River system changes and locust breeding area evolution in the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties and their disaster effects

Shuo Wang; Gang Li; Chenxi Feng; Wei Xu; Xingxing Wang; Qifan Nie; Xing Gao; Qian Liu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163220

River system changes and locust breeding area evolution in the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties and their disaster effects

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 1:880:163220. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163220. Epub 2023 Apr 4.

Authors

Shuo Wang¹, Gang Li², Chenxi Feng¹, Wei Xu³, Xingxing Wang¹, Qifan Nie⁴, Xing Gao⁵, Qian Liu⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Environmental Carrying Capacity, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China.
² College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Environmental Carrying Capacity, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China; State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: lig@nwu.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
⁴ Alabama Transportation Institute, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35478, USA.
⁵ Institute of the Grand Canal, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Environment Remote Sensing in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.

PMID: 37019230
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163220

Abstract

Based on the locust outbreak records in historical documents, we extracted 654 locust outbreak events in the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911 CE), reconstructed the locust disaster index series according to the severity of locust plagues, and compared them with the flood, drought, famine and river disasters in the same period. The objective was to investigate the process of river system changes in the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin, their relationship with the evolution of the locust breeding area and disaster effects. The results indicate that locust outbreaks in the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties were concentrated in the summer and autumn, with disaster grades 2 and 3 predominating. The interannual series of locust outbreaks showed "one peak (1644-1650 CE) and four mounds (1527-1537 CE, 1613-1620 CE, 1690-1704 CE, and 1854-1864 CE)". On the 10-year scale, locust outbreaks were positively correlated with famine and moderately associated with drought and river clearing. The spatial distribution of locust-prone areas corresponded well with drought and famine. The locust breeding areas in the Qin-Jin region were dominated by river flooding locust breeding areas, where topographic factors and river changes more influenced locust distribution. The DPSIR model revealed that potential climatic, locust, and demographic "drivers" exerted "pressure" on the Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin, causing changes in the social, economic and environmental "state" of the locust-prone areas, which in turn "impact" people's livelihoods and ultimately led to a series of central-local-populace "responses".

Keywords: Disaster effects; Environmental significance; Locust breeding area; Locust plague; Qin-Jin region of the Yellow River Basin; River system change.

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Disasters*
Droughts
Floods
Grasshoppers*
Humans
Rivers