"In the Qing period (1644-1912), China's population tripled, and the flurry of new development generated unprecedented demand for timber. Standard environmental histories have often depicted this as an era of reckless deforestation, akin to the resource misuse that devastated European forests at...

China’s forest cover has been increasing in the past three decades, which is in sharp contrast to rapid declines in other natural resources. Understanding the mechanisms of forest recovery and their effects is essential for sustaining forests in China and elsewhere. Some studies suggest that...