Principal speaker
Associate Professor Keliang Zhao
Abstract: The ways in which human populations began to affect the Earth's ecosystems is an important topic in Anthropocene studies. Eastern Asia is a key region for examining a variety of topics, including human migrations and the origin and development of agricultural practices. The impact of human activities on ecosystems in Eastern Asia is of scientific value for understanding the onset of the Anthropocene. This talk will introduce research on the effects of human activities on ecosystems, including in forests, oases and steppes during the Holocene in China. The presentation will pay particular attention to palynological signals of human activities recorded in archaeological sites and natural sediments, examining how vegetation communities changed under the influence of human activities. In forested areas, various processes can be observed, including the destruction of native vegetation and its eventual restoration. In oasis settings, saline-tolerant vegetation characterized areas after agricultural activities.
Bio: Keliang Zhao is currently an Associate Professor in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP, CAS). He is trained as a Quaternary palynologist during his PhD research. Keliang's research interests include human adaptations and human impacts on Holocene environments in Eastern Asia. His current research project focuses on Late Pleistocene ecological mechanisms of megafauna disappearances in the East Asian monsoon region. He will work as a visiting scholar at ARCHE for the next 6 months