What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?

doi:10.1016/j.pld.2023.08.005

Plant Diversity ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (06): 866-875.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2023.08.005

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What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?

Georg Miehe^a, Kangshan Mao^b,c, Shabeh ul Hasson^d, Jürgen Böhner^d, Udo Schickhoff^d

a Faculty of Geography, Marburg University, Deutschhausstrasse 10, D-35032 Marburg, Germany;
b Key Laboratory for Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, 29 Wangjiang Road, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, PR China;
c School of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University, Lhasa 850000, PR China;
d Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), Institute of Geography Hamburg University, KlimaCampus Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany

Received:2023-04-12 Revised:2023-08-27 Online:2026-01-13 Published:2026-01-13
Contact: Kangshan Mao,E-mail:maokangshan@scu.edu.cn,maokangshan@163.com
Supported by:
Georg Miehe acknowledges the enduring support of the German Research Council (DFG) since 1976 and the cooperation with Sichuan University, Yunnan University, and the Institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Kunming, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xining, and Beijing. Udo Schickhoff is also grateful to the DFG for funding treeline-related research (SCHI 436/14-1). Kangshan Mao acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers U20A2080 and 31622015) and Sichuan University (Institutional Research Fund, 2021SCUNL102; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, SCU 2022D003).

What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?

Georg Miehe^a, Kangshan Mao^b,c, Shabeh ul Hasson^d, Jürgen Böhner^d, Udo Schickhoff^d

a Faculty of Geography, Marburg University, Deutschhausstrasse 10, D-35032 Marburg, Germany;
b Key Laboratory for Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, 29 Wangjiang Road, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, PR China;
c School of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University, Lhasa 850000, PR China;
d Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), Institute of Geography Hamburg University, KlimaCampus Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany

通讯作者: Kangshan Mao,E-mail:maokangshan@scu.edu.cn,maokangshan@163.com
基金资助:
Georg Miehe acknowledges the enduring support of the German Research Council (DFG) since 1976 and the cooperation with Sichuan University, Yunnan University, and the Institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Kunming, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xining, and Beijing. Udo Schickhoff is also grateful to the DFG for funding treeline-related research (SCHI 436/14-1). Kangshan Mao acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers U20A2080 and 31622015) and Sichuan University (Institutional Research Fund, 2021SCUNL102; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, SCU 2022D003).

Abstract

Abstract: The conversion of forests to pastures is the most important human intervention that has shaped the natural landscape into the Anthropocene environment. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which has both forest drought-lines and alpine treelines with specific ecotone structures, including isolated trees in treeless plant-covers that represent ever existed forest cover according to ‘Lonely Tooth Hypothesis’, offers an excellent model in which to examine the extent and timing of human activity on the conversion of forest to pasture. The objectives of this paper are to review (1) palaeo-environmental records of the Early Holocene that indicate when forests were first converted to ‘alpine meadows’, and (2) current records of the changing treeline ecotone in the region. ‘Alpine meadows’ of the QTP are part of the largest conversion of mountain forests into pastures worldwide. This change in forest cover is possibly a consequence of the agro-pastoral transition and the dawn of the Anthropocene on the QTP. To date, however, there is an interdisciplinary gap in knowledge of 5000 years between the palaeo-ecological and the archaeolocical and zoo-archaeological records. Rapid changes of the rural economy and the exodus from remote highland villages to down-country cities have diminished the age-old impacts of summer grazing and pasture management by fire; reforestation is obvious, but often seen exclusively as an effect of Anthropocene global warming. We believe that more interdisciplinary collaborations on the QTP are necessary to increase our understanding of the treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia.

Key words: Treeline, Anthropocene, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Human footprint, Alpine meadow

摘要： The conversion of forests to pastures is the most important human intervention that has shaped the natural landscape into the Anthropocene environment. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which has both forest drought-lines and alpine treelines with specific ecotone structures, including isolated trees in treeless plant-covers that represent ever existed forest cover according to ‘Lonely Tooth Hypothesis’, offers an excellent model in which to examine the extent and timing of human activity on the conversion of forest to pasture. The objectives of this paper are to review (1) palaeo-environmental records of the Early Holocene that indicate when forests were first converted to ‘alpine meadows’, and (2) current records of the changing treeline ecotone in the region. ‘Alpine meadows’ of the QTP are part of the largest conversion of mountain forests into pastures worldwide. This change in forest cover is possibly a consequence of the agro-pastoral transition and the dawn of the Anthropocene on the QTP. To date, however, there is an interdisciplinary gap in knowledge of 5000 years between the palaeo-ecological and the archaeolocical and zoo-archaeological records. Rapid changes of the rural economy and the exodus from remote highland villages to down-country cities have diminished the age-old impacts of summer grazing and pasture management by fire; reforestation is obvious, but often seen exclusively as an effect of Anthropocene global warming. We believe that more interdisciplinary collaborations on the QTP are necessary to increase our understanding of the treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia.

关键词: Treeline, Anthropocene, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Human footprint, Alpine meadow

Georg Miehe, Kangshan Mao, Shabeh ul Hasson, Jürgen Böhner, Udo Schickhoff. What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?[J]. Plant Diversity, 2025, 47(06): 866-875.

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What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?

What do we know about treelines of the Anthropocene in High Asia?

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