The Yellow River Delta, with Kenli County Ninghai as its axis point, starting from the mouth of the Toure River in the north and ending at the mouth of the Zizi River in the south, spreads out to the east in a fan-like topography, with an elevation of less than 15 meters above sea level, and covers an area of 5,450 square kilometers, making it the youngest landmass in China. The modern Yellow River Delta is an alluvial fan formed by the alluvial action of the Yellow River since 1855.
The Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve is only 60 kilometers away from Dongying City. It has a temperate monsoon continental climate, with four distinct seasons, plenty of light, rain and heat at the same time, and an average annual precipitation of 551.6 millimeters. This delta is a large amount of sediment carried by the Yellow River to fill the Bohai Sea depression land sea sedimentary plain. The landforms of the modern Yellow River delta include upland river banks, slopes and large depressions. The newly formed land belt of the Yellow River's coccyx is wide and low-lying, expanding year by year, with unique ecological types, and large areas of shallow mudflats and wetlands at the meeting point of the sea and the river, which has become an important "transit point" and wintering and breeding ground for birds migrating inland in Northeast Asia and the Western Pacific Rim. The area is rich in aquatic biological resources, according to the preliminary investigation of more than 800 species, including the national key protection of the Wenchang fish, porpoise, Songjiang perch and so on. There are hundreds of wild plants, is a national key to protect the endangered plant wild soybeans are widely distributed, a variety of birds about 187 species, listed as China-Japan Migratory Bird Conservation Agreement protected up to 108 species, of which the national key to protect the wildlife danding cranes, white-headed cranes, storks, golden eagles, great bustards, swans, swans, gray cranes, hummingbirds, etc. 32 species, a variety of herons, geese and ducks waterfowl is not only a variety of species, but also the number of extremely rich.
The Yellow River Delta is the youngest land in our country and in the world. The great Yellow River created it with its power of moving mountains and reclaiming the sea, and endowed it with the natural beauty of newness, strangeness, wildness and broadness, which formed the unique natural landscape of the Yellow River Delta.
The terrain of the Yellow River Delta is high in the southwest and low in the northeast, which is consistent with the direction of the Yellow River into the sea. Due to the influence of the Yellow River's coccyx swinging, the ground here forms many gullies and ravines interlaced with abandoned river channels and waterproof dykes. Although after years of wind and rain erosion and man-made filling, the topography of hillocks, slopes and depressions are still seen distributed one after another, as well as wave rippling geomorphology. The large amount of sediment brought by the Yellow River has caused the delta to advance toward the Bohai Sea at an average rate of 2 to 3 kilometers per year, forming a large area of additional land.
The coastal beaches of the Yellow River Delta are vast and flat, mostly sandy and muddy, and it is an important shrimp production area, as well as a seafood base and a sea salt base, and it is known as the "township of a hundred fishes", and the Yellow River carp, Yellow River cutlass fish, silverfish, and hairy shrimp are all flavorful specialties.
The ecological environment of the Yellow River Delta is fragile, and a 1,530-square-kilometer national nature reserve has been set up here to protect wetland ecosystems and rare and endangered birds. With the world's youngest estuarine wetland and a large area of coastal wetland in a relatively pristine state, the habitat is unique and rich in species. There are 393 species of wild plants and 265 species of birds. In the large wetlands and marshes, there are 51 species of precious protected birds alone, among which 7 species are protected at the national level, such as white storks, golden eagles and red-crowned cranes, while herons and sandpipers are the most common common common birds. In the offshore waters, there are seals, porpoises, amphioxus, Chinese sturgeon, Songjiang perch, leatherback turtles, fin whales and other rare marine animals.
