Earth Matters

Ground Photos: Sand Mining at Poyang Lake

March 17th, 2016 by Adam Voiland

Our March 17, 2016, Image of the Day offered a satellite perspective on how sand mining has changed the coastline of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China.  The photographs below provide a view of sand mining from the ground. James Burnham, an ecologist with the University of Wisconsin and the International Crane Foundation, took the photos while conducting field research on wintering waterbirds at Poyang Lake. “Sand mining has compromised the ecological integrity of the lake by contributing to less predictable seasonal water fluctuations and to a series of recent low water events,” he said. “This is a lake that hosts 98 percent of the endangered Siberian Cranes and Oriental White Storks, as well as a significant number of over a dozen other endangered waterbirds in the winter.”

Full_barges2_going_north_GanRiver_Poyang

Barges full of sand. Photo Credit: James Burnham, University of Wisconsin/International Crane Foundation.

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Sand dredging boat. Photo Credit: James Burnham, University of Wisconsin/International Crane Foundation.

Siberian Crane unison call at Mei Xi Hu in Poyang Lake Nature Reserve. Photo Credit: James Burnham, University of Wisconsin/International Crane Foundation.

Siberian Crane family group at Mei Xi Hu, PLNR

Siberian Crane family group at Mei Xi Hu in the Poyang Lake Nature Reserve. Photo Credit: James Burnham, University of Wisconsin/International Crane Foundation.

One Response to “Ground Photos: Sand Mining at Poyang Lake”

  1. veronica correia says:

    las ediciones que presentan y la informacion es de suma utilidad porque la investigacion que revela cada articulo es la que se desconoce y no se publica en los medios en general, es descriptiva paso a paso y eso es lo que realmente vale