Changes in forest cover in China during the Holocene

Ren, Guoyu

doi:10.1007/s00334-006-0075-5

Cited by 80 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…However, the magnitude of changes differs. Whereas reconstructions suggest a decrease in forest cover of up to 90% (Ren, 2007; middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Huaihe River basin) our model reveals differences of less than 50%, everywhere. However, no other reconstruction studies report such large vegetation change.…”

Section: Land Cover Change From 6 K To Present-daymentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Pollen analyses reveal a generally increased forest cover in the central and eastern parts of China (e.g. Ren and Beug, 2002;Ren, 2007) and a northwestward shift of the steppe-forest boundary of up to 500 km (Ren, 2007;Yu et al, 2000) for mid-Holocene climate. The model indicates a significant shift of forest to the west.…”

Section: Land Cover Change From 6 K To Present-daymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contribution of oceanic and vegetation feedbacks to Holocene climate change in monsoonal Asia

2010

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Abstract.The impact of vegetation-atmosphere and ocean-atmosphere interactions on the mid-to late Holocene climate change as well as their synergy is studied for different parts of the Asian monsoon region, giving consideration to the large climatic and topographical heterogeneity in that area. We concentrate on temperature and precipitation changes as the main parameters describing monsoonal influenced climates.For our purpose, we analyse a set of coupled numerical experiments, performed with the comprehensive Earth system model ECHAM5/JSBACH-MPIOM under present-day and mid-Holocene (6 k) orbital configurations (Otto et al., 2009b). The temperature change caused by the insolation forcing reveals an enhanced seasonal cycle, with a pronounced warming in summer (0.58 K) and autumn (1.29 K) and a cooling in the other seasons (spring: −1.32 K; winter: −0.97 K). Most of this change can be attributed to the direct response of the atmosphere, but the ocean, whose reaction has a lagged seasonal cycle (warming in autumn and winter, cooling in the other seasons), strongly modifies the signal. The simulated contribution of dynamic vegetation is small and most effective in winter, where it slightly warms the near-surface atmosphere (approx. 0.03 K). The temperature difference attributed to the synergy is on average positive, but also small. Concerning the precipitation, the most remarkable change is the postponement and enhancement of the Asian monsoon (0.46 mm/day in summer, 0.53 mm/day in autumn), mainly related to the direct atmospheric response. On regional average, the interactive ocean (ca. 0.18 mm/day) amplifies Correspondence to: A. Dallmeyer (anne.dallmeyer@zmaw.de) the direct effect, but tends to weaken the East Asian summer monsoon and strongly increases the Indian summer monsoon rainfall rate (0.68 mm/day). The influence of dynamic vegetation on precipitation is comparatively small (<0.04 mm/day). The synergy effect has no influence, on average.

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Section: Land Cover Change From 6 K To Present-daymentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Land Cover Change From 6 K To Present-daymentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of oceanic and vegetation feedbacks to Holocene climate change in monsoonal Asia

2010

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“…(Yu et al, 2000). After 6 ka B.P., the forest cover decreased and alpine meadow became widely distributed in this region (Ren, 2007). At present, coniferous forest is located between 2000 and 2900 m.…”

Section: A Shimono Et Almentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Palaeoenvironmental evidence also supports our view that the interior region may have served as a refugium for alpine species. The fossil pollen record shows that, during the mid-Holocene, when temperatures exceeded present-day temperatures by at least 1-2 1C (Yu et al, 2000), forests were located at markedly higher elevations than they are today (Herzschuh et al, 2006;Ren, 2007). This phenomenon had probably occurred during each interglacial period.…”

Section: A G C T T C T -G a A C T T A G T C Tmentioning

confidence: 96%

Range shifts of Potentilla fruticosa on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during glacial and interglacial periods revealed by chloroplast DNA sequence variation

Shimono

Ueno

et al. 2009

Heredity

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The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is one of the most extensive habitats for alpine plants in the world. Therefore, the patterns of genetic variation in populations on the Plateau can reveal the detailed demographic history of alpine plants. We analysed the geographical structure of chloroplast matK sequence variation in Potentilla fruticosa L. (Rosaceae), a shrub currently found across the entire Plateau. We obtained sequence data from 508 individuals from 23 populations at sites ranging from the high-altitude interior to the relatively low-altitude northeastern Plateau. In the interior region, genetic diversity was high and included ancestral haplotypes. In contrast, northeastern populations were characterized by relatively low genetic diversity and recently derived haplotypes. The estimated expansion time in the interior population was 17 times that in the northeastern population. These data suggest that P. fruticosa expanded its range on the Plateau during periods of climatic cooling and contracted to the interior region during warmer periods. Thus, the interior region acted as a refugium and greatly contributed to the diversification of P. fruticosa.

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“…For instance, Ren (2007) suggested an up to 92 % increased forest cover in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River for 6 k (k = 1000 yr before present) compared to today, which strongly declined in the following four millennia. According to Ren (2000), the spatial evolution of forest decline in China correlates well with spreading of cultures out of this area.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of land cover change in the Asian monsoon region on present-day and mid-Holocene climate

Dallmeyer

Claußen

2011

Biogeosciences

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Abstract.Using the general circulation model ECHAM5/ JSBACH, we investigate the biogeophysical effect of largescale afforestation and deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain on present-day and mid-Holocene climate. We demonstrate that the applied land cover change does not only modify the local climate but also change the climate in North Africa and the Middle East via teleconnections. Deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain enhances the rainfall in North Africa. In parts of the Sahara summer precipitation is more than doubled. In contrast, afforestation strongly decreases summer rainfall in the Middle East and even leads to the cessation of the rainfall-activity in some parts of this region.Regarding the local climate, deforestation results in a reduction of precipitation and a cooler climate as grass mostly has a higher albedo than forests. However, in the core region of the Asian monsoon the decrease in evaporative cooling in the monsoon season overcompensates this signal and results in a net warming. Afforestation has mainly the opposite effect, although the pattern of change is less clear. It leads to more precipitation in most parts of the Asian monsoon domain and a warmer climate except for the southern regions where a stronger evaporation decreases near-surface temperatures in the monsoon season.When prescribing mid-Holocene insolation, the pattern of local precipitation change differs. Afforestation particularly increases monsoon rainfall in the region along the Yellow River which was the settlement area of major prehistoric cultures. In this region, the effect of land cover change on precipitation is half as large as the orbitally-induced precipitation change. Thus, our model results reveal that mid-to Correspondence to: A. Dallmeyer (anne.dallmeyer@zmaw.de) late-Holocene land cover change could strongly have contributed to the decreasing Asian monsoon precipitation during the Holocene known from reconstructions.

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Changes in forest cover in China during the Holocene

Cited by 80 publications

References 31 publications

Contribution of oceanic and vegetation feedbacks to Holocene climate change in monsoonal Asia

Contribution of oceanic and vegetation feedbacks to Holocene climate change in monsoonal Asia

Range shifts of Potentilla fruticosa on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during glacial and interglacial periods revealed by chloroplast DNA sequence variation

The influence of land cover change in the Asian monsoon region on present-day and mid-Holocene climate

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