ABSTRACT
Guangdong1 refers to an area of about 177,900 km2 in southeastern South China, between longitudes 109°45′ and 117°20′ and latitudes 25°31′ and 20°12′ (Figure 4.1). It is a subtropical to tropical ecozone with a coastline of 3368 km (Yuan et al. 1996). The northern part of Guangdong is a hilly extension of the Five Mountain Range, the middle part is dominated by small hills and basins, and the southern part is the Pearl River Delta. Both the climate and geographic landscape of Guangdong stabilized after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), or approximately after 12,000 years ago, and the sea level reached its current position at around 6000 years ago (Yuan et al. 1996).
