Historical documents related to taxes reveal important data
on human-environment relationships of the past. The research in this study employed
documents from an historical source known in English as the Iron Tiger land
decree. The document is titled so after the after the corresponding year in the
Tibetan calendar. The researcher sought to compare land use patterns in Tibet
from 1830 and 1990. 1990 was a good benchmark since Chinese data collected from
earlier in the twentieth century was characterized by unreasonably high
estimates surrounding production values.
The land unit in the study is not measured in acres or
hectares but rather the kang. The kang refers to the weight of barley required
to cultivate a certain area of land, so calculations must be made in order to
envision the corresponding area size per kang. The researcher points out that
there simply isn’t enough data to look at individual estates and compare them
to historical accounts. The study touches briefly on the types of crops and
animals found both currently and historically in this region in Tibet which
include the following: barley, rapeseed oil for cooking, turnips, potatoes,
radishes, yak, dzo (yak-cattle hybrid), sheep, goats, and cattle. Agrarian
resources have had huge implications for population growth in the early
settlement of Tibet. In addition, the governmental/religious hierarchy of the
country are evident in land use changes with monasteries owning huge
proportions of the land in certain areas. Because land cultivation in Tibet is
largely restricted to low-lying valleys, the researcher used a high resolution
digital elevation model (DEM) for charting the territories involves.
Almost all areas experienced increased amounts of cultivated
land from 1830-1990. Overall, the primary purpose of this study was to
establish a methodology for future studies of land use change in Tibet, so the
conclusions largely focus on the establishment that the historical developments
in the state of Tibet are intermeshed with changes in land use. So, the implications of the study aren't huge but rather allow for closer looks at the driving forces behind these changes.
This above figure defines the area of study.
The above figure denotes the proportions of land ownership amongst various groups as told by the 1830 land decree.
The above figure shows the percent changes in land use from the two benchmarks in the study.
The above table shows the specific percentages of change for each area in the study.
Ryavec, Karl. "Land Use/cover Change
in Central Tibet, C. 1830-1990: Devising a GIS Methodology to Study a
Historical Tibetan Land Decree." The Geographical Journal 167.4
(2001): 342-57.
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ReplyDeleteI think this presents an interesting way to look at history through the lens of land use change. Seeing how land units can change from kang and the amount of land allocated to certain groups reveals not only the society's relationship and attitude toward the environment but also the social structure to a degree. It would be interesting to this technique applied to other countries today to see how these values have changed and reveal what forces are driving development and change today.
ReplyDeleteCool blog. I wonder if climate change has changed the area's production and if researchers can update their project using GIS to model agricultural output. Furthermore, GIS can be used to guide farmers to cultivate the most productive areas while lowering costs, such as irrigation, leakage, and transportation. GIS spatial modeling may even illustrate runoff pollution from agricultural activities.
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