Abstract:

For the sake of finding out the wild living environment features and the current resource status of goldenheaded box turtle,an investigation was carried out in Yi County,Jing County,etc,which were in the southern Anhui province from July 20th to August 5th,2008.The results showed that the water of Qingxi River of Yi county,Caoxi River,Tingxi River and Gufeng River of Jing county was fresh and clear.These waters had not been eutrophied,with hydrochemical index ranges as follows:5.5~7.0 for pH,24℃~29℃ for water temperature,6.887~10.421 mg/L for DO,0.42~1.76 mmol/L for calcium hardness,0.047~3014 mg/L for total phosphorus,0.009~0.014 mg/L for nitrite nitrogen,0.022~0.043 mg/L for ammonia nitrogen.All of indices could reach the index of Ⅰor Ⅱ class of water，except for the total phosphorous and ammonia nitrogen.The biomass of plankton was very low in these rivers.The phytoplankton was mainly composed with Chlorophyta and Bacillarriophyta,and Chlorophyta accounted for more than 35%,Bacillarriophyta accounted for more than 28%.There were a lot of snails in these rivers，which were also one kind of the foods for the turtle.From 2000 to 2008,about 20 goldenheaded box turtles were captured and sold in total,and the turtle number in natural environment was not more than 100.The conclusion was that the turtle resource was in the status of critically endangered and the wild living environment had been influenced seriously,but the water quality and food for the turtle were still good.Therefore,we should carry out continual investigation,artificial propagation and protection for the resources,and prepare the construction of conservation area to rescue this endangered species