Serious Challenges for Chaohu Lake Wetland and a Study on Measures for Ecological Conservation

摘要

1. Overview Chaohu Lake is one of the five major fresh water lakes in China. The area of the lake basin is 13 350 square kilometers. The area beyond Chaohu Dam is 9 131 square kilometers, covering Hefei, Chaohu City, Feidong County, Lujiang County, Shucheng County, and Feixi County. The overall shape that the river basin takes is long in the west-east direction and narrow in the south-north direction. In addition, the western end is higher than the eastern part and the central part is flat. So it is a basin. 33 rivers formed due to topographical characteristics cross each other and converge into Chaohu Lake like a fan. Yuxi River is the only river through which Chaohu Lake is connected with the Yangtze River. Chaohu Lake Basin has subtropical monsoon climate in a region transiting from temperate belt to subtropical belt. The average annual temperature is 15 to 16 degrees centigrade. The no-frost period lasts 224 to 252 days. The average precipitation for years is 1 100 mm. Rainstorms often take place in summer and easily cause floods. The land uses are various but dominated by agriculture. Due to its u-nique natural conditions and rich natural resources, Chaohu Lake Basin has become one of the commodity food bases in Anhui Province (Chaohu City, Feidong County, Feixi County and Lujiang County as national bases for commodity food). The industry and agriculture are developed and the lake basin has been called as "home of fish and rice" for years. 2. Envionmental and Ecological Situation of Chaohu Wetland 3. Analysis of Causes of Main Ecological and Environmental Problems in Chaohu Lake Wetlands 4. A Study on Measures for Ecological Conservation in Chaohu Lake