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Economic cooperation between Yugoslavia and Romania during the 1960s can be divided into three parts. The first lasted until 1964 and was characterized by relations at an extremely low level. The second period began with the Agreement on the Construction of Djerdap and lasted until 1969. The work of the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation showed that the two countries had opportunities to significantly improve economic relations. The gap that existed between a high level of political relations and the concrete bilateral cooperation began to decrease only when cooperation intensified in 1969 and 1970. Turning to other forms of economic cooperation while at the same time increasing the trade between the two countries allowed the volume of economic exchanges to increase four times by the end of the decade (19 million dollars in 1960, 76 million dollars in 1970). The cooperation between the two countries in the economic sphere continued in the years that followed, but it never reached the previous level of political relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post‐socialist memories recalling the communist past in Central and Eastern Europe have risen to importance in recent decades, but there is still a scarcity of literature dealing with the post‐socialist "post‐memory." By adapting a social‐spatial narrative methodology to memory studies and by promoting the current theories on the spatial politics of (intergenerational) memory in general and more specifically on the post‐socialist memory formation, this paper aims to highlight the nature of memory, how intergenerational shaping of memory happens and the implications of these memories for understanding post‐socialist memory creation through an understanding of how people's personal connections (attachment) to place serve as the basis of intergenerational memory transmission. To set the scene, between 1966 and 1972, in alignment with the Stalinist principles of Soviet electrification, Romania and Yugoslavia completed the construction of one of the largest hydroelectric plants in Europe – the Iron Gates – on the Danube. Although the flooding of the settlements that were in the way of this project involved the destruction of property representing local cultural heritage, the dominant place‐based memories are those related to trauma and personal attachment to (materially gone) places. The shaping of memories for the post‐socialist generation is the foundation of people's difficulty in adapting to a market economy and the capitalist state. However, while the home becomes a locus for memory transmission between generations, post‐memories are "summarised" through certain key traumatic events. The implications of the creation of these memories are significant for understanding post‐socialist memory formation because post‐socialist remembrance of communism is bottom‐up, rooted in local events and grounded in place. Finally, in the context of claiming retroactive justice in contemporary Romanian politics, tensions between those manifesting counter‐memories (i.e., memories that challenge state‐led actions) and those with memories that reveal people's pride for the engineering achievements bring out the complex nature of these memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a critical discussion of the political economy of hydropower construction in the communist space. We use political economy, economic history and political ecology literature in order to reveal the economic and political relations in which hydropower is embedded in socialist states. The case analysed is the Iron Gates, a joint Romanian-Yugoslav project which raises specific questions about the techno-political framework of the new 'hydraulic landscape' and its place in socialist economies and societies. The case reveals important transformations in the political and economic relations within the Soviet bloc and provides a description of the complex institutional setting used in the construction of the hydropower system. In parallel, the paper explores the contribution of political power in the construction of the Iron Gates and especially its use in connection with the ideological production of the new communist regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the excavations done in 1974 in a quarry near Salcia (Mehedinți County, south-western Romania), four complete mammoth molars, as well as a molar fragment were discovered. The molars were curate at the Iron Gates Region Museum from Drobeta Turnu Severin. They were firstly assigned to the steppe mammoth, Mammuthus trogontherii. Herein, these fossils have been reassessed to the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, we identified landscape typologies in the Iron Gates Natural Park from Romania and assessed their dynamic starting with 1990 to 2006. We evaluated the dynamic of landscapes based on land use and land covers changes as extracted from the Corine Land Cover databases. We found no major modifications in the distribution of landscapes, only 4.4% of the study area recording changes. Forestry landscapes have the highest ratio of change (on 1.5% from the total surface of the Park), with significant decreases also recorded in landscapes of shrub and rare vegetation, as well as mixed agricultural landscapes. Among the active transformation processes, forestation (on 45% of the modified surface) and agricultural activities (20%) recorded the highest distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aims at evaluating the ecological impact of landscape fragmentation, identifying, and classifying the threats affecting habitats of community interest in the Iron Gates Natural Park. We used landscape metrics for assessing the fragmentation