis of 14C radiometric and AMS dates of organic material extracted from the paleosols, together with magnetic susceptibility measurements down each profile, we discuss Holocene stratigraphic divisions within the Loess Plateau, and suggest that the Holocene optimum, characterized by paleosol complexes, occurred between 10 and 5 ka bp. From 5 ka BP to the present, neoglacial activity is characterized by recently deposited loess.

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Water uptake strategies by typical broadleaf and coniferous trees in the Loess Plateau mountain area of northern China

10.22541/au.160861871.11597392/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Weiwen Zhao ◽

Youzhi Han ◽

Wenjun Liang ◽

Xi Wei

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

Water Uptake ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Water Source ◽

Northern China ◽

Water Sources ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Mountain Area ◽

Soil Layers ◽

Before And After

There are few precipitation events in the Loess Platea area, which may significantly influence water uptake strategies for plant communities, while water source for trees, growing in the Loess Plateau mountain area, are poorly comprehend. We investigated the impacts of precipitation (before and after) on water uptake strategies for typical broadleaf and coniferous trees using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope techniques in the Loess Plateau mountain area of northern China. Our results indicated that water sources of the two plant species varied before and after rainfall. Robinia pseudoacacia largely absorbed water from 30-40cm (57.8%) soil layers before precipitation and switched its main water source to 20-30cm (58.5%) soil layer after precipitation. Contrary to R.pseudoacacia, Pinus tabuliformis mainly absorbed water from 20-30cm (24.9%) and 10-20cm (21.6%) soil layers before precipitation and changed its dominant water sources to 0-10cm (39.8%) and 10-20cm (44%) soil layer after precipitation. Moreover, the herbaceous of broadleaf plant has the higher complex of the community. On the whole, R.pseudoacacia and P.tabuliformis showed the diverse characteristics of water utilization, which suggests that these two species are suitable for a mixed forest vegetation and our findings provide valuable information for planning long-term ecological afforestation management around the Loess Plateau mountain area of northern China.

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