History and distribution of terraced landscapes and typical international cases analysis.

Abstract

Terracing, developed in those large mountainous areas with high pressure of dense population, is believed as one of the most effective land use approaches. Based on the geographical and climatic differences, the various types of terraces are widely distributed and highly evaluated in terms of ecological and cultural values around the world. Since ancient times, humans have used terracing practices for intensive agricultural production. The main objective of terracing is for mitigating water erosion, stabilizing hill slopes, improving site conditions and crop productivity. During the last decades, agricultural land use in the world has changed considerably. Terraces in many regions were abandoned and had resulted in increasing soil erosion, slope collapse and land degradation along with the socioeconomic development. In this study, through summarizing the origin, history and distribution of terraces in different geographical regions and environmental conditions around the world, we discussed how the different historical and environmental contexts such as climate change, public policy, demographic migration and economic change affected the cycles of terracing construction, usage and abandonment. Aiming at maintaining the sustainable use and mana-gement of terraced fields, further studies regarding water management and terrace maintenance needed to be enhanced.