Land-Use Dynamics in the Amur River Basin in the Twentieth Century: Main Tendencies, Driving Forces and Environmental Consequences

Abstract

Active settlement and economic development in the Amur Basin started relatively late, in the middle of the nineteenth century. However, this late start of colonization was compensated by a high rate of economic development, which resulted in substantial transformation of the natural environment. In this chapter, basic tendencies of land-use dynamics in the Amur Basin over the last century are considered, using various data including cartographic, statistical, and literary. Comparative analysis is done for the Russian and Chinese portions of the basin, because they form more than 90% of its area and have close ecological and economic interrelations. Increases in population and economic development of the area are considered basic factors of land structure change. The emphasis is on study of the dynamics of cultivated and forest lands, which cover more than 50{\thinspace}% of the Chinese part of the basin and greater than 60{\thinspace}% of the Russian part. The greatest environmental consequences of land-use changes in the Amur Basin during the twentieth century are analyzed.