Dynamics in production of four heritage foods at the mountainous region of Shaoxing City, China

Abstract

Agricultural heritage foods play important roles in sustainable agricultural development in mountainous regions because they are key income sources and represent an integration of human culture and natural landscape. With the dramatic change in socioeconomic and natural systems in China, the production of heritage foods from mountainous regions might be affected. In this study, the dynamics of production for four heritage foods including dried tender bamboo shoots, chestnuts, Torreya and tea at the mountainous region of Shaoxing City in China from 2001 to 2016 were examined and analyzed. The results indicated that tea, dried tender bamboo shoots, chestnuts, and Torreya were ranked at 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the average production. There were significant correlations between the coefficient of variation (CV) of annual average air temperature and the CV of production in dried tender bamboo shoots, and also between the CV of annual air temperature (or precipitation) and the CV of tea production. Regime shift occurred in the production of each heritage food based on multiscale entropy and Taylor’s law. These results provide useful information for the dynamics of agricultural livelihood from mountainous regions and the development of heritage foods in modern society.