6.397,60
ha
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION
Buzău & Brăila Counties
Site ROSCI0005 Balta Albă-Amara-Lacul Sărat Câineni-Jirlău, hereinafter referred to as ROSCI0005, was established by Order of the Minister of the Environment no. 1964/2007 regarding the declaration of sites of community importance as an integral part of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 in Romania, modified and completed by Order no. 2387/2011. The designation of the site was intended to maintain or ensure, where appropriate, favorable conservation status for certain species and habitats of community interest.
ROSCI0005 has an area of 6300 ha – 3444,5 ha in Buzău County, 2855,5 ha in Brăila County – and a perimeter of about 150 km. From an administrative point of view, the site is located in Region 2 SE, on the territory of Buzău and Brăila, being overlapped with the following administrative territorial units: Boldu and Balta Albă (Buzău County), respectively Grădiştea, Vişani, Jirlău, Galbenu (Brăila County).
LOCATION
45.227591, 27.262087
SPECIES WITHIN THE AREA
Situl ROSCI0005: Balta Albă-Amara-Lacul Sărat Câineni-Jirlău
ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE
The habitat of the site includes steppe meadows and meadows dominated by halophilous species, marshes, strong oligo-mesotrophic waters, wetland and sandy vegetation, and farmland.
The site’s flora consists of species such as Fox’s Tail, Albăstrica or Scânteiuța, Frogs’ Grass, Pătlagina, Water Frog or Water Wool, Salty Grass, Papură. The habitat is home to a wide variety of mammals (the European gopher, the otter, the hare/ the wild rabbit, the wild boar), iamphibians and reptiles (the European turtle, the red-bellied turtle, the green scab-frog, the small lake-frog, the big lake-frog) and fish species (zvârluga, țiparul).
Lacul Sărat Câineni, the fourth major lake of the site, is surrounded by agricultural areas and is located in the village of Câineni, a former spa resort. The lake has a very high salinity and one of the best sapropelic sludge is extracted from its water.
Strong oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of Chara species. Salicornia communities and other annual species that colonize wet and sandy lands. Meadows and saturated panonic and and ponto-sarmatic marshes.
Spermophilus citellus (Popandaul european), Lutra lutra (Vidra), Emys orbicularis (Broasca-testoasa europeana de balta), Bombina bombina (Buhai de balta cu burta rosie sau izvorasul cu burta rosie), Bufo viridis (Broasca raioasa verde), Pelobates syriacus (Broasca de pamant siriaca), Rana esculenta (Broasca mica de lac), Rana ridibunda (Broasca mare de lac), Apatura metis (fluturele purpuriu imperial), Capreolus capreolus (Caprioara), Lepus europaeus (Iepure de camp), Sus scrofa (Mistret).
Alopecurus pratensis (Coada vulpii), Aster tripolium (Albastrica sau Scanteiuta), Atriplex hastata (Loboda cu frunze lanceolate), Camphorosma annua, Festuca pratensis (paius de livada), Halimione verrucifera, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (Iarba broastelor), Juncus gerardi (Pipirig), Najas minor (Naiada), Plantago maritima (Patlagina mare sau Limba gastii), Plantago schwarzenbergiana (Patlagina), Poa palustris (Firuta de balta), Poa pratensis (Firuta), Potamogeton crispus (Broscarita), Potamogeton pectinatus (Broasca apei sau Lana apei), Puccinellia distans (Balanica), Ranunculus trichophyllus (Piciorul coccosului), Salicornia europaea (Iarba sarata), Spergularia marina (Pintenul mic de mare), Suaeda maritima (Ghirin), Triglochin maritima (Iarba de mare),Typha latifolia (Papura cu frunza lata)
VULNERABILITIES
Given the considerable surface area, the site has several vulnerabilities linked in particular to the riverine actions activities: spillage of household waste into the lakes, significant fluctuations in water volume due to weather conditions, natural and artificial water composition changes, uncontrolled grazing (including dogs accompanying herds pose a threat to fauna), intensive farming (changing traditional methods of cultivating the land plus ignorance and/ or farmers not respecting the regulation regarding the eco-conditions related to the intensification of agriculture in the area), uncontrolled tourism.
Also, the existence of a small catchment basin, the lack of a permanent inflow and the lack of an underground water supply, and also the large amount of water that evaporates annually from the region, cause these lakes to considerably diminish their water surface during the months of August- September, sometimes leading to the total water draining (as was the case with Balta Amara Lake in May-September 2009). Usually, the water level of the lakes are raising due to the melting of snow in the catchment basin and heavy rainfall during the spring period.
Among the four lakes of the site, Lacul Sărat has the highest degree of hypertrophy, due to its small area and low capacity of self-purification). The lake hosts some of the vulnerable and affected species, including Salicornia Herbacea (salted grass) located on the west-south-west coast.
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PHOTO GALLERY
Situl ROSCI0005: Balta Albă-Amara-Lacul Sărat Câineni-Jirlău