Assessment of the abiotic components of the Danube River and main tributaries from southern part of Romania

Abstract

This paper presents a systemic assessment for abiotic components of the complex ecosystems in the year 2014; the investigated area is the Danube River from Bazias to Calarasi and its tributaries from Southern Romania – rivers Jiu, Olt and Arges. A sampling and monitoring program was performed for representative control sections, whose geographic locations were established with a portable GPS receiver. The impact elements considered for ecological status of water bodies investigated were: the thermal conditions, acidifiation, oxygenation conditions, salinity, nutrients and specific pollutants, according to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the requirements set by the Romanian Law 310/2004 which amends the Law 107/1996.