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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling
Published on: August 5, 2016
[Vertical zonation of mountain landscape: a review]
Ran-Hao Sun1, Li-Ding Chen, Bai-Ping Zhang
1State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. rhsun@rcees.ac.cn
Abstract:
Vertical gradient of mountain landscape is about 1000 times of its horizontal gradient, and hence, only using landscape pattern index is quite difficult to reflect the landscape regularity along vertical gradient. Mountain altitudinal belt is a kind of classic geographic models representing the vertical differentiation of landscape, being of significance in geographic and ecological researches. However, the discrete expression pattern and the inaccuracy of the borderlines of mountain vertical belts limit the roles of mountain vertical belt in accurately describing landscape pattern in regional scale and in explaining ecological processes. This paper reviewed the research progress and existing problems on mountain altitudinal belt, put forward a suggestion of using modern information technology to establish a comprehensive and continuous mountain landscape information chart, and discussed the framework and prospect of the establishment of the chart, which would have reference value for accurately describing mountain landscape pattern and explaining specific ecological processes, and promote the further improvement of the methodology for mountain ecological research.
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