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This paper aims to assess the level of perceptions of stakeholders on algal blooms in aquatic systems of Danube Delta in order to apprehend potential adaptation and mitigation strategies for the future, and to analyze for political targets and deficits. Hence, by means of questionnaires were engaged 24 stakeholders representing natural resource managers, local authorities, scientists, NGO’s. Even though the results indicated that not all stakeholders are aware with algal bloom terminology, stating a lack of institutional communication and availability of information to the public in the area, it was an overall consensus that the phenomenon represents more than a serious issue for deltaic aquatic ecosystems. The level to which national, regional and local resources can be focused on treating algal blooms issues depends in part of the strengths and interests in the area.

This study presents the drinking water supply system quality analysis in the context of the presence and distribution of eukaryotic assemblage, specifically the presence of algae in 10 specific sites (water treatment plants and fountains) from the Danube Delta. The analysis comes with a new approach based on stakeholders involvement and understanding of the new emerging problems generated by the presence of algae in the water supply system. In order to upgrade the water quality it is needed an improvement on the management of the water supply systems, with direct connection to the management of presence of algae or the occurrences of algal toxins in drinking water sources. Taking into consideration that Romania have no regulation dealing with the occurrence or the presence of algae or algal toxins in recreational or drinking water sources, it is important for all the stakeholders (local communities, local authorities, regional and national authorities etc.) to be informed about the the possibility of their occurrence in drinking or recreational waters, by creating a virtual space where they have access to the researches in this area.

Up to the present in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) there were recorded 12 native reptile species. The first Red List of the wild species from DDBR was drafted in 1999 and printed in 2000. Based on the results of investigations carried out since 2000 and taking into account the developments related to criteria for conservation status of wild species (on world-wide level, on European continental level, on EU level and on national level), the present work provides details on the proposals to consider the following conservations status to amphibians occurring in the DDBR: Testudo graeca (rare species in the DDBR) – Vulnerable status; Emys orbicularis (relatively common species in the DDBR) - Vulnerable status; Lacerta agilis (relatively common species on some marine levees) - Least Concern status; Lacerta trilineata (a rare species in the DDBR) - Vulnerable status; Lacerta viridis (rare species in the DDBR) - Least Concern status; Podarcis tauricus (occurs along the continental limit of the DDBR and on few marine levees of the lagoonary area) - Least Concern status; Eremias arguta (occurs only on the main marine levees) - Threatened status; Coluber caspius (rare species in the DDBR) - Vulnerable status; Coronella austriaca (rare species in the DDBR) - Vulnerable status; Natrix natrix (relatively common species in DDBR) - Least Concern status; Natrix tessellata (relatively frequent in the lagoonary area and rare in the proper Danube Delta) - Vulnerable status; Vipera ursinii (rare species in the DDBR) - Critically endangered status.

In order to fulfill requirements related to the accession of Romanian to the European Union, several measures were taken in the field of nature protection, including enforcement in the country the provisions of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC. Beyond the establishing of the legal framework and designation of the Sites of Community Interest, there were carried out activities aiming to set-up a data-base planned to be used for generating the first national reports on the current status of the Species of Community Interest. In a pilot project there were up-loaded into the respective data-base information for at about 5% of the total number of the national reports. In the present paper there are provided details on the procedure used in case of Vipera ursinii from the Pontic (Black Sea) biogeographical region. In the mentioned biogeographical region there are three areas inhabitat by natural populations of Vipera ursini. Consequently, in each of the respective areas there was selected a plot in case of which there were up-loaded into the data base details on on the location of the population, on the date of the investigation, on the size of the populations (both relativ data and quantitative information), on the habitats, treaths and information sources. Also, the resulted maps (in GIS having one of the layers with 10x10 km squares of the grid in ETRS89-LAEA 5210 projection) include spatial information in a format compatible with the ones used for global analyses on the status of the species in the European Union.

Up to the present in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) there were recorded 11 native amphibian taxa (10 species and one hybrid). The first Red List of the wild species from DDBR was drafted in 1999 and printed in 2000. Based on the results of investigations carried out since 2000 and taking into account the developments related to criteria for conservation status of wild species (on world-wide level, on European continental level, on EU level and on national level), the present work provides details on the proposals to consider the following conservations status to amphibians occurring in the DDBR: Triturus dobrogicus (widely distributed, but not frequent species) – Vulnerable; Triturus vulgaris (widely distributed, but not frequent species) – Vulnerable; Bombina bombina (widely distributed, frequent species) - Least Concern; Pelobates fuscus (widely distributed, relatively frequent species) - Least Concern; Pelobates syriacus (a species distributed in the southern part of DDBR and at the limit of the continental plateau)– Vulnerable; Bufo bufo (species occurring only in the proper Danube Delt and less adapted to regularely flooded wetlands with high water-level variations) - Least Concern; Bufo viridis (widely distributed, frequent species, excepting the reed-dominated areas) - Least Concern; Hyla arborea (widely distributed, relatively frequent species) - Least Concern; Rana lessonae (species recorded only in the proper Danube Delt, but probably more frequent than is it known in the present) - Least Concern; Rana ridibunda (widely distributed, frequent species) - Least Concern and Rana kl. esculenta (widely distributed, frequent amphibian) - Least Concern.

In August 24th- August 30th, 2012 period there was performed a pilot study to assess the Slender clawded or Turkish crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823) populations from Golovița Lake and the southern part of the Razim Lake (both of them located in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve - DDBR). There were used 10 sets of traps (each set with 10 traps) and after 147 – 149 hours of functioning there were captured 45 specimens of A. leptodactylus, the total biomass of the crayfish being 1,768 g, which is a very low if compared with the official crayfish-quotas issued for various other regions of the DDBR. The scarcity in Astacus leptodactylus of the Razim- Sinoie lagoonary area is probably due to the habitat-requirement of this species (although other stressing factors – as plagues affecting the crayfish– could also be considered to explain the phenomenon). In order to harvest the minimum quantity (100 kg) of crayfish issued as official quota in case of various other regions of the DDBR, the method involving 10 sets with 10 traps should be continuously used for about 370 days – the costs of activities for such long period (combined with the fact that in case of the exploited crayfish quantities there have to be paid various taxes for the environmental protection authorities) makes economically unprofitable the crayfish stock-harvesting (based on the method used in the present study) in the Razim and Golovița lakes .

The present paper includes details related to the evolution (in 1993 – 2012 period) of some qualitative and quantitative features of the volumes of the journal entitled “ Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute”. In the respective twenty years, there were published 798 original articles, but the number of articles / volume decreased along the analysed period (R 2=0.7405) (the most obvious decrease was in case of the articles with subjects related to natural resources and socio-economic aspects). A positive characteristic of the journal evolution was the decrease in percentages/volume of works with few references (the articles without any references being totally eliminated since 2004, inclusively). Other positive aspects of the journal development (in the same two decades) can be considered the increases in some elements of the journal, as follows: percentage of articles that contain lists of references (R2 =0.7322), details related to the authors (R2=0.5179),abstracts (R 2=0.5578) and key words (R2=0.7971), number of articles with high number of references (R2=0.3446 in case of articles with 26 – 30references, respectively R2=0.267 in case of articles with more than 30 references) and their percentage / volume (R 2=0.474 in case of articles with 26 – 30 references, respectively R 2=0.4849 in case of articles with more than 30 references).

The Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development, although evolved from an entity established in 1926, launched its first scientific journal in 1978, but the respective publication had irregular issuance. In 1993 the institute launched the first issue of a new periodical which nowadays is entitled “Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute”. In 1993 – 2011 period there were published 17 volumes and, excepting two years (2000 and 2001), the journal had a yearly issuance. Till 2011 there were published in the journal 774 articles, most of them (509 articles) in 1993 – 1999 period. A total number of 447 persons contributed (as single author, as first author or as co-author) with articles, most of the articles having one author (250 articles) or two authors (212 articles). Works written in Romanian were the most frequent ones (449 articles – out of which 447 were published till 1999, inclusively), meanwhile the works written in English are the second most frequent ones (319 articles – out of which 263 published since 2002, inclusively). The average length of the articles published in 1993 – 2011 period is 6.78, the highest average number of pages/article (12.93 pages/article) being recorded in case of the most recent volume (published in 2011).

In the present paper there are provided details on the doubtful data on the occurrence of some reptile species in various parts of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Testudo graeca was indicated by mistake at Sfântu Gheorghe (probably the authors saw the species in some places from the continental plateau nearby of Sfântu Gheorghe branch, not inside the Danube Delta). Lacerta viridis was mentioned in the so-called “maritime Delta” and at the ruins of Histria fortress (due to confusion with specimens of Lacerta agilis). Also, Podarcis muralis was “recorded” at the ruins of Histria fortress (due to misidentification of specimens belonging to species P. taurica. A corps of snake found at Letea forest was considered by mistake as belonging to species Eryx jaculus. In several official reports (grey literature) the species Elaphe longissima (Zamenis longissimus) was mentioned by mistake as occurring at Letea forest. Elaphe (quatuorlineata) sauromates was “recorded” at the ruins of Histria fortress and at Sfântu Gheorghe due to confusion with specimens belonging to other snake species. Specimens of Vipera urisnii from the Danube Delta were considered as belonging to the species Vipera berus. Also, Vipera ursinii was metioned by mistake at Caraorman marine levee and at Chituc marine levee, based only on the idea that if the species occurs on other marine levees, it has to be present on these two marine levees, too.

Dobrogea (south-eastern part of Romania) is a region with high biodiversity and at the same time a proper area for wind-resource exploitation. In the last few years there are several projects to establish wind-farm in this area. In order to have an overview on the potential conflict between the nature conservation priorities (taking into account that in the region there are designated large sites as parts of the Natura 2000 European network of protectedareas) and the objectives of developers the central environmental protection authority requested a study focused on provisionof scientific background for potential administrative and juridical measures in order to avoid the negative impact of theseindustrial infrastructures on wild flora and fauna of Dobrogea. In the frame of the respective study there was investigated the current status of the species potentially threatened by the wind-farms and there were provided details for the main criteria for the establishment of sites where wind-mills could be present. The present work includes the most relevant aspects of the finalreport of the respective study, including the so-called “negative map” of Dobrogea and a proposal for the potential arrangementof wind farms in the central area of the Dobrogean mainland in order to avoid the so-called “barrier effect” of the industrialinfrastructures exploiting the wind resource of this region.

The present paper provides details on the data-base completed in January 1998 – January 2011 period with information on 1,564 bibliographical references on the amhibians and reptiles recorded in Romania, respectively on various sources on species from other counties/regions, but written by Romanian authors.

The present paper shows details on the structure of the GIS-based data-base created in order to carry out accurate analyzes of the spatial distribution on national level of the species belonging to the Lacertidae family. The results of the data processing shows that there are 1015 records (on a total number of 613 local administrativeterritories) of Sand Lizards (Lacerta agilis), 775 records (on a total number of 446 local administrative territories) of Green Lizards (L. viridis), 65 records (on a total number of 30 local administrative territories) of Balkan Green Lizards (L. trilineata), 66 records (on a total number of 38 local administrative territories) of Meadow Lizards (L. praticola), 440 records (on a total number of 226 local administrative territories) of Viviparous Lizards (L. vivipara), 328 records (on a total number of 202 local administrative territories) of Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis), 288 records (on a total number of 126 local administrative territories) of Balkan Wall Lizards (P. taurica) and 34 records (on a total number of 12 local administrative territories) of Steppe Runners (Eremias arguta) made in Romania up to the year 2007.

Based on the results of field investigations carried out in 1994 – 2008 period, the author established the general distributional patterns in the northern part of the Dobrogean mainland of three lizard species. The Sand Lizards (Lacerta agilis) populates habitats with linear shape, the species being present along river valleys and some roads. The Balkan Green Lizards (L. trilineata) and the Green Lizards (L. viridis) were recorded mostly nearby or inside the forests (or plantations). In case of L. trilineata and L. viridis there is quite obvious the spatial segregation: in areas where the two species were present, the Balkan Green Lizard (L. trilineata) occurs mostly at lower altitudes, meanwhile the Green Lizard (L. viridis) was more frequently present at higher altitudes.

The Romanian legislation nominates for variosus conservative statuses the following terrestrial or freshwater tetrapode species which should be included in the analyses of teh studies on the potential negative impact of wind-turbines and related infrastructures or activities: 11 species of amphibians, 16 species of reptiles, 273 species of birds and 38 species of mammals that have “strictly protected species” status (according to ActNo. 13 / 1993, which enforces the Bern Convention on conservation of wildlife); 7 species of amphibians, 5 species ofreptiles, 94 species of birds and 31 species of mammals that have “protected species” status (according to the same ActNo. 13 / 1993); 6 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles, 54 species of mammals of which protection needs designaton of Special Areas of Conservation (Governmental Urgency Ordinance No. 57 / 2007); 11 species of amphibians, 18 species of reptiles, 48 species of mammals having “Species of Community Interest that need strictprotection” status (Governmental Urgency Ordinance No. 57 / 2007); 6 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles, 67 species of birds and 6 species of mammals that have “Species of National Interest that need strict protection” status (Governmental Urgency Ordinance No. 57 / 2007). At least 122 species of birds are nominated among the species of which protection needs designaton of Special Protection Areas (Governmental Urgency Ordinance No. 57 / 2007), 112migratory waterbird species are protected by Act No. 89 / 2000, 20 migratory birds are considered as being treathened on European level (Act no. 13 / 1998) and 267 species have “unfavourable status on European level” (Act no. 13 / 1998). All 30 bat species are protected by Act No. 90 / 2000, and 25 species are also nominated in Act No. 13 / 1993 (that enforces the Bonn Convention on migratory species).

In 2003 - 2004 period, by the use of GIS technique there were delimited the five European bioregions that occur in Romania, the respective bioregions having the following total surfaces in the initial version of the map: Alpine bioregion (5,421,368 ha), Continental bioregion (12,781,084 ha), Pannonic bioregion(1,436,801 ha), Pontic or Black Sea bioregion (179,858 ha) and Steppic bioregion (4,022,218 ha). The digital formats of the resulted polygons were used in most of the activities carried out in the 2005 – 2006 period for establishing of the Romanian sites that were proposed for inclusion into the ”Natura 2000” European network of protected areas.

In August 2007 the author recorded the Eremias arguta specimens occurrring on the first row of high dunes from the coastal area of the central part of grindul Chituc. On the respective transact of about 3,2 km length there were present 371 individuals of Eremias arguta, representing an average of one lizard at every 8,5 m(roughly). On the respective, stripelike and very narrow habitat type (having a total surface of about 12,650 m2) the average density of the Eremias arguta was 293.3 specimens / ha.

Dans cet ouvrage, l’auteur présente synthétiquement la situation des signalisations sur les populations de Vipères d’Orsini (Vipera ursinii) de Roumanie. Dans l’ouvrage, on a nominalisé les 20 zones dupays où l’espèce a été mentionée, la liste des publications de spécialité de la période 1888 – 2006 où on se réfère à l’espèce Vipera ursinii, et aussi la structure de la base de dates GIS conçue pour les analyses concernant la distribution de l’espèce. L’ouvrage contient aussi un exemple de localisation d’une population deVipères d’Orsini (Vipera ursinii), sur la bse des informations incomplètes.

Up to the present, the number or reliable records on the presence of Elaphe quatorlineata in Romania ranges between 42 and 45 (beyond these, there also another 4 data, but those are based on misidentification). The present work shows the methods used to identify and analyse the available information, with examples on the data-interpretation, taking into account results of the investigations on the biology and ecology of the species.