Changes in the ecological state of the Böddi-szék soda pan between 2010 and 2021

Monitoring the state of wetlands assists their conservation. In 2021, our research repeated a survey implemented a decade earlier, aimed at assessing the ecological condition of alkaline soda waters in the Carpathian Basin. Repeating the original examination of 20 characteristic factors offers the opportunity to monitor changes in the basic ecological state of soda pans. In the present paper data from 2010 and 2021 collected at the Böddi-szék soda pan in Dunatetétlen are compared. The indices used for the evaluation show that the condition of the soda pan and related wetlands has improved slightly. It is due to the reduction of arable land and the increase of grassland areas in the catchment area and the appropriate grazing of the shoreline. It has also increased the number of characteristic bird species nesting in the area. In addition, the previously detected water pollution from seepage and scattered waste has ceased to exist. Although the proportion of reed areas decreased slightly, the proportion of areas covered with Bolboschoenus maritimus increased in parallel. Significant change in the proportion of habitats in the soda pan bed has not been observed. The implementation of a LIFE project for the restoration of the area by the reallocation of a canal bypassing the pan may have additional significant positive effects on the ecological state of the alkaline soda ecosystem.