The latest dynamic investigation of Yangtze finless porpoise provincial nature reserve is released： biodiversity is getting richer and the water environment is keeping good.
The number of finless porpoises living in Nanjing section of the Yangtze River is increasing, and the biodiversity of their homes is becoming increasingly rich. Yesterday, the Municipal Bureau of Greening and Landscape Architecture released the dynamic investigation of biodiversity in the Yangtze finless porpoise provincial nature reserve (hereinafter referred to as the "reserve") from 2023 to 2024. The reporter learned from the press conference that the number of finless porpoises and birds in the reserve has increased; Precious and endangered species and wetland plants are rich in distribution; The water environment has reached Class II value of fishery water quality and surface water environmental quality standard. The overall ecological environment quality is stable and improving.
New changes: the number of finless porpoises in the reserve has increased from 62 to 65.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is the only existing cetacean in the Yangtze River, which is a national first-class protected wild animal and an important indicator species to test the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem.
Nanjing is the only big city in the whole Yangtze River basin where you can see the wild finless porpoise at close range in the central section of the city. In 2014, Nanjing finless porpoise reserve was formally established, starting from Xinshengzhou in Jiangning District in the west, adjacent to Maanshan City in Anhui Province, and east to Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, with a planned total area of 80.38 square kilometers, including 51.52 square kilometers in the core area and 28.86 square kilometers in the experimental area.
The dynamic investigation of biodiversity in the nature reserve lasted from the autumn of 2023 to the summer of 2024. According to the investigation and analysis of four quarters, the number of finless porpoises in the finless porpoise nature reserve showed an increasing trend.
Zhang Ruizhong, a first-class researcher of the Municipal Bureau of Greening and Landscape Architecture, said that the number of Yangtze finless porpoises in the reserve is about 65, an increase of 4.84% compared with the 62 in the background resources survey in 2022. The finless porpoise is generally distributed continuously, and its Jizhou-Zimuzhou waters and Qianzhou waters are hot spots. There are also seasonal differences in distribution, especially in the waters of the Yangtze River Bridge from Xinshengzhou to Dashengguan, which are mainly affected by geographical location, hydrological conditions and fish resources. During the investigation period, the mother and child dolphins were also observed for 9 times, which means that the Yangtze finless porpoise population in the reserve has good development potential.
New discovery: rich biological resources, rare bird black stork first appeared.
A finless porpoise needs to be strong in order to breed, and it needs to have enough food in order to be strong. An important reason for the decrease in the number of finless porpoises in the Yangtze River is that the food sources of finless porpoises are reduced due to uncontrolled fishing. With the ten-year ban on fishing in Nanjing, the Yangtze River has not only been able to recuperate, but also provided valuable survival opportunities for rare animals such as finless porpoises.
According to Zhang Ruizhong, this survey found that the protected area is rich in aquatic biological resources and there are many precious and endangered species. A total of 105 species of phytoplankton, 59 species of zooplankton, 56 species of benthos and 47 species of fish were collected and identified. In addition to the Yangtze finless porpoise, which is a national first-class protected wild animal, there are also two national second-class protected aquatic wild animals: Myxocyprinus asiaticus, an endangered species in China’s Red Book, and the aquatic wild animals in Jiangsu Province, such as Anoplophora longirostrata, Anguilla japonica, Diplodocus and tong yu.
There are also many kinds of birds in and around the reserve. A total of 123 species of birds were recorded in the survey, including 4 species of national first-class protected wild animals: except yellow-breasted pomfret, oriental white stork and black-faced spoonbill, black stork appeared in the reserve for the first time; In addition, there are 20 species of national second-class key protected wild animals: Pheasant, White-breasted Jade, Aurora, Lark, Black Kite, Peregrine Falcon, Red-footed Falcon, Swallow, White-tailed Cocktail, Sparrow Eagle, Hongyan, Little Swan, Little White-fronted Goose, Yuanyang, White-fronted Goose and baikal teal.
New achievements: the ecological environment quality of the reserve is steadily improving.
According to Zhang Ruizhong, this dynamic survey found that there are abundant wetland plants in and around the reserve. A total of 367 species of wetland plants were collected and identified, including 5 species of gymnosperms, 5 species of pteridophytes, 267 species of angiosperms and 90 species of angiosperms. It is divided into 4 vegetation types, 9 vegetation types and 49 formations. At the same time, two national first-class protected wild plants, Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Ginkgo biloba, and two national second-class protected wild plants, namely, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Ginkgo biloba and Cinnamomum camphora, were also discovered, among which Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Cinnamomum camphora were all cultivated artificially.
The survey shows that the water environment quality in the reserve is good. The five main physical and chemical indexes of water body, such as pH value, dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus, have reached Class II value of fishery water quality standard and surface water environmental quality standard. The average comprehensive nutritional status index of the sampled water bodies is 47.03, and the comprehensive nutritional status index of 63% of the water samples is in the range of 30-50.
The dynamic investigation was organized and implemented by the Nanjing Yangtze finless porpoise provincial nature reserve management station, and undertaken by the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and Nanjing Normal University.
Liu Kai, a researcher at the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, who is in charge of the dynamic survey, believes that the overall survey results show that the ecological environment quality of the nature reserve is steadily improving, the number of Yangtze finless porpoises is increasing, and the biodiversity is generally stable.
The reporter learned that since its establishment, the nature reserve has intensively launched a number of innovative measures for the protection of finless porpoises, such as the national initiative and the introduction of the "List of Responsibilities for the Protection of Yangtze Finless Porpoises in Nanjing" to establish a long-term coordination mechanism for the protection of finless porpoises; The decision on strengthening the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise was promulgated and implemented in conjunction with the inter-provincial collaborative legislation of Zhenjiang and Maanshan provinces, which became the first basin-based regional collaborative protection legislation for a single species in China; Gradually build a normalized protection system for patrol and rescue, as well as the first application of the "water-underwater-shoreline" monitoring system in China. At present, combined with the study of finless porpoise’s activity habits and habitat environment, the protected area is still improving the level of intelligent, accurate and scientific protection.