Social resilience to climate and water-related disasters in the Poyang Lake area (East China) over the past 2000 years

Abstract

The largest freshwater lake in China, the Poyang Lake, experienced a long history of evolution with combined influences from both climate factors and human activities. Along with the dramatic changes of water related disasters such as flood and drought, local society developed various strategies to cope with the water problems. This paper investigated the evolution of the Poyang Lake area, the flood and drought disasters, and the society resilience using statistical analysis, spatial analysis, and a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Historical data on climate, population, flood and drought, water engineering, and social economics were collected to support a detailed examination of the climate-hazard-society relationships. The results indicate that: (a) the lake area was mainly influenced by the warm and rainy climate and expanded significantly before the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 AD). Since the large-scale southward population migration in the Yuan Dynasty, intensive reclamation of wetlands surrounding the lake plus the effects of a colder climate shrank the lake area sharply. (b) The frequency of water-related disasters was gradually increasing during the past 2000 years, especially since 12th century, as a result of climate change and population growth. (c) Despite significant change in climate and increasing flood and drought, local people in Poyang Lake area adopted various water engineering to prevent flood and coast training measures to protect farmland, which enabled the social surviving and continuous economic development. Social resilience in Poyang Lake was highly correlated with lake changes and associated water hazards. (d) Presently, more ecological strategies have been adopted to mitigate the risk of flood and drought at the Poyang Lake area. The study emphasizes the influences of climate and water environment and the coping activities of human society, and thus contributes to a specific understanding of resilient living with big lakes.