Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Institute of Ecology and Botany

Hungarian Danube Research Station

Göd, 2131
Jávorka Sándor u. 14.
tel/fax: +36 27 345 023
Hungary

Hydrobiology of running waters

Research is based on the experiences gained during the long-term survey of the previous decades: basic patterns of the river biota; material cycling of the different river sections; impact of environmental factors (natural or human induced hydrological regime) and the structure of the biotic community. A long-term task of the Station is the hydrobiological monitoring of the Szigetköz area. The latest studies of water and sediment chemistry, fito- and zooplankton, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, fish populations and amphibians are all closely related to the functional aspects of biodiversity, river fragmentation, functioning of the river system and adjacent wetlands.

Hydrobiology of standing waters and wetlands

Most of the research of standing waters and wetlands is carried out at the Ferto-Hanság region. The investigations of the structure and function of communities and on the effects of environmental factors focus on two major habitat types of Lake Ferto: the open water surfaces and the reed belt. The hydrobiological monitoring of small lakes and constructed wetlands in the Hanság area serves mainly the reconstruction goals of nature conservation.

Recent main research topics:

• studies of hydrobiological status, eutrophication, macroinvertebrate biodiversity, fish populations, and long-term changes of the different sections of the Danube, and their floodplains (Szigetköz, Gemenc)
• theoretical and methodological applicability of macrofauna for monitoring great rivers.
• hydrobiological investigation of small standing and running water bodies in different protected areas (Pilis Biosphere Reserve, Fertõ-Hanság National Park, Duna-Dráva National Park)
• comprehensive limnological investigation of the special water bodies of Lake Fertô, characteristic of that part of the lake on Hungarian territory, in order to establish the strategy for its protection, in Fertô-Hanság National Park.
• nutrient cycles, degradation process and decomposition of the expanded reed-belts in Lake Fertô.

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