Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Moore, Alan H
Author's Email Address	ahm@vt.edu
URN	etd-10082010-231252
Title	Deforestation and the Transformation of the Landscape of North China: prehistory - present
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Geography
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Carstensen, Laurence William Jr. Committee Chair Campbell, James B. Jr. Committee Member de Beurs, Kirsten M. Committee Member
Keywords	climate change China deforestation vegetation index phenology
Date of Defense	2010-09-24
Availability	restricted
Abstract Environmental evidence shows that 10,000 years ago North China was primarily a lush deciduous forest. Like many other regions of the planet, this landscape has been dramatically transformed by human activity, yet unusually this mostly occurred long ago under pre-industrial conditions. Fortunately China has a long recorded history of human activity. Complementary environmental evidence helps to extend this record into prehistory, for even prehistoric Chinese substantially altered their environment. The first half of this study examines historical and physical evidence in order to better explain how North China’s forests disappeared. Only recently have there been regional scale activities focused on reversing this tragic trend. Despite many claims of successes in afforestation, there are serious shortcomings in the collection of government statistics and known limitations to area-based forest assessments, so it is difficult to say with much confidence what is happening with North China’s forests today. Phenological measurements from space-based instruments have been effectively used to characterize vegetation trends. In the second half of this study, MODIS sensor observations for 2000-2009 are collected for five study sites and are used to characterize vegetation change over the past decade, independent of government statistics and area-based estimates. Forests provide tangible benefits to environmental and human well-being. Forest health and growth are critical to addressing global climate change. Much attention has been focused on China’s efforts to combat deforestation. A better understanding of North China’s forest trends – both past and present – may offer valuable lessons for our environmental future.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access  Moore_AH_T_2010.pdf 4.32 Mb 00:20:00 00:10:17 00:09:00 00:04:30 00:00:23 indicates that a file or directory is accessible from the Virginia Tech campus network only.

If you have questions or technical problems, please Contact DLA.