Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology and Desert Environment, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China.
Conserv Biol. 2009 Jun;23(3):531-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01238.x.
Wetlands are particularly important for conserving China's biodiversity but riparian wetlands in the Tarim River basin in western China have been reduced by 46% during the last 3 decades. The world's largest habitat for Populus euphratica, which is in the Tarim River basin, significantly shrank. To protect and restore the deteriorated ecosystems along the Tarim River and its associated wetlands, China's government initiated a multimillion dollar river restoration project to release water from upper dams to the dried-up lower reaches of the Tarim River starting in 2000. We monitored the responses of groundwater and vegetation to water recharge in the lower reaches of the river from 2000 to 2006 by establishing nine 1000-m-long transects perpendicular to the river at intervals of 20-45 km along the 320-km river course below the Daxihaizi Reservoir, the source of water conveyance, to Lake Taitema, the terminus of the Tarim River. Water recharges from the Daxihaizi Reservoir to the lower reaches of the Tarim River significantly increased groundwater levels and vegetation coverage at all monitoring sites along the river. The mean canopy size of the endangered plant species P. euphratica doubled after 6 years of water recharge. Some rare migrating birds returned to rest on the restored wetlands in summer along the lower reaches of the Tarim River. The biggest challenge facing decision makers, however, is to balance water allocation and water rights between agricultural and natural ecosystems in a sustainable way. A large number of inhabitants in the Tarim Basin depend on these limited water resources for a living. At the same time, the endangered ecosystems need to be protected. Given the ecological, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical realities in the Tarim Basin, adaptive water policies and strategies are needed for water allocation in these areas of limited water resources.
湿地对保护中国的生物多样性尤为重要，但在中国西部的塔里木河流域，近 30 年来，河岸湿地减少了 46%。世界上最大的胡杨栖息地位于塔里木河流域，其面积显著缩小。为了保护和恢复塔里木河及其相关湿地恶化的生态系统，中国政府于 2000 年启动了一项耗资数百万美元的河流恢复项目，从上游大坝放水到塔里木河干涸的下游。我们通过在大西海子水库（输水源头）至塔里木河末端台特玛湖之间的 320 公里河道上，每隔 20-45 公里建立 9 条长 1000 米、垂直于河道的横断面，从 2000 年到 2006 年监测了地下水和植被对河流下游补水的响应。补水使地下水水位和植被覆盖度在大西海子水库以下的所有监测点都显著增加。受威胁植物物种胡杨的平均树冠大小在 6 年的补水后翻了一番。一些珍稀候鸟在夏季回到塔里木河下游恢复的湿地栖息。然而，决策者面临的最大挑战是如何在可持续的基础上平衡农业和自然生态系统之间的水资源分配和水权。塔里木盆地的大量居民依靠这些有限的水资源维持生计。与此同时，濒危生态系统需要得到保护。鉴于塔里木盆地的生态、社会经济和社会政治现实，需要在这些水资源有限的地区制定适应性水政策和战略来进行水资源分配。
