Wildlife and Forest Management in Kanbula National Park - Term Paper Example

The Impact of Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant to Kanbula National Park Abstract Kanbula National Park is one of the wonderful sites in China. The forest, which is known for its particular Danxia landform and its diversified flora and fauna, is adjacent to the famous Liajiaxia Hydroelectric Power Station. Wildlife and forest management is essential to preserve its natural beauty and to maintain the ecological processes within. However, there are many factors that affect the wildlife and the forest as industrialization is boosting in the realms of China’s borders. Despite the fact that the Liajiaxia Hydroelectric Power Station is producing clean energy, it ironically has caused several alterations to the ecological system of the Kanbula Forest. This paper aims to 1) provide an exposition about the characteristics of the Kanbula National Park; 2) determine the impact of Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant to the ecological process within Kanbula National Park and; 3) propose several ways of wildlife and forest management while taking into consideration the present condition of the Kanbula National Park. Introduction Forest ecosystem consists primarily of trees and other naturally growing plants. It nurtures various types of wild animals and other species. The forest ecosystem, like the Kanbula Forest, provides people with food, fuel, timber and fiber. Other than these, most people do not recognize the significance of forests among their lives. Forests provide protection of the hydrologic cycle. They also help in climate regulation because forests are basically natural sinks of carbon, which is one of the greenhouse gases that harm the planet (Espaldon et al, 2004). Kanbula forest is one of the most diverse across China. However, most of its flora and fauna are at risk of extinction. Major causes of forest destruction include industrialization, commercialism and weak enforcement of forest laws (Sajise et al, 1996). This paper will dig deeper into several issues that Kanbula National Park is facing, and how these issues or factors impact the forest’s ecological system. Characteristics of Kanbula National Park Geographical Position The Kanbula National Park is located in Northwest of Jianza County of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous States in Qinghai Province, with total area of 15,054 hectares and altitude of 2,100 to 4,000 meters above sea level (Hong, Shi, 2009). The Kanbula forest is basically a subalpine forest as it is located in high altitude. The forest is also located in the transition zone from Loess Plateau to Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Thus, it is the warmest region in Qinghai Province. It borders on the Yellow River in the North and is adjacent to the Liajiaxia Hydroelectric Power Station. Huge mountains extend from the forest with trees covered resembling a sea of forest. There are deflated hills around the Kanbula Forest that are formed due to erosion from wind and sand. The hills are called red cloud landforms. Climate Characteristics Cold and warm weathers are the two general climate condition in the forest. Cold season is characterized by cold, windy and dry air, while dry season features monsoon and warm and humid air. According to meteorological data records, the average temperature of the forest is 1 to 2.9°C (Wu, 2007). The warmest month (July) has a daily temperature of 11.5-13.4°C. The coldest month (January) has average daily temperature -12-10.1°C(Wu, 2007). From March to September month average is temperature of 7-8.4 °C; stable over time through 0°C for 190 days; plant growing period mean diurnal temperature 13.l °C, 2,622-2,900 hours of annual sunshine hours, global solar radiation 609-647 kJ / cm. Annual rainfall is 450-490 mm, annual evaporation 1,923 mm. Annual average wind speed 19 meters per second, more concentrated in the January to April (Wu, 2007). Soil Characteristics Kanbula forest’s soil has five categories. The first type is alpine shrub meadow soil that is found at the altitude between 3,600 and 3,900 meters. The second type is the upland meadow shrub soil that is found at an altitude between 3,200 and 3,700 meters. The third is the grey cinnamon soil that is found at 2,600 and 3,400 meters elevation. The Fourth type is the chestnut soil that is found at an altitude of 2,600 and 2,800 meters. The Fifth is the grey desert soil that is found at an elevation below 2,400 meters (QFSR., 2006). Forest Flora and Fauna Huge mountains extend everywhere from the Kanbula Forest. Dominant species of trees in the forest are Qinghai spruce, mountain Yang, birch, pine and spruce evergreen. These trees are tolerant to cold and poor condition and are rooted in the cliff walls. Due to poor conditions, these plants grow tall and straight. The main flowers and species that grow here are species of azalea, glabra, Potentilla fructicosa honeysuckle, Caragana, rose, Berberis, daisy and buckthorns. Animals of Kanbula Forest are deer, Argali, Shiyang, Braun, Ma chicken, Musk and cuckoo. The total forest area is about 15,000 hectares (QFSR., 2006). The woodland area accounts for 9,949 hectares (you say above that forest coverage is 28%), while non-woodland area accounts for 5,105 hectares. And 1,934 hectares account for shrub land and 141 hectares for immature woodland. The common tree species of the forest mostly stand in young and middle age stage, thus they have strong growth potential (QFSR., 2006). Forest total standing stock is 53,2669 cubic meters of which forest stock volume is 53,0945. The amount of zonal distribution of vegetation is not significant but most significant vertical belts are the ones from 2,780 to 3,500 meters above sea level with distribution of birch, pine, spruce and other trees. And at 3500-4000 meters above the sea level with the distribution of Potentilla fruiticosa, thyme, Caragana and other trees and shrubs. At an altitude of 4,000-4,500 