BI Bo1, JIN Qiu1, CHEN Dan2, BI Lidong2, CHEN Jing2, TANG Shuhai3
1. Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, 210029, Nanjing, China;
2. College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, 210098, Nanjing, China;
3. Lianshui Water Conservancy Research Station, 223200, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China
Background
Green and sustainable development of irrigated agriculture and protection of agricultural biodiversity are the inevitable requirements for the construction of modern irrigated districts in China. However, in order to ensure the efficient utilization of irrigation water, the construction of irrigation channels has been dominated by hard engineering, which has caused the loss and fragmentation of amphibian habitat, and the damage for ecological environment of the irrigation districts. The construction of amphibian corridors in irrigation channels is an important means to improve the connectivity of agricultural landscape and the migration efficiency of frogs in farmland.
Methods
This study selected a common Chinese frog, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, as the research subject because they are widely distributed in Jiangsu, and have important ecological, scientific and social values. We analyzed how the concretelined irrigation channels effected frogs’ migration. We proposed the design of engineered modifications to allow frogs to escape from irrigation channels under different conditions. Meanwhile, to test and optimize the design method, we conducted physical model and numerical simulation experiment to make sure that it ran well.