Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The project has produced a large array of materials characterizing biodiversity in the Berezina Biosphere Reserve's waterways. Such biodiversity indicators as species diversity, structural organization of phyto-, zoo- and bacterial plankton, benthos and periphyton, and initial production and destruction of plankton have been studied. These data were obtained against the background of studying hydrochemical features of individual water ecosystems and assessing the radiation and atmospheric components of their possible pollution.

It must be stressed that extensive materials were obtained for the first time as a result of a unified, comprehensive program where all samples were taken at the same sections of waterways at the same time, which is crucial for assessing the structural and functional organization of the ecosystems as a whole.

The studies performed within the project have greatly broadened our knowledge of the species diversity of BBR water ecosystems. They revealed 325 species and intraspecific taxa of algae in phytoplankton and periphyton of waterways (Table 11). Algoflora is represented predominantly by Bacillariophyta and Chlorophyta. Recorded in bottom, plankton and periphyton associations were 652 species and forms of invertebrate, predominantly Rotifera and the larva and imago stages of water insects. The widest species diversity was recorded among Diptera – 106 species, Coleoptera – 97 species, and caddis flies (Trichoptera) – 61 species.

Flora analysis on the studied waterways revealed 123 species of water, riverside-water and near-water vascular plants.

An important feature of associations of invertebrate in BBR waterways is that they include species of northern and even arctic-alpine origin. It can be supposed that they are glacial relics that survived the last phase of the Dnipro glaciation and the Moscow glacier period. Thus, BBR water ecosystems serve as a link between today’s water faunas of Northern Europe and Belarus.

The taxonomic basis of most waterways in the Berezina Biosphere Reserve is comprised of oxyphilic species that prefer water or brook ecosystems. This, along with materials characterizing oxygen and hydrochemical conditions, indicates that the studied water ecosystems are in good condition.

Of the total number of species found in BBR waterways, 30 species of algae and 41 species invertebrate were registered in Belarus for the first time; many species of flora and fauna are rare for Belarus (Table 11). This indicates the great value of the Berezina and its tributaries for preserving the biodiversity of the Berezina Biosphere Reserve, Belarus and the entire Europe.

Table 11

Species diversity of algae and invertebrate of the Berezina Biosphere Reserve's waterways

The studies fully confirm the comparatively low level of anthropogenic disturbance of BBR water ecosystems. Analysis of perennial materials shows that the concentrations and fallouts of air pollutants are relatively small. Therefore, aerial pollution transport has no significant adverse ecological effect on BBR. Radioactive contamination of surface water and bottom sediment was insignificant even immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster and remains so today. Results of hydrochemical studies allow classifying the studied waterways as low-pollution, with hydrochemical properties characteristic of the natural composition of the region’s surface water.

This, and the hydrological and hydrochemical diversity of waterways draining unique marsh and forest landscapes, high biodiversity of flora and fauna, and the presence of rare species, confirm the correct choice of BBR as a testing area for background monitoring of the Dnipro basin’s water ecosystems.

As is well known, the main difference between background and local monitoring is that the former is performed in the conditions of a low level and insignificant gradients of pollution. In these conditions, the numerous saprobity indices widely used in hydrobiological studies, as a rule, do not work. Comparative analysis of numerous properties of structural organization of phyto- and zooplankton, benthos and periphyton as indicators of water condition showed that variation of most of these properties might have different directions in different seasons, was characterized by high variability and not always could be interpreted as a pollution indicator. In undisturbed, low-pollution ecosystems, variability of structural organization of associations reflectshte natural diversity of biotopes and ecological factors.

Therefore, one of the principal tasks of background monitoring of water ecosystems is to assess the range of variation or standard reaction of different properties of structural and functional organization of water life associations. This task requires rather highly skilled researchers, and first of all taxonomists of different groups of water organisms. Thus, background monitoring cannot be effective if performed by the reserve’s personnel alone.

The general scheme of the system of background monitoring of BBR water ecosystems is shown on Fig. 32.

The system of background monitoring of BBR water ecosystems must include several elements. First, these are the Background Monitoring Station (BMS) and Background Monitoring Information Center (BMIC) located within BBR. The station must have field sampling and initial sample handling equipment, and the information center must be equipped with a computer and modem. It is desirable that the station’s personnel (tentatively 3 or 4 people) include an expert in one of the main groups of organisms and a computer and information technology expert. The background monitoring system must combine groups of highly skilled researchers working in different institutions outside of the reserve. During the project, such groups took shape in the Republican Radiation Control and Monitoring Center of the Department of Hydrometeorology of the Ministry of Nature of Belarus (RRCMC), Belarus State University (BSU) and Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The samples are taken by BMS personnel and, after initial handling (sorting, fixing, first-day chemical analysis), delivered to the appropriate groups: RRCMC (benthos and hydrochemistry), BSU (phytoplankton and periphyton), or the Institute of Zoology (zooplankton and invertebrate). Sample treatment and analysis results are sent by modem to BMIC, which then creates an environmental background monitoring database, performs comprehensive data analysis and passes the information to consumers.

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