TY - JOUR
T1 - Human activity and climate change triggered the expansion of rocky desertification in the karst areas of Southwestern China
AU - Chen, Chaojun
AU - Yuan, Daoxian
AU - Cheng, Hai
AU - Yu, Tsailuen
AU - Shen, Chuanchou
AU - Edwards, R. Lawrence
AU - Wu, Yao
AU - Xiao, Siya
AU - Zhang, Jian
AU - Wang, Tao
AU - Huang, Ran
AU - Liu, Ziqi
AU - Li, Tingyong
AU - Li, Junyun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/8/9
Y1 - 2021/8/9
N2 - It is conducive to the sustainable development of human beings in karst regions to research the mechanism of karst rocky desertification (KRD) expansion. Whether the large-scale KRD in southwestern China is caused by climate change or human activities is still controversial. In this study, the evolution of the KRD in southwestern China over the past 2000 years was reconstructed through the high-precision δ13C record of stalagmites from Shijiangjun (SJJ) Cave, Guizhou Province, China. The δ13C of the stalagmites from SJJ Cave exhibited heavy values from the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) to the Little Ice Age (LIA). Furthermore, the δ13C records of other stalagmites and tufa from southwestern China also showed the same significant heavy trend. Because the stalagmite δ13C could record the change of ecological environment, it indicated that the consistent change of the stalagmites δ13C may record the process of KRD expansion in the karst regions of southwestern China. During the MWP, the stronger Asian summer monsoon and the northward movement of the rain belt led to a dry period in southwestern China and a wet period in northern China. In contrast, it was wet in southwestern China and dry in northern China during the LIA. In addition, after the Jing-Kang event (JK event, AD1127) occurred at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, the political and economic center of China migrated to southern China for the first time, which changed the population distribution pattern of larger population in the north and smaller population in the south. Therefore, the expansion of KRD in southwestern China was exacerbated in the MWP due to the change of climate in southwestern China, the migration of a large number of people, wars, the large-scale reclamation of arable land, and the cultivation of large areas of crops.
AB - It is conducive to the sustainable development of human beings in karst regions to research the mechanism of karst rocky desertification (KRD) expansion. Whether the large-scale KRD in southwestern China is caused by climate change or human activities is still controversial. In this study, the evolution of the KRD in southwestern China over the past 2000 years was reconstructed through the high-precision δ13C record of stalagmites from Shijiangjun (SJJ) Cave, Guizhou Province, China. The δ13C of the stalagmites from SJJ Cave exhibited heavy values from the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) to the Little Ice Age (LIA). Furthermore, the δ13C records of other stalagmites and tufa from southwestern China also showed the same significant heavy trend. Because the stalagmite δ13C could record the change of ecological environment, it indicated that the consistent change of the stalagmites δ13C may record the process of KRD expansion in the karst regions of southwestern China. During the MWP, the stronger Asian summer monsoon and the northward movement of the rain belt led to a dry period in southwestern China and a wet period in northern China. In contrast, it was wet in southwestern China and dry in northern China during the LIA. In addition, after the Jing-Kang event (JK event, AD1127) occurred at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, the political and economic center of China migrated to southern China for the first time, which changed the population distribution pattern of larger population in the north and smaller population in the south. Therefore, the expansion of KRD in southwestern China was exacerbated in the MWP due to the change of climate in southwestern China, the migration of a large number of people, wars, the large-scale reclamation of arable land, and the cultivation of large areas of crops.
KW - Jing-Kang event
KW - Karst rocky desertification
KW - Little Ice Age
KW - Medieval Warm Period
KW - Stalagmite δC record
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112255855&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85112255855&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11430-020-9760-7
DO - 10.1007/s11430-020-9760-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112255855
SN - 1674-7313
VL - 64
SP - 1761
EP - 1773
JO - Science China Earth Sciences
JF - Science China Earth Sciences
IS - 10
ER -