Wang Rongfen
Mire is a special natural complex. It is always covered by thin water or has overwet soil,where hydrophytes and helophytes grow,with seriously gley soil or peat accumula-tion. Based on mire.formation and development process,mires can be classified into three categories:eutrophic,mesotrophic and oligotrophic.It is estimated that China has 11.30 million ha of mires. They are mainly distributed in the Da and Xiao Hinggan mountains,the Changbai Mountains,the Sanjiang Plain and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau,etc.Mire is rich in natural resources, not only plant resource and animal resource, freshwater resource,but also peat resource,and it is also valuable land resource. As land resource,mires have been reclaimed into farmland transformed into forest land,and de-veloped into pasture, to develop agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. The plant resource can be used as raw materials for industry, medicine and food processing. Mires serve as a habitat for rare animals. There are 15 families, 160 species of .water fowls,a-mong them,rare birds such as Grus japonensis,Cygnus cygnus,Ciconia boyciana,C.ngni-graira, Haiaetus albieilla,Tetrao urogalloides,Grus vipio belong to the protected birds of the state.Peat is the product of mires. According to the statistics,the peat reserves of China are nearly 5 billion tons. In China peat is mainly used to improve soil,make peat humic acid fertilizer, nutrient sustratum,building materials. Besides,peat can be also used to make chemical products,and in environmental protection.Although mires can be used in agriculture, industry, medicine, environmental pro-tection,animal husbandry,etc. some mires should be conserved according to their types, features and usage,to establish varieties of mire nature reserves.
