Biodiversity And Ecosystem Dynamics Department
The Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (BDE) has an important expertise in monitoring the migrations and behavior of sturgeon species in the Lower Danube River. With more than 8 years of experience in this fields, continuous development of the Department’s scientists and the use of the best monitoring techniques have led to the collection of a unique database, at national and international level, concerning the behavior and migrations of sturgeon species in the lower course of the Danube River. Moreover, the Department’s specialists have experience in monitoring fish species from Romania`s inland waters by conducting scientific fishing using approved electrical fishing equipment. Monitoring of fish species is performed in order to identify the structure and dynamics of the ichthyofauna composition so that the effects of the changes in the aquatic environment due to anthropogenic activities can be quantified. In addition to the experience on monitoring fish species, the specialists of the Department have experience in producing the following:
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Strategies , regional / local policies and programs for biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems;
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Monitoring of the conservation state of species and habitats of national and community interest and elaboration of management plans for protected areas;
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Inventories and maps of species / habitats of national and / or community interest;
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Impact assessment and Appropriate Assessment studies on biodiversity, and ecosystem assessment and evolution studies by analyzing the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors.
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Area Of Competence
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Monitoring of sturgeon species in the Lower Danube River using patented monitoring systems based on ultrasonic telemetry;
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Assessment of the survival rate of juvenile sturgeon that are tagged with ultrasonic transmitters and released into the Lower Danube River in order to support wild sturgeon populations by repopulation programs;
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Proposal for measures and methods for rewilding and conserving natural biodiversity;
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Assessing the changes in the ecosystem – affected by natural and anthropogenic factors;
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Assessment and detection of degraded ecosystems and research on the development of solutions for their ecological restoration;
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Acoustic telemetry.
Activities
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Drawing up interdependence matrices between hydrological and chemical parameters and monitoring of ultrasonic tagged sturgeons ;
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Developing ultrasonic telemetry techniques;
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Ultrasonic tagging of sturgeon species using the internal procedure developed within the department.
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Elaborating studies concerning the impact of hydrotechnical works, aimed at improving navigation, on the composition and dynamics of fish stocks.
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Performing in-situ monitoring with the Vemco VR100 mobile receiver for the identification of tagged sturgeons;
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Performing bathymetric measurements for the hydromorphological characterization of sturgeons – habitates use.
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Monitoring the behavior under difficult hydromorphodynamic conditions of ultrasonic tagged sturgeon species, for example in areas where bottom sills have been constructed in order to improve navigation.
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Conducting scientific electrofishing with boat mounted model in the case of large rivers and backpack equipment for small rivers.
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Net fishing to complement the electrofishing method in order to have a representative sample that helps characterize the ichthyofauna as accurately as possible.
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Processing and interpretation of data resulting from the monitoring of sturgeons and other fish species;
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Carrying out studies for the assessment of the conservation status of fish species of national and community interest and the production of fish inventories in accordance with the provisions of the Habitats Directive;
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Mapping of degraded ecosystems and proposing restoration measures so that ecosystem returns to a reference state.
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Technical assistance and expert advice in the areas of competence of the Department.
Meet the Team
