MONITORING

The Integrated Monitoring Program of the biosphere reserves has 3 well defined purposes:

• to provide information for the scientific community, administration and politics, as a result of the research activity in physics, biology and social sciences;
• support for systematic exchanges of scientific information;
• support for the integrated monitoring of the biosphere reserves, especially concerning the global changes, biological diversity, ecosystems management, human impact and sustainable development.

From the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, several institutions with scientific and monitoring activities extract data and information, cooperation being necessary due to the complexity of this work.

Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority beneficiates from this database and uses the information as support in the decision making process concerning the natural heritage of the area. The monitoring activity complies with the Integrated Monitoring System for the Environment in Romania and the objectives of the Management Plan for the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.

The monitoring system in the DDBR identifies and measures the state variables of the structure and functions of the Danube Delta ecosystems and the command factors that affect their ecological integrity, in order to prevent their effects through corresponding management measures.

The objectives of the integrated monitoring system are:

• supervision of the natural capital’s evolution;
• conservation of the Danube Delta biological diversity and genetic resources;
• assisting the decisions of the socio-economical management in order to guarantee:

- prevention of the deterioration of the natural capital of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve;
- that the natural capital productive capacity is not exceeded;
- that the support capacity of the natural capital is not exceeded;
- the substantiation and achievement of the natural capital recovery of deteriorated components.

The conceptual model of the integrated monitoring system involves 2 main components: data obtaining system and data management system.
The selection of the domains and parameters of the integrated monitoring system is based on causal concepts, aiming the identification of impact factors that could determine the lack of balance of the Danube Delta systems.

The selection of the domains and parameters of the integrated monitoring system is based on causal concepts, aiming the identification of impact factors that could determine the lack of balance of the Danube Delta systems.

The selected domains included in the integrated monitoring system are:

1. climate and air quality;
2. hydrology;
3. hydrobiology;
4. water quality;
5. soil quality;
6. biodiversity;
7. natural resources;
8. economic activities;
9. human population.

For every one of these domains, key-parameters were identified and monitored in order to allow gathering information with maximum efficiency.

The “physics-chemistry” domain criteria include parameters describing ecosystems structure and reflect its possible evolution. “Biology” criteria indicate the levels of environmental productivity and the “social-economic” criteria indicate the level of human pressure.

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