Tracing the Origins of Hakka and Chaoshanese by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis

Hakka and Chaoshanese are two unique Han populations residing in southern China but with northern Han (NH) cultural traditions and linguistic influences. Although most of historical records indicate that both populations migrated from northern China in the last two thousand years, no consensus on their origins has been reached so far. To shed more light on the origins of Hakka and Chaoshanese, mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of 170 Hakka from Meizhou and 102 Chaoshanese from Chaoshan area, Guangdong Province, were analyzed. Our results show that some southern Chinese predominant haplogroups, e.g. B, F, and M7, have relatively high frequencies in both populations. Although median network analyses show that Hakka/Chaoshanese share some haplotypes with NH, interpopulation comparison reveals that both populations show closer affinity with southern Han (SH) populations than with NH. In consideration of previous results from nuclear gene (including Y chromosome) research, it is likely that matrilineal landscapes of both Hakka and Chaoshanese have largely been shaped by the local people during their migration southward and/or later colonization in southern China, and factors such as cultural assimilation, patrilocality, and even sex-bias in the immigrants might have played important roles during the process. Am J Phys Anthropol 141:124-130, 2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Dinoflagellate Cysts as Indicators of Cultural Eutrophication in the Oslofjord, Norway

Dinoflagellate cyst records were analysed from four sediment cores from the inner Oslofjord. The cores covered the pre-industrial period, and the most important period of human population growth associated with industrial development of the region, from the mid-1800s to the present, including the reported development of cultural eutrophication. Comparisons between the cyst records and the known history of eutrophication suggest cyst signals that should prove useful for tracing the development of eutrophication. The eutrophication signal consisted of a doubling of total cyst concentration, and a marked increase in one species in particular,Lingulodinium machaerophorum(from <5 to around 50% of the assemblages) with increased eutrophication. In the core considered most representative of general water quality in the inner fjord, these trends reversed back to pre-industrial levels during the 1980s and 1990s when improved sewage treatment took effect.

Tourism Potential of Agricultural Heritage Systems

Traditional agricultural systems are threatened world-wide mainly due to the introduction of modern agricultural techniques and the emigration of farm labourers from remote rural villages. The objective of the programme 'Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems' (GIAHS), initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2002, is dynamic conservation of traditional agricultural systems. This article addresses the definition and content of agricultural heritage systems and discusses conservation options in the light of developing rural tourism. An explorative survey was conducted in Longxian village, situated in Zhejiang Province, southern China, focusing on the tourism potential of a typical Rice-Fish Agricultural System. The identification of heritage resources is a first step in the process of transforming an agricultural landscape into a cultural tourism landscape. However, the future of these landscapes is in the hands of a range of stakeholders and depends on their capacity to manage, in a sustainable way, tourism development strategies alongside conservation policies.

Comparative Study of Contents of Four Tropane Alkaloids in Cultural and Wild Anisodus tanguticus

To assess the medicinal value of cultural Anisodus tanguticus,the contents of four bioactive tropane alkaloids,anisodine,anisodamine,scopolamine and atropine,in cultural and wild materials were determined by the HPLC method.The results showed that content of each alkaloid in the aboveground parts of cultural and wild samples was lower than that in roots,and this explained why it was not the whole plant but the root that was used as medicinal materials.The content of each alkaloid in the roots of one-year cultural material was lower than that in the two-year plants.The discrepancy of the total of four alkaloids between one-year and wild plants is not significant.Moreover,the total of four alkaloids,and the contents of anisodine,scopolamine,and atropine in two-year plants were higher than those in wild plant.Thus there is medicinal value in the cultivated A.tanguticus as well as wild A.tanguticus,especially in the two-year cultural A.tanguticus.