Caohai Nature Reserve

Caohai is the most famous and characteristic scenery in the area. Just like its name, the bottom of the water is covered with water plants, but it does not affect the clarity of the water. The average water depth of Caohai is only two meters, and the lake is full of water and grass, so it is impossible to drive motor boats, so it is a man-made boat to Caohai.

The Caohai is divided into upper, middle and lower reaches. The deeper you go, the better the water quality and the more birds there are. When you go boating on the "sea", you can see the endless lake water. When the water and grass are abundant, there are Qi people tall water plants on both sides, but the river course is very wide and the vision is not limited. Occasionally, we can see barbecue villagers selling some small fish from Caohai.

Caohai National Nature Reserve in Guizhou

synonym

Caohai Nature Reserve generally refers to Guizhou Caohai National Nature Reserve

Guizhou Caohai National Nature Reserve is located in the hinterland of Wumeng Mountain at the top of the central Yunnan Guizhou Plateau, in the southwest corner of Weining Yi Hui Miao Autonomous County on the northwest edge of Guizhou Province. It is a National Nature Reserve of wetland ecosystem type. Caohai National Nature Reserve is a complete and typical plateau wetland ecosystem. It is one of the main wintering places for black necked cranes, which are unique to China. Caohai National Nature Reserve is listed as an important wetland in the "China Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan".

Historical evolution

In 1980, Guizhou Environmental Protection Bureau and environmental society organized more than 100 experts in Guiyang to hold a seminar on the restoration of Caohai Nature Reserve.

In July 1981, the people's Government of Guizhou Province decided to restore Caohai Nature Reserve.

In 1982, the first phase of the water storage project was completed, with a design water level of 2171.7 meters and a corresponding water surface of 1980 hectares.

In 1985, the people's Government of Guizhou Province decided to establish Caohai comprehensive nature reserve as a key nature reserve at the provincial level, and set up a reserve management office to manage it.

In 1992, it was approved as a national nature reserve by the State Council.

geographical environment

Geology and geomorphology

Geologically, the reserve is located at the top of the mountain shaped West Wing Reflection Arc in western Guizhou and the northward bend of Weining Shuicheng anticline, which is the "roof" of Weining area. The terrain of Caohai Lake basin gradually decreases from the center of the basin to the north, which is the discharge direction of Caohai Lake Basin. The lake basin is flat and open, with a slope of 0.1-3 ‰. The plateau gentle hills (Karst Hills) landform are around the lake basin.

climate

The Nature Reserve belongs to the subtropical plateau monsoon climate zone, which is characterized by abundant sunshine, warm in winter and cool in summer, dry in winter and wet in summer. The annual average temperature is 10.5 ℃; the annual average precipitation is 950.9 mm; the annual average relative humidity is 80%; the solar energy resources are superior, and the annual average sunshine hours are 1805.4 hours, which is the most abundant place in Guizhou.

soil

Most of the soil in the reserve is yellow brown soil with pH 5.0-6.0 and medium fertility. It is an important part of Caohai wetland ecosystem and an important habitat for a variety of migratory birds.

hydrology

Caohai belongs to the Yangtze River system, which is the upstream lake of Luoze River in the upstream of Hengjiang River, a tributary of Jinsha River. The water supply mainly comes from atmospheric precipitation, followed by groundwater supply. Caohai Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Guizhou Plateau with a rainfall collection area of 96 square kilometers. The normal water storage area of Caohai Lake is 19.8 square kilometers, and the maximum water depth is 5 meters.

Regional scope

Caohai National Nature Reserve is located in the hinterland of Wumeng Mountain at the top of central Yunnan Guizhou Plateau. It is located in the southwest corner of Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County on the northwest edge of Guizhou Province. Its geographical coordinates are 26 ° 47 ′ 32 ″～ 26 ° 52 ′ 52 ″ N and 104 ° 10 ′ 16 ″～ 104 ° 20 ′ 40 ″ e, covering a total area of 9600 hectares.

The reserve is divided into three functional areas, namely core area, buffer area and experimental area.

core area

The core area of Caohai Nature Reserve mainly includes bojiwan, huyelin, Zhujiawan, Xihai, wujiayantou and yangguanshan. There are shallow swamp, sedge wetland, meadow, grassland and other rare and endangered waterfowl habitats and foraging areas. History has proved that the water level of Caohai determines the hydrology and wetland area of Caohai, and plays a very important role in affecting the wintering population of black necked Crane in Caohai. Therefore, in order to comprehensively and effectively protect Caohai wetland ecosystem and rare and endangered waterfowls, the core area is defined by shallow swamp, sedge wetland, meadow, grassland and other rare and endangered waterfowl habitat, foraging area, aquatic community concentrated distribution area and some water areas, with a total area of 2162.05 hectares, accounting for 22.52% of the total area of the reserve.

buffer

The buffer zone of Caohai Nature Reserve is defined by the land and water area of 100-500 meters outside the core area, with an area of 539.51 hectares, accounting for 5.62% of the reserve area.

Experimental Area

The remaining areas outside the buffer zone in the reserve cover an area of 6898.44 hectares, accounting for 71.86% of the total area of the reserve.

Protection target

Caohai wetland ecosystem includes Caohai water area, shallow water swamp, sedge wetland, meadow and other wetland habitats, a variety of aquatic animal and plant communities, bird habitats, breeding areas, night lodging places and main foraging places for migratory birds.

Caohai Nature Reserve takes the protection of black necked Crane as the representative of a variety of rare and endangered waterfowl, including black necked Crane, white shoulder carving, white tailed sea carving, grey crane, white spoonbill, black faced Spoonbill, sparrow hawk, prairie carving, white tailed Harrier, peregrine falcon, grey backed falcon, Kestrel, carved owl and crested Greyhound, etc. more than 50 species are listed in the "government of the people's Republic of China and government of Japan to protect migratory birds and their habitats" Protection of birds under the agreement on the protection of birds

Biological resources

plant resources

There are 8 phyla and 96 genera of phytoplankton in Caohai Nature Reserve. There are many kinds of aquatic vascular plants in Caohai Lake, including 55 species, 38 genera, 27 families.

Abundant aquatic plants and their high biomass provide abundant food for fish and are natural food for overwintering birds. Terrestrial higher plants are also abundant in Caohai watershed, and the vegetation types are diverse. There are 672 species of seed plants (including cultivated species) belonging to 372 genera of 125 families.

Animal resources

There are 155 species of zooplankton belonging to 79 genera, 22 orders, 7 classes in Caohai. Abundant zooplankton is an important food for fish, which is of great significance to the protection of migratory birds in Caohai. Birds are one of the most important animal resources in Caohai. There are 228 species in Caohai, belonging to 17 orders and 46 families. Among them, there are 7 species of national class I protected birds, such as black necked Crane and white shoulder carving, and 29 species of national class II protected birds, such as gray crane, white spoonbill, black faced Spoonbill, sparrow hawk, sparrow hawk, prairie eagle, white tailed Harrier, peregrine falcon, grey backed Falcon, kestrel and carved owl.

There are more than 50 species of birds, such as crested Greyhound, which are protected under the agreement between the government of the people's Republic of China and the government of Japan on the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. The black necked Crane is a rare and endangered animal in China. It lives in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau during the breeding season in a year, and it winters in the Yunnan Guizhou Plateau, with about 1500 cranes wintering in Caohai every year. Black necked Crane, grey crane, spotted goose, red mallard, red necked duck, white bone top and red head diving duck, which overwinter in Caohai, constitute the dominant population of Caohai migratory birds, with more than 75000 waterfowls overwintering in Caohai every year.

Management measures

During 1980-1986, Institute of biology, Guizhou Academy of Sciences organized more than 200 people to systematically investigate and determine vertebrates, vascular plants, plankton, benthos, soil and environmental background, and collected a large number of specimens and samples. On the basis of identification and analysis and full collation of data, we completed the phased research work, wrote dozens of papers and compiled the "Caohai scientific investigation report", which provided basic data and information for the work of the reserve. In 1993, we set up water level points in Caohai and began to carry out daily monitoring of Caohai water level.

In 2005, we organized another investigation and compiled the study of Caohai. On this basis, we compiled and approved the master plan of Caohai National Nature Reserve in Guizhou.

On March 4, 2014, with the care and help of the relevant departments at higher levels, Caohai administration seriously formulated the emergency plan for extreme bad weather in Caohai Nature Reserve, established a leading organization, and made clear that the relevant personnel were specifically responsible for the relevant work. In particular, Weining Autonomous County Party committee and County Government attached great importance to the emergency allocation of 50 tons of corn as food for migratory birds. In addition, Caohai administration self raised 60 tons of corn and corn Planting 10 mu of potatoes, carrots and other favorite food for black necked cranes to ensure food supply for migratory birds during the whole wintering period.

ecological value

Caohai National Nature Reserve is listed as an important protected wetland in China in the "China Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan". Caohai is the largest natural plateau fresh water lake in Guizhou Province. Its wetland ecosystem is composed of deep waters, shallow marshes, sedge wetlands, meadows, rich species of aquatic animals and plants and highly productive aquatic communities. Its structure and function are complete. It is a typical representative of wetland ecosystem in subtropical plateau of China.

Caohai is rich in light