Tatra ponds polluted by tourists

UWM scientists have completed a study of ponds and streams in the Tatra National Park that has been ongoing since 2013. The results of the study are not the best. Ponds in the Tatra Mountains are polluted primarily by tourists. – Sandwiches, plastic bottles float in the water, algal blooms appear! The lake is degrading,” said Dr. Eng about the Sea Eye. Piotr Dynowski.

Researchers by the University of Warmia and Mazury conducted the first such comprehensive study in theod of the Tatra National Park (TPN). The goal of the project was to determine what species of fish live in the ponds and streams of TPN, what their condition is, what they feed on and to what heights n.p.m. populate the streams. They investigated the roalso the range of aquatic plants.

The project was carried out fourorka scientistow: dr hab. Jacek Kozlowski of the Department of Biology and Fish Farming of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, team leader; Dr. Ing. Krzysztof Kozłowski also from the Department of Biology and Fish Breeding and Dr. Ing. Anna Źrobek-Sokolnik and Dr. Ing. Piotr Dynowski of the Department of Botany and Nature Conservation of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology. They examined the m.in. Morskie Oko, Czarny Staw pod Rysami and the Valley of Five Pondsow.

Black Pond below Rysami is about 70 metersoin depth, and Morskie Oko ok. 50 m deep, so the study could not do without a frogmanow.

Tatra ponds are alpine-type waters, which areore characterized by a lack of biogenow, a small amount of life and, of course, cleanliness. But the results of the study show that the opposite is true. In Morskie Oko, bristlecone pondweed was found, and in Maly Staw Pond, scabious buttercup. These speciesow should not be there. Aquatic vegetation is abundant in Morskie Oko and increases the swoj range. This is contributed to by a large number of touristsoin visitors to this most famous Polish gorskie lake.

– Sandwiches, plastic bottles float in the water, sunscreen stains can be seen on the water, algal blooms appearow! The lake is degrading, becoming eutrophic – comments on the UWM website by Dr. Dynowski.

– The ponds located in the Tatra National Park should have an alpine character. Their waters should be low in organic matter – oligotrophic, should be clean. In high gorach there is no agriculture, industry, residential development, and consequently there should also be no supply of large amounts of organic matter. Unfortunately, the aquatic environment is polluted with nutrients – nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, Dynowski stressed in an interview with PAP. He added that the sourceod of pollution are mainly tourists.

Black Pond, Wole Oko and Zadni Staw have retained the character of alpine lakes. There are neither plants nor fish there, and the water is very clear.

„Scientists have inventoried 3 species of fish: steelhead, trout sourceodlane and brook trout. Trout turned out to be the most numerous species – It was found in ponds, while in the streams of headwater. In the Sea Eye troutow was the most numerous, trout were also found in 3 of the 5 pondsoin the Valley of Five Pondsow. While hydrophytes, i.e. aquatic vegetation is doing well in Tatra ponds and streams, the condition of fish leaves much to be desired. Shortage is to blameor food” – reads the UWM website.

– Fish turned out to be dwarfed, but somehow they are managing. It occurs in the midst ofod them cannibalism, older individuals eat the eggs or fry. We have also observed, especially at the Morskie Oko Lake, that trout have learned to eat the remains of food thrown into the water by touristoWe have even seen such „feeding” – noted Dr. Dynowski.

Sourceobackground: UWM, PAP, fot. Tamerlan/ Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain