Updates from the Field

Attention Teachers: Click here for a suggested activity relating to this week's field update Download this week's location data for the banded Siberian Cranes that we are tracking this fall Week 7 Songnen Plain Su Liying, Research Associate International Crane Foundation In recent years, with growing human demands for water, many wetlands are shrinking in northern China, and some are disappearing. I have studied the wetlands on the Songnen Plain (right), important for cranes and other waterbirds in the breeding season and for Siberian Cranes stopping on migration to and from the Siberian tundra where they breed. Satellite images make it clear that, aside from Zhalong Marsh, the largest of these wetlands now lie near Daqing. In particular, sizable wetlands lie north of Daqing Reservoir and extend east to Hongqi Reservoir. These wetlands have survived and grown, due to the protection of the city's sources of drinking water and gradual seepage from the reservoirs. A broad range of wet meadows and grasslands lie adjacent. Varying rainfall creates dynamic shifts each year among open water lakes, reed marshes, wet meadows, and grasslands providing different types of habitat for many birds. These wetlands play a similar role to well known wetlands, such as the wetlands within the Zhalong and Xianghai Nature Reserves. This past mid-October, I was lucky to visit Daqing and see Siberian, Red-crowned, Hooded and White-naped Cranes with many other species of ducks and migratory birds. Now these wetlands are being considered for protection, for the sake of the migratory cranes and other birds.

Field Updates Student Activities Yakutian Birds Geography: Taiga and Tundra Ecoregions Field Work in the Tundra Science: Studying Animal Behavior Environmental Camps Team Building: Crane Egg Game Fall Migration Geography: Tracking Cranes Waterbird Lead Poisoning in Yakutia Social Studies: Raising Awareness Northeast China Discussion: Changing Landscapes Songnen Plain Science: Wetlands as Filters Student Exchanges Writing: School News Birding in China Science: Classroom Bird Feeders Bohai Bay Math: Waterbird Populations Poyang Lake Basin

		Dr. Su Liying (above left) is studying the wetlands on the Songnen Plain, an important region for cranes in northern China. Liying is currently working with Chinese colleagues to survey the plants and wetlands within Zhalong Nature Reserve. Through this project, researchers are mapping the ditches and dikes within the reserve (developed to move water to nearby cities) to help design water releases that benefit the wetlands and breeding waterbirds, such as cranes. In the photo above, researchers record the number and type of plants found in a survey plot (marked by the white rope). While working in the wetlands, researchers must walk on mats of vegetation (left), which can be very difficult!