Ecology – Field research

Ecology – Field research

While researching factors which influence the environment we visited Pančevački rit. The numerous meandering canals used to be full of fish and had very lively ecosystems.  However, because of a number of fields in the area which have been treated with a lot of artificial fertilizers these canals have been affected by eutrophication. Eutrophication is almost always induced by the discharge of phosphate-containing detergents, fertilizers, or sewage, into an aquatic system and it causes the depletion of oxygen in a water body, which kills aquatic animals. If these canals were cleaned they would once more become the habitat of a number of species.

After collecting samples from Pančevački rit, we used the laboratory of the Faculty of Geography in order to get detailed analyses of the water, surrounding soil and ecosystem. We discovered that there was a large quantity of mud in the water which is slowly burying the ecosystem and lemna, the free-floating aquatic plant, is slowly covering the surface. The oxygen level is very low, there are no fish in the water and the worm Tubifex, an inhabitant of very dirty waters, is present.