Development of forest ecosystems on biota monitoring plots in the area of influence of Gabčíkovo Waterwork

Abstract The construction and operation of waterworks has a significant impact on natural ecosystems. The evaluation of their negative impact and the proposal to minimize their impact, as well as the revitalization, especially of large rivers, have been given great importance in recent decades. The main goal of the study is to present impact of Gabčíkovo Waterwork on forest ecosystems after 30 years of damming. Specially evaluated are monitoring sites where changes are observed in the Slovak part of the so-called inland delta, i.e., between old and new riverbed of the Danube. The assessment of changes in terrestrial vegetation on selected monitoring sites was compared with the assessment of parallel measured soil moisture data. At the same time, data from the National Forestry Centre were also used to monitor changes in the state of forest ecosystems in the whole area of interest. When comparing the species composition from state to 2015 and from the period before GW was put into operation (in 1990) an increase was found in the area share of hardwood floodplain forest by 5.77% and the area shares of softwood floodplain forests decreased by 1.71%. Between 1990 and 2015, 68.43% of the territory remained unchanged at the level of forest type groups. A change in habitat conditions towards drier forest types was recorded on 23.61% of the territory.