中国的5000年文明史,实际上也是森林资源的变迁史,沧海变桑田,水域成农田,天然植被不断为人工植被所代替,几千年来气候的变化,人类活动对森林的干扰,使自然界的面貌发生了极大改观。本文作者陶炎(1923～1999年)曾任中国科学院林业土壤研究所所长,他早于1994年出版的《中国森林的历史变迁》一书,至今看来仍是警世之言和严谨之作,本刊特选摘其中章节,以帮助我们加深对森林的认识。——编者 China’s 5,000-year history of civilization is actually a history of changes in forest resources. As the sea changes into arable land and the waters become farmland, natural vegetation is constantly being replaced by artificial vegetation. Climate changes over thousands of years and the disturbance of human activities to forests make the natural world The face of great changes have taken place. The author of this paper, Tao Yan (1923-1999) was former director of the Institute of Forestry and Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. As early as 1994, he published the book “Historical Changes in China’s Forests” and still seems to be a cautious and rigorous book Selected publications selected chapters to help us to deepen our understanding of the forest. --editor