Shandong Yellow River Delta State Nature Reserve
Reserve Code RD37002
Type of Protection Marine and Coastal Ecosystems
Objects of Protection Primary Wetland Ecosystems and Rare Birds
Prefecture of Location Dongying District
Administrative Code 370502
Province of Location, Autonomous Region,
Municipality Shandong
Level National
IUCN Protected Area Level
Priority Level
Area (hectares) 153000.00
Core Area (hectares) 79000.00
Trial Area (hectares) 63000.00
Buffer Zone (ha) 11000.00
Lower Elevation Limit (m)
Higher Elevation Limit (m)
West Limit of Longitude 118.73°
East Limit of Longitude 119.27°
South Limit of Latitude 37.7°
North Limit of Latitude 38.15°
Year of Establishment 1992
Organizational historyApproval number State Council, October 27, 1992, issued by the State Council [1992] No. 166)
Supervisory department Forestry
Supervisory unit
Forest area
Forest cover
Forest stockpile
(10,000 m3)
Species in the protected area In the nature reserve, the vegetation coverage rate is as high as 53.7%, forming the largest sea vegetation along the coast of China. There are 393 species of all kinds of plants in the area, including the wild soybean, which is a national second-grade protected plant.
The reserve is an important "transit point" for birds migrating inland in Northeast Asia and the Western Pacific Rim, as well as a wintering and breeding ground. Bird resources are abundant, rare and endangered birds. There are 265 species of birds in the Nature Reserve, among which there are 7 species of birds under national level protection, including white stork, Chinese sand duck, white-tailed sea eagle, golden eagle, red-crowned crane, white-headed crane and great bustard, and 33 species of birds under national level protection, such as sea cormorant, great swan, gray crane and white-tailed harrier. In the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), there are 7 species of white storks and red-crowned cranes in Appendix I, 26 species of flamboyant ducks and magpie harriers in Appendix II, and 7 species of great egrets and pintail ducks in Appendix III. In the China-Australia Agreement on the Conservation of Migratory Birds and their Habitat, 81 species of birds are protected, and 51 species are found in nature reserves. In the Sino-Japanese Agreement on the Conservation of Migratory Birds and their Habitat, 227 species of birds are protected, and 152 species are found in the Nature Reserve. There are 35 species of terrestrial vertebrates, 583 species of terrestrial invertebrates, and 641 species of aquatic animals, among which 2 species of national-level key protected animals are: White Sturgeon and Dall's Sturgeon, and 7 species of national second-level key protected animals are Porpoise, Wide-snouted Dolphin, and Songjiang Perch. In the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the animals belonging to Appendix I are 2 species of leatherback turtles and porpoises, the species belonging to Appendix II are 4 species of leopard cats, minke whales, etc., and the species belonging to Appendix III are 1 species of weasel."
Vegetation types Natural willow forests 675ha, natural reed swamps 33,000ha, natural tamarisk forests 8,126ha. artificial acacia forests 5,603ha, which are connected to the artificial acacia forests in the surrounding areas of the Nature Reserve, with an area of 11,300ha.
Climatic conditions Precipitation is 551.6mm, and evapotranspiration is 19,282mm, with the climate being a warm-temperate monsoon type continental climate.
Natural, geographical profile The reserve is located at the mouth of the Yellow River, located in northeastern Shandong Province, the Bohai Sea, including the Yellow River estuary and the Yellow River before 1976 flood diversion of the former Yellow River two parts of the land resources of the nature reserve is the Yellow River over the past hundred years to carry a large amount of sediment filled with the Bohai Sea depressions into the land of the sea-phase depositional plains, the terrain is flat and broad, east-west ratio of drop of 1:10000 or so, the dive level Less than 2m, mineralization 10 ~ 20ml / L, soil for the hidden domain tidal soil and salt soil soil type.
The reserve is one of the few estuarine wetland ecosystems in the world. With a coastline of 131km and the Yellow River flowing through 61km, the Yellow River is the second largest river in China, famous for its high sand content, carrying 1.5 billion tons of sediment to the sea every year, silting up a large area of new land in the delta, creating an average of 2,000 to 3,000ha of new land every year, and advancing towards Bohai Bay at a speed of 3km per year. Here is sufficient water, rich vegetation, and because it is at the confluence of the Yellow River into the Bohai Sea, hydrological conditions are unique, the sea and freshwater convergence, ionization to promote the flocculation and sedimentation of sediment, the formation of a wide mudflat (i.e., wetlands), the soil is high in nitrogen content, rich in organic matter, and the plankton flourish, very suitable for birds to live. Based on this, a large number of birds are attracted to transit and reproduce, and at the same time, a large area of land for plant growth is also provided, which is the main value of this wetland reserve.