LONG - TERM BIOLOGICAL CHANGES ALONG DANUBE DELTA SYSTEMS AFTER INDUSTRIALIZATION PERIOD

Cătălina Stoica, Ştefania Gheorghe, Iuliana Păun, Elena Stănescu, Cristina Dinu, Jana Petre and Irina Lucaciu

Romaqua, 2014, vol. 91, issue 1, 14-21

Abstract: Over the last 50 years humans have converted the export of fluvial materials which induced significant changes in biology, chemistry and morphology of the aquatic systems. The study presents the long-term changes induced on biotic communities alongside chemical parameters in Danube Delta systems after industrialization period in the context of compliance with Water Framework Directive requirements. The Danube basin has been subject to some important ecological changes, caused mainly by: hydrotechnical works, the built up of two large reservoirs (Iron Gates I and II) for hydrotechnical power plants, the conversion of floodplains into agricultural lands, opening the Danube-Black Sea canal which linked Cernavoda to Agigea, multiple uses of chemicals in agriculture which enrich the Danube waters fertilizers and pollutants, navigation development, uncontrolled tourism. The survey was done along Danube and Danube Delta (St. Gheorghe Branch) based on field experiments over 10-years (2003-2013), researches and national reports before and after industrialization period. The main problems identified in the basin were: contamination with hazardous substances, contamination with substances that enhance the heterotrophic organism’s growth, oxygen depletion, microbiological contamination, high nutrient loads and eutrophication. Those changes affected the biocenosis structure reflected by biodiversity reduction, the loss of the equilibrium between plankton species – benthos fauna, the algal blooms causing eutrophication, diatoms abundance, and loss of sensitive taxa, high number of endangered species and the decrease of biological productivity. The results assessment will allow the present ecological status to be redefined.

Keywords: Danube; St. Gheorghe Branch; industrialization; biotic communities; ecological status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:romaqu:0028

Access Statistics for this article

Romaqua is currently edited by Eduard Stan

More articles in Romaqua from Asociatia Romana a Apei (Romanian Water Association)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Eduard Stan ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).