Habitat and hydrological–hydrochemical characteristics of the Agras wetland (Northern Greece)

Abstract

The Agras wetland located in the Prefecture of Pella, Macedonia, North Greece, is a semi-artificial wetland that was created as a reservoir by the Public Power Corporation (PPC) in 1950. The wetland quickly turned into an important natural resource for the whole area. Partly due to European legislation (Birds Directive 79/409/EEC, Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EEC) and partly to its recognized environmental and local economic value, the state designated the wetland as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and proposed its inclusion into the European Natura 2000 Network (Limni Agra, GR1240004). The aim of this paper was to study and relate the important biotic and abiotic factors of the wetland, and to assess the human impact on its functions, through the establishment and operation of a baseline monitoring system. The ecological research shows that the wetland's core area comprises an impressive mosaic of eight land-use categories and seven natural vegetation types. Notable differences in spatial distribution of specific hydrochemical parameters were observed. Water level fluctuation along the wetland indicates a unique evolutionary pattern that resembles neither a lake nor a river system. Overall, a fair relationship between hydrochemistry, hydrodynamics, habitats and human interventions is substantiated.

Keywords:

• Baseline monitoring
• habitat
• hydrology
• hydrochemistry
• vegetation type
• wetland

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the LIFE-Nature (LIFE03 NAT/GR/000092) project, financed by the European Commission, DG Environment, entitled: “Implementation of management measures at the Agras wetland”. The authors wish to thank the program's contributors, Mr Stefan Donth (Environmentalist), for their valuable support regarding fieldwork, and also Dr Athanasios Panoras, Mr Yiannis Diamandidis, Mr Yiannis Vrouhakis, Ms Despina Asouhidou, Ms Haido Kallogianni and Ms Tania Kassioti (Land Reclamation Institute Sindos) for their valuable contributions in field work and laboratory determinations. Thanks are also due to Sandy Coles (MSc, University of Ioannina) for linguistic revision of the manuscript.