Traseul tematic Povestea Râului Gilort - Bălcești

Traseul tematic Povestea Râului Gilort – Bălcești

1. Starting point of the thematic (Aleea Şcolii, crossorads with Linia Mică str.)

As part of the Fish for Life project, a thematic route was created, open to any nature lover, curious to find out more information about rivers and fish species, how they have been affected by human activities and what can be done to mitigate the effects on the environment. The starting point is near Bălcești Secondary School (Bengești-Ciocadia), at the crossroads of Linia Mică and Aleea Școlii.

The route has an informative and educational role and presents a sector of the Gilort river basin, a river that was the host of ecological reconstruction works. These aimed to bring a degraded river sector to a state as close as possible to the natural one, by creating structures to support the natural processes of the river.

The thematic route is 1643 meters long and can be visited in 30-40 min.

The route is located in the Gilort River Special Conservation Area, an area that stretches along the Gilort River for a distance of approximately 19 km, starting from Pociovaliștea in the north to Doseni in the south. The Special Conservation Area also includes approximately 3.5 km of the Galbenu River, a tributary of the Gilort. This includes portions of the localities of Albeni, Bengești, Bumbești Pițic, Novaci, Târgu Cărbunești and has an area of 873 ha. The species of fish for which the Gilort River Special Conservation Area was declared are: Barbus petenyi (the Romanian barbel), Eudontomyzon mariae, (Chişcar), Romanogobio albipinnatus (Kessler's gudgeon) and Sabanejewia balcanica (Dunăriţa).  Barbus petenyi (mreana vânătă), Eudontomyzon mariae, (chișcarul), Romanogobio albipinnatus (porcușorul de nisip) și Sabanejewia balcanica (dunătița).

2. The bridge over the Galbenu River

This section of the river has been heavily affected by human activities. The Galbenu river is part of the Gilort river basin, its riverbed was developed by scraping the riverbed and pushing stones/boulders towards the banks. These measures had a number of negative effects, namely:

• • Large boulders, which can be shelters for fish, no longer remain in the riverbed;
• • the connection between the river and the side arms is interrupted, which are very important for the refuge of fish during floods and for the growth of seedlings (real "nurseries") and shelter from predators;
• • the sediments moved from the riverbed are sloped (forming a sloping surface) on the banks, covering the roots of the trees on the bank, which were previously in the water and forming beds, which has the effect of depriving the fish of resting, feeding and, very importantly, areas of refuge during floods;
• • deprived of access to vegetation roots and side arms and having no place to shelter in the developed riverbed, the fish are vulnerable during floods, being swept downstream and even killed.

Vegetation roots are submerged roots of trees on banks or piles of roots in water, especially in the vicinity of banks. They are used by fish mainly as a place of refuge during floods, but also as a shelter and feeding place.

The bed arranged in the area of the bridge is like a desert for fish, a kind of monohabitat, where they cannot find shelter and food. In this way, the small animals (macroinvertebrates) whose habitat was developed on the riverbed, among the boulders, disappeared almost entirely with the pushing of the boulders and their sloping towards the banks

3. The alder meadow

In this sector of the route you can see an undeveloped section of the river, very close to its natural state, where the benefits of the existing conditions for fish and macroinvertebrate species can be easily seen, compared to the previous sector(Bridge over the Galbenu River).).

The vegetation roots that can be seen at this point of the route provide shelter, resting place and feeding habitat for fish, but also play an important role in reducing the bank erosion.

Some species, such as the Romanian barbel (Barbus petenyi), prefer areas where the water flow speed is higher and the riverbed consists of boulders and stone. Here, fish find relatively easy shelter and food consisting of macroinvertebrates. Other species prefer areas with smoother flowing and deeper waters (this is the case of the Kessler's gudgeon, Romanogobio albipinnatus), where schools of fish look for food and shelter among the submerged roots of trees. Last but not least, there are species that prefer areas with a sandy substrate, such as Dunăriţa (Sabanejewia balcanica).

Naturally, on a river, areas of faster flowing water alternate with areas of deep, smooth water. Riparian forests are of particular importance in the dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. During hot summer periods, the shade it provides ensures stretches of water along the river with lower temperatures than those in areas exposed to sunlight.

4. The bridge over the Gilort River (end point of the route)

Ecological reconstruction works were carried out in this sector as part of the Fish for Life project. It is an area strongly affected by erosion processes, which has led to the deepening of the river bed, the disappearance of the vegetation roots and the reduction of the diversity of the aquatic habitats. Due to erosion and the lack of riparian vegetation, especially meadows, the river is eroding the riverbanks very strongly, and over the course of 10 years, in this sector of the river, its course has deviated to the right over a distance between 50 and 100 meters.

To reduce the negative effects on fish species, several ecological reconstruction works were carried out, namely: ELJ (engineered log jams) type structures, barracks, bank defence works, consisting of tree trunks embedded in the bank. To these, a series of tree plantings will be added, which will be carried out in November 2023.

Structures embedded in banks have a dual role, protecting against erosion and helping the river to form microhabitats for fish around them by flowing water past these structures. Over time, the structures in the water will disappear, and the bank protection role of these structures will be taken over in time by the trees planted on the bank. They will form roots and contribute to maintaining the water temperature through the shading phenomenon.

By implementing these works, the Fish for Life project contributes to the improvement and diversification of habitats for fish and other species in that area, as well as to the protection against erosion of agricultural land located along the course of