meters the main shrubs are gentian, Stipa and blue-green (QFSR., 2006). Based on the above details, Kanbula forest is indeed rich in natural resources, along with its flourishing flora and fauna. However, the plant and animals and the ecological system within the forest are at risk of destruction due to several issues and human activities. In the case of Kanbula, one significant factor affecting existing life within the forest is the Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant. Impact of Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant Power Plant History The Lijiaxia dam is located on the upper Yellow River. The reservoir is the largest body of water within Gansu. The dam was built primarily to provide hydroelectric power, but it is also used for flood control and irrigation. The hydro power plant of the dam has five generators with total installed capacity of 1,225MW (IAEG., 1996). When it became operational it was the country’s biggest power plant and it remained so until the 1980s (Jun Jing, 1998). In 1955 the government announced a large-scale program of construction of hydroelectric power plant on Yellow River (Jun Jing., 1998). It was the first hydro power plant that introduced the concept of bidding and tendering in China. According to the plan, one dam shall be built in each of the Three Gorges of the Yellow River; Lijia Gorge, Yanguo Gorge and Bapan Gorge (IAEG., 1996). In 1958, the construction on first three dams was in progress and the Lijiaxia Dam was completed in 1969 (Jun Jing, 1998). The generators were brought into working between 1969 and 1974 in the Lijiaxia Hydroelectric Power Plant. The water reservoirs of the three dams displaced large number of local farmers. The three dams flooded 7,781 hectares of farmland and displaced 43,829 local residents (Jun Jing, 1998). The compensation payment to the farmers displaced averaged 365 Yuan per person, which was very inadequate. Hazards Caused by Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant to Kanbula Forest Ecology Ever since the Lijiaxia Hydro Power Plant was established, there have been several changes in the ecosystem of the Kanbula Forest. Some of the plant and animal species of the forest are becoming more vulnerable to extinction and some of them are unfortunately gone forever. Because of the large reservoirs of water that is required for the construction of hydroelectric power plants, large areas of the forest land – that is very productive and biologically rich in nutrients – were destructed. The situation has become more aggravated as large water dams cause fragmentation of the habitat of the surrounding areas. The deep ground excavation and filling, construction of dams – water reservoirs, spoil pipes and roads – have shifted the woodland areas. These relatively have created some negative impacts on the ecosystem of the Kanbula Forest. Parts of vegetation of the forest near the hydropower plant have been lost and the total forest coverage area has reduced. In addition, losses to the forest’s ecosystem have been immense. For instance, commuter construction causes an immense degree of soil erosion, which results in loss of benefits of forest protection. In addition, water reservoirs that are constructed as artificial lakes attract tourists and thus the human activity near the hydropower plant increases and disturb the ecosystem of the forest. Hydroelectric Power Plants can also be destructive to aquatic ecosystem. The dams along Pacific and Atlantic course have reduced the fish population especially that of Salmon by preventing the fish of to reach breeding grounds upstream (Duncan, Graham-Rowe., 2005). It also affects downstream river environment. Water coming out of the turbine usually contains very little suspended sediment that leads to river scouring and loss of riverbanks and riverbeds. Since turbine gates are cyclically opened, changes in river flow is observed. Water coming out of the turbines is usually warmer than water behind the dam and thus the aquatic faunal life is affected. Hydroelectric power plants in tropical regions produce huge amount of methane and carbon dioxide gas. This is because of plant materials in flooded areas that decay due to anaerobic conditions and form methane gas, which is a harmful green house gas. Greenhouse gas emissions from the reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional oil-fired thermal generation plant (Duncan, Graham-Rowe., 2005). Another disadvantage of hydroelectric power plant is that population is displaced. People need to relocate from places that are allotted for dam construction. According to estimation in February 2008, 40-80 million people have lost their homes because of dam construction (Duncan, Graham-Rowe., 2005). Impact of the hydropower plant on habitat and environmental conditions Although waterpower is a clean power, which produces no green house gases and no radioactive gases or other harmful and toxic wastes creation of large water reservoirs have some harmful effects. According to the records of Qinghai forestry department, construction of large dams and water reservoirs not only flood large areas of land that could have had other use, the Lijiaxia dam traps sediments from Yellow River that replenishes the sediment on the on the side of the beach. This has resulted in loss of 3.185hmSquare of forest vegetation and scouring of riverbeds due to loss of sedimentation has influenced the growing environment of the plants (McCully, 1996). The huge water reservoirs constructed near the Kanbula forest have altered the transformation and distribution of heat and this is the key feature that has caused regional microclimate circumstances called the “lake effective”. The ‘lake effect’ alters the regional precipitation of the forest and it causes an annual temperature increase of 0.1°C to 0.2°C. However, these affects do not change the climate of the whole of the forest. Plant species in the Kanbula Forest have changed and they have been forced to adapt to the current environmental status. Thus, the forest has suffered the loss of some rare vegetation. Other plant species have become nutrient deficient that have made them ecologically and economically less valuable. For instance, wolfberry, a plant of cotoneaster specie, was found to have been affected by the construction of the dam. Wolfberry relies very little on soil and thus it can grow in domination of chestnut soil that has very little water holding capacity and very little aeration. Unfortunately, the Lijiaxia hydropower plant was constructed on the altitude base that is dominated with chestnut soil. In addition, the loss of replenishment of the beach because of loss of sedimentation has resulted in loss of originative plants like wolfberry and these plants have been replaced by small size, low tolerant epiphytes. Since water reservoirs have accelerate the evaporation of water compared to pre condition, wolfberry, which is a tolerant plant is forced to adapt to new condition and its growth is stunted and its ability to hold water in the soil strengthens (McCully, 1996). Lijiaxia Hydro power Plant has affected the suitable habitat and environmental conditions of wildlife living in Kanbula Forest. The habitat areas of the wildlife have reduced and the ecological environment of the habitat has changed. As mentioned earlier, construction of water reservoirs and dams flood large tracts of land that could have been used for other activities like vegetation and woodland area. The dams obstruct the migration of fish, which causes ecological disturbance. The formation of “lake effective” attracts birds and lead to development of new habitats and species. During the construction of Lijiaxia Hydropower Plant Station, the concerned departments have tried to control damage to local resources. However, human activities are the main reason for the destruction of the forest. Noises that are created during construction of damn have caused great disturbance to the wildlife as noises confuse the wildlife activity and disturb their existent habitat. Due to noises, animal species have to leave their habitat due to which the whole food web of the forest changed, which cause serious ecosystem turbulence. This caused some of the fragile species of the forest to become rare or extinct. The Qinghai Forestry Department performed monitoring of wildlife population in light of the need to conserve and manage harvest specie, and to understand population changes since the construction of Lijiaxia Hydropower Plant. Distance-sampling method was adopted to estimate seasonal density of blue sheep in certain areas of Kanbula Forest region from year 2002 to 2005. In all, mean group size ranged from 2.12 to 7.65 individuals during the season. Density estimates varied between 3,420 sheep per square kilometers in spring in 2002 and 2,170 square kilometer in late spring in 2004 from Kanbula forest monitor and control status report (QHSR., 2006). Analysis and survey of this data shows that blue sheep population has trended down ever since the construction of hydropower plant next to the Kanbula forest. Keyplayers and Stakeholders Actions Several different institutes have enough excuses to charge for the management of the Kanbula forest. The Qinghai forestry department, Huangnan Tibetan autonumus state forestry department, and the state’s tourism department are the main key players in the management of the wildlife and ecological system within the Kanbula forest. As mentioned, Lijiaxia hydropower plant has huge responsibility for disturbing Kanbula forest ecosystem’s healthy growth since the power plant had constructed. Unfortunately, the responsible departments do not record much detail about Kanbula forest ecosystem changes. This means that there is a lack of monitoring and proper management, leading to compromised preservation of the Kanbula forest. Moreover, these departments don’t have complete research data regarding ecological and environmental studies that should have been performed for Kanbula Forest. However, there are abundant materials and data bout its tourism’s development trends. Although Kanbula national park have been planed to preserve and protect, local government still take advantage of Kanbula forest’s natural resources for state’s economical development. This leads to lack of active support for forest development and dismal performance in forestry protection and reforestation. Conclusion The construction of the Lijiaxia Hydropower Plant Station has immensely affected the ecological system of the Kanbula Forest. The power plant could be marked as inefficient and destructive forestry utilization. Despite the presence of managing approaches and policies, the government and the regulators have failed to protect the Kanbula Forest from mere disturbance and destruction as the floral and faunal species in the forest have been severely affected. References Duncan, Graham-Rowe. (2005). Hydroelectric power's dirty secret revealed. Energy Bulletin. February 24, 2005. Espaldon, M.V.O., Baltazar, M.R.M. (2004). Participatory Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Agriculture. Department of Geography, College of Social Science and Philosophy, University of the Philippines. Hong, Shi. (2009). Beautiful Kanbula. China Ecotourism, 64-67. International Association of Engineering Geology(IAEG). (1996). Proceedings, Fifth International Congress. International Association of Engineering Geology. Jun Jing. (1998). The Temple of Memories: History, Power, and Morality in a Chinese Village. Stanford University Press. 25-27. ISBN 0804727570 . McCully, Patrick. (1996). Sedimentation Problems with Dams. Retrieved from http://internationalrivers.org/en/node/1476. Qinghai Forestry Press. (2006). Qinghai Forestry Survey Record, 112-132. Sajise, P.E. et al. (1996). Environmentally Sustainable Rural and Agricultural Development Strategies in the Philippines: Lessons from Six Studies. SEAMO SEARCA. Wu, Tian, Biao. (2007). The View of The Kanbula National Park. Vary Climate in Kanbula, 17-18. Read More