BIODIVERSITY OF A PROTECTED LACUSTRINE COMPLEX WITHIN THE LOWER HYDROGRAPHICAL BASIN OF THE JIU

The lacustrine complex Valea Preajba, located within the plain in the hydrographical basin of the Jiu river, is included in the category of wet areas. The main ecological feature that defines the protected area consists in the fact that on an area not exceeding 30 hectares, there is grouped a great variety of ecosystems: unevenness of the ground in the shape of small hills, pastures and meadows, agricultural lands and a complex hydrographical structure: springs, streams, rivers, marshes, small reservoirs. All these are populated with a variety of plant and animal species which confers to the area an ecological character special for Oltenia Plain and even for Romania. In the lacustrine ecosystems, there have been identified 36 paludous and aquatic macrophytes species, dominated by Phragmites communis, Typha angustifolia, Scirpus lacustris, Heleocharis palustris, Lemna minor, Nimphaea alba, Potamogeton natans, Mentha aquatica, Myriophyllum spicatum, Ceratophyllum submersum; 78 species of periphytic and planktonic algae; 13 large groups of benthonic invertebrates dominated by the larvae of Chironomidae, Coleopterae, Ephemeropterae, Heteropterae, Gastropodae; 10 species of fish Cyprinus carpio, Carassius auratus gibelio, Rutilus rutilus, Abramis brama, Pseudorasbora parva, Perca fluviatilis, Sander lucioperca, Lepomis gibbosus, Alburnus alburnus. The area is populated by 3 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles, 20 species of birds and 7 species of mammals.