process, results expressing decreases in the values of three metrics (MPS, ED, SDI) and increases for two metrics (NumP and IJI). We observed an insignificant increase in landscape fragmentation related to a reduced decrease of its landscape diversity for the 1990-2006 timeframe. We classified the main anthropic threats to habitats of community interest in three main categories: diversification and densification of buildings and transportation infrastructures, land use and industrial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of terrestrial mollusc fauna of the Iron Gates Nature Park. Various types of habitats (e.g. forests, rocks, riparian areas) and substrates (e.g. limestone, conglomerate, crystalline schist) were analyzed. A total of 45 species of terrestrial gastropods were identified in 17 sampling points, four of which are mentioned for the first time in the area. Six other species cited in the literature were not found. Limestone substrate allows the development of large populations of terrestrial gastropods, but the specific diversity is larger when it is associated with a forest habitat. The current legal and illegal exploitation of limestone threatens the molluscan communities associated with this type of habitat. The subsequent erosion process and the low mobility of these animals make their colonization of habitats difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an inventory and distribution of invasive alien species, in Iron Gates Natural Park, especially to highlight their origins, the most aggressive alien species, and their impact on conservation status of habitats, and indirectly their economic and sociological impact on the human communities. This study may have an important role in improving the efficiency of conservation measures, offering valuable information to authorities involved in protected areas administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron Gates Natural Park is located in the South-Western part of Romania and is recognized for its great diversity of ecosystems, wide variety of species and emblematic landscapes. Due to its Mediterranean climatic influences and vegetation structure, the area is a suitable habitat for the existence and development of Testudo hermanni boettgeri. Monitoring both, the evolution of the microclimatic features in the lower Eșelnița watershed and the species behaviour, represents a useful step in order to determine if the global climate change endangers the conservation management of the tortoise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Iron Gates Natural Park is the third largest protected area in Romania and second in terms of number of protected species, including a wide variety of natural and semi-natural habitats and landscapes in various stages of human intervention. Threats to biodiversity are diverse and the management of these threats is a major research direction in the conservation of biological diversity. In our study, the biodiversity and spatial analysis databases were used to assess the current situation. Even though the issue of distribution data of the species is not solved yet, the spatial distribution of threats to species is even less understood. We mapped the distribution of 59 species of conservation concern (17 mammals and 42 birds) using the geographic ranges of species. The correlation of the obtained data with the internal zonation of the park led to the identification of the "hot spots" in the Iron Gates Natural Park, which require immediate actions. Our study reveals that there are still uncovered and unprotected species of mammals and birds and so we recommend expanding both strictly protected and buffer areas to achieve the maximum level of protection resulting from Hot Spot Analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threats to biodiversity are diverse and the management of these threats is a major research direction in the conservation of biological diversity. Determining the status of a species is essential in identifying those in danger of becoming extinct and also to establish conservation priorities. For the management of all types of threats that manifest themselves for certain species of community interest in the Iron Gates Natural Park, we must first understand their causes and effects. Conservationists are increasingly interested in determining threats to biological communities, this being an important part of territorial and environmental planning strategies. The analysis undertaken for some geographical areas showed that the most important threats are the socio-economic and demographic variables, the fragmentation, destruction and degradation of habitats through various practices, the introduction of non-native species, illegal hunting or overfishing. In this context, for elaborating sustainable patterns of habitat management we must analyze and prioritize the threats that we are dealing with. The method requires an inventory of the main threats in the Iron Gates Natural Park, the threats for certain Species of Community Interest (Tulipa hungarica, Colchicum arenarium, Pulsati la grandis). We have also applied a method used by WWF in order to achieve a hierarchy of the main threats and to establish logical and efficient actions that can be locally applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of Pelophylax lessonae from Vodiţa Valley (near the Iron Gate) displays a particular colouring, the individuals being coloured in greyish brown, even more toward grey. The occurrence of atypical colouring at this population of P. lessonae can be explained by the type of habitat occupied along Vodiţa Valley: a mountain brook with fast flowing and rocky substratum, which flows into the Danube, upstream of the Iron Gate Dam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]