Yanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve

Yanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve

The Yanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve is a provincial-level nature reserve.

Anhui Huayanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve

I. General Overview

The Susong Huayanghe Lake Cluster was originally part of the Anqing Yangtze River Waterfowl Nature Reserve in Anhui. In December 2013, the People's Government of Anhui Province approved the establishment of the “Susong Huayanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve” (Approval on Agreeing to the Adjustment of Boundaries and Renaming of the Anqing Yangtze River Waterfowl Nature Reserve [Wan Zheng Mi [2013] No. 231]), which includes parts of Huanghu Lake, Daguangu Lake, and Longgan Lake, covering a total area of 50,496.7 hectares. Of this, the core zone spans 15,704.47 hectares, the buffer zone 5,605.13 hectares, and the experimental zone 29,187.1 hectares.

The reserve stretches from the boundary of Susong County in the west, connecting with the Longgan Lake National Nature Reserve in Huangmei County, Hubei Province; extends eastward to Luosizui, linking with the Anqing Yangtze River Wetland Provincial Nature Reserve; begins southward at the Sandigang Ferry of the Chengying Kaifang Team of Huayanghe Farm, just across the river from the Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve; and reaches northward to Shuangdunling. Its geographical coordinates are between 116°04′29.2″ to 116°32′19.8″ east longitude and 29°52′48.8″ to 30°08′07.6″ north latitude.

The Huayanghe Lake Cluster Provincial Nature Reserve primarily aims to protect and restore the wetland ecosystem and its functions, effectively harness wetland benefits, and safeguard endangered wetland species and biodiversity. It serves as an integrated nature reserve for wetland conservation, scientific research, education, and sustainable use. Administratively, it follows a management mechanism led by the forestry department with participation from relevant authorities.

II. Flora and Fauna Resources

The wetland boasts rich biodiversity that is rare, complex, and intact. Within the Huayanghe Lake Cluster, there are 70 genera (species) of phytoplankton, 39 families, 85 genera, and 152 species of wetland herbaceous vascular plants, accounting for 76.5% of the vascular plant species in Anhui’s wetlands. There are 31 types of wetland plant communities, with a complete distribution of wetland vegetation ecological series — including well-developed emergent plants, multiple types of floating plants, and extensively distributed submerged plants such as Hydrilla and Vallisneria. The area hosts 105 species of zooplankton, 71 species of benthic animals, and 310 species of vertebrates, making up 48% of Anhui’s total vertebrate species. Among these, there are 89 fish species, accounting for 45% of those in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River lakes and 70% in Anhui Province, including 12 endemic fish species of the Yangtze River system and 42 migratory fish species between rivers and lakes.

Surveys indicate that the Huayanghe Lake Cluster wetland is home to 156 bird species, including 82 waterbird species, representing 30% and 74% of China’s and Anhui Province’s waterbird species respectively, with a total bird population exceeding 150,000. Twenty of these bird species are under national key protection, and 14 are listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, Endangered, Near Threatened, or Vulnerable. Twelve waterbird species exceed the 1% criterion of the Ramsar International Wetland Convention. Of the six globally threatened species in the middle and lower Yangtze region whose population exceeds 1% of their migration route numbers, two are found in the Huayanghe Lake Cluster wetland: the Oriental Stork and the Bean Goose. The Oriental Stork population here is 150 individuals, making up 6.1% of the global population. The reserve also shelters 5,000 Tundra Swans and 18,000 Greater White-fronted Geese, currently the largest known overwintering populations in the middle and lower Yangtze. The Huayanghe Lake Cluster wetland also serves as a crucial stopover site for migratory species such as the Siberian Crane and the Oriental Stork.