PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 91: Aquatic Ecology: Wetland Management; Stream Chemistry
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 513 A, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Impacts of agricultural activities and human disturbances on Jianhu Wetland in Yunnan China.
Tian, Kun*,1, Lu, Mei1, Chang, Fenglai1, Mo, Jianfeng1, Li, Ningyun1, Xiao, Derong1, 1 Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, PR China
ABSTRACT- Jianhu, one of China plateau wetlands in West Yunnan, is a unique type of wetland in the upper reaches of the Meigong River, which likes other wetlands in Yunnan scattered over the plateau without connecting watercourses to each other, which renders individual wetlands relatively small and fragmented, a condition beneficial to development of endemic species but also contributing to ecosystem fragility and instability. Through the studying on the soil characteristics of Jianhu wetland, we analyzed the impacts of agricultural activities, forest vegetation and human disturbances on wetland soil of Jianhu nature reserve. The results show that the reclamation land from marshes in lakeside, disafforestation in catchments and soil utilization in watersheds significantly affected the formation and development of marshes in Jianhu wetland. The water area and water demand reduced 33.34% and 62.95% within 50 years, respectively, also the soil nutrients showed same decreasing trends. The losses of soil nutrients and soil erosion caused by forests destroying and surface pollution caused by fertilizer application in agriculture field are potential threatens of water quality decline, lake water area shrinking and wetland soil degradation to Jianhu wetland, which put greatly impacts on ecological environment of nearby regions and down streams of Lancang River.
Key words: Jianhu Wetland, soil characteristics, human disturbance, degradation