* Of the 9 main flyways world wide, two go via the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve.
* The reserve has launched new initiatives and utilized new applied sciences in recent years to revive the wetlands, recuperate vegetation and improve the monitoring of birds.
* The use of know-how helps cut back the affect of human actions on the pure surroundings and create extra potentialities for biodiversity conservation.
JINAN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Early winter is a busy season for the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, situated within the estuary of the Yellow River in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province.
Wild birds are seen on the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
Of the 9 main flyways world wide, the East Asian-Australasian flyway and the West Pacific flyway go via the reserve. Millions of birds make stopovers right here yearly, making it “a global airport” for migratory birds and a key space for his or her safety.
The reserve, an essential wintering and stopover website for migratory birds, has launched new initiatives and utilized new applied sciences in recent years to revive the wetlands, recuperate vegetation and improve the monitoring of birds.
PROTECTING WETLAND
The reserve stretches for about 153,000 hectares, with wetlands making up greater than 70 p.c. A dependable water provide is essential to the safety of wetlands and the entire ecosystem.
This aerial photograph taken on Oct. 12, 2023 reveals a view of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
Over the previous few years, the reserve has launched new water replenishment channels, diverting extra water from the Yellow River into the reserve to revive the wetland.
The water diversion capability has been raised from lower than 40 cubic meters per second to 131 cubic meters per second, mentioned Liu Jing, deputy director of the reserve’s administration committee. It has diverted 175 million cubic meters of water into the reserve in every of the previous two years.
In the previous, the water replenishment got here yearly, earlier than the flood season, however now it comes two or thrice a 12 months, in line with demand.
“We discovered that in different seasons, akin to spring, when animals and crops develop vigorously, a considerable amount of water can be required,” Liu mentioned.
Wintering migratory birds are seen on the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province, Nov. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
“Water is the inspiration of wetland ecosystems. Only with water can crops thrive and the wetland vegetation be restored, offering meals and shelter for birds.”
RESTORING VEGETATION
As the ocean tide recedes, a big swathe of seagrass mattress is uncovered within the estuary of the Yellow River. Zhou Yi, a researcher on the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has engaged in seagrass mattress analysis for greater than 20 years and visits the place each different month.
The estuary was as soon as home to the most important eelgrass mattress in China, however storm Lekima destroyed over 660 hectares of grass mattress in 2019, leaving nothing however an space of mudflat then, Zhou mentioned.
“The seagrass mattress helps benthic organisms akin to small fish and crabs, nutritious meals for these birds,” mentioned Zhou Licheng, the analysis chief with the reserve’s administration committee.
This photograph taken on Nov. 15, 2023 reveals red-crowned cranes foraging on the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province. (Photo by Ren Xiaojie/Xinhua)
In collaboration with the Institute of Oceanology and the Ocean University of China, the reserve has restored almost 100 hectares of the seagrass mattress since 2022, mentioned Zhou with the reserve.
The invasion of saltmarsh cordgrass poses an amazing threat to seagrass beds. The reserve conducts evaluation utilizing geographic info techniques and distant sensing know-how, and has eradicated 8,724 hectares of saltmarsh cordgrass via numerous means, in line with the analysis chief.
The reserve’s pure vegetation protection price now stands at 55.1 p.c, making it the most important new wetland pure vegetation space alongside the coast of China.
Wintering migratory birds are seen on the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province, Nov. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
One-third of the seagrass beds globally have disappeared attributable to local weather change and human actions. However, step-by-step, China has turned the thought of planting grass on the seabed right into a actuality.
MONITORING NETWORK
At the Yellow River Delta Environmental Monitoring Center, Zhao Yajie, deputy director of the middle, is observing the actions of an oriental white stork on a big display. The chicken is standing in a synthetic nest with a diameter of about 2 meters, flipping branches to tidy up its dwelling.
This 12 months, Zhao and her colleagues have detected 198 nests with new child infants. The oriental stork is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“We used to depend birds with our personal eyes,” mentioned Zhao. When she began working on the middle, she would trudge via the mudflat sporting chest-high rubber waders, carrying binoculars, tripods, cameras and different gear weighing almost 10 kg. She would additionally reside in distant administration stations for a number of months at a time.
People watch red-crowned cranes on the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, east China’s Shandong Province, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
Shan Kai, a senior engineer on the reserve, mentioned, “We first noticed a pair of oriental white storks breeding right here in 2003. However, we had no thought how vigilant they have been and our close-distance commentary disturbed them.”
In response to this problem, the reserve has constructed an air-ground-ocean built-in monitoring community with 66 surveillance cameras for birds, 75 for wetlands and over 40 for human actions. The community supplies 24-hour real-time monitoring in key areas, utilizing applied sciences akin to 5G, clever notion and edge AI.
The community can seize and acknowledge birds mechanically, displaying their species and well being standing on the display instantly. The recognition accuracy of some key species and huge birds is over 90 p.c. The information can be included within the real-time statistics of chicken numbers and chicken exercise sample samples for the quarter.
“The use of know-how helps cut back the affect of human actions on the pure surroundings and create extra potentialities for biodiversity conservation,” mentioned Shan. “Observing with out disturbing and safeguarding with out over-intervention — we see this as the best respect people can present to the elves of nature.” ■
(Video reporter: Zhao Xiaoyu; video editors: Hong Ling, Zhao Xiaoqing, Zhu Jianhui, Zheng Xin)
