Abstract
Although the Songnen Plain in the northeastern China was developed relatively late in the temperate zone of the world, its eco-environment has changed greatly. This paper analyzes the changes of land cover and the rates and trends of desertification during the past 100 years in the Songnen Plain. According to the macroscopic analysis, we find that the eco-environment in the plain has reached to the threshold of catastrophic change since the 1950s. The Thom Needle Catastrophic Model was used to determine and validate this conclusion. Human activities, including large-scale construction projects, such as huge dams and dikes, and excessive grazing were the primary factors contributing to regional eco-environmental catastrophe. And irrational reclamation of the wilderness also affected the eco-environmental change. The results reveal the complex human-land interactions.
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Foundation item: Under the auspices of the Key Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2)
Biography: WANG Hai-xia (1977-), female, a native of Baishan City, Jilin Province, Ph.D. candidate, specialized in environmental science, wetlands science, and pedozoology. E-mail: whx1977@mail.neigae.ac.cn
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Wang, Hx., Wan, Zj., Yu, Sp. et al. Catastrophic eco-environmental change in the Songnen Plain, northeastern China since 1900s. Chin. Geograph.Sc. 14, 179–185 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-004-0028-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-004-0028-9