CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DANUBE DELTADANUBE DELTA

NAME

IOSUB MARIA

UDREA GABRIELA

GROUP 8103 1 University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania 59 Mărăști Blvd, District 1, 011464, Bucharest, Romania

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Coordinating teacher: Mihai Daniel Frumușelu

REFERENCESVulnerability of the Danube Delta to the Climate Change

EXAM PRESENTATIONUSAMV MIEADR 2015

This place should be like this This place should be like this

Keep the nature clean,Keep the nature clean, every second of the year !!every second of the year !!

EcosystemsEcosystems The Delta grows intensively, and every year its total area increases by more than 1 km2. The actual Delta, between the Chilia, Sulina and Sf. Gheorghe branches, covers over 2, 491 km2 with 49 types of natural or partly man-induced habitats (Romanian habitats classification). The Delta features great landscape diversity. There are more than 30 types of ecosystems in the Danube Delta. Here you can find extensive shallows, islands, sand bars, reed beds and picturesque patches of the floodplain forest. The main factors predetermining the condition of natural resources and water ecosystems of the Danube Delta are: -High abundance of water: From time to time 80% of the delta’s area is flooded. About 700 lakes occupy at least 10% of its territory. The drainage network of the delta has a waterway density of 1 km/km2;-High content of nutrients: It is known that nearly 58% of the total nitrogen (340,000 t) and 66% of total phosphorus (55,000 t) enter the Black Sea via the Danube Delta;-Favorable temperature conditions: The average annual temperature in the Delta water basins has grown up by 1 0С for the last 30 years and reached 13.0 0С, the average annual temperature in the water basins amounted up to 12.5 0С. Also, the water temperature in the Danube Delta wetlands exceeds more than 5 0С during 265 days in a year.

Potential changes in the Danube Delta and Black Sea coastal zone ecosystems due to climate change

Key impactsKey impacts What is happening now? hat is happening now? What could happen further?Physical damage to habitats The increased frequency and intensity of extreme

weather events is leading to more damage to vegetation

The increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will lead to more damage to vegetation

Disappearance of rare species on floodplains

Rare species of plants on floodplain ecosystems of the Kiliya arm of the Danube Delta are disappearing. On Zhebrian ridge, only one species – common sawgrass listed in the Red Book of Ukraine - is still present as it is absent in the other parts of the Reservation in Ukraine. Moldavian steppe and meadow vegetation cover about10% of the territory and host around 790 species, from which 30 are included in the Red Book.

Reduction of the Danube runoff accompanied with a temperature rise and more contrast weather events will worsen the water exchange and flushing of the flood plains. The water ecosystem will suffer secondary pollution with organic debris and that will intensify the degradation of the floodplain ecosystem. Vegetation will become simpler, communities will fragment so that the share of the higher water vegetation diminishes.

The declining of the ground water and plant diversity of sand dunes and ridges

Both factors are leading to violation of the hydraulic condition in depressions and the ground water level in sand dunes. It brings a decrease of plant diversity, particularly of rare and disappearing species of psammophytes.

Further lowering of the ground water level due to less runoff in the Danube and the rise of water temperature will increase the probabilities of fires on the ridge. Bessarabian carnations recover extremely hard from fires and may go extinct because it is a narrow endemic. Disturbances of the ground water level in depressions will lead to the disappearance of all orchid species in the Reserve as well as other rare species of the Zhebrian ridge (small cattail, common sawgrass and late leucanthemella)

You must change your habits!You must change your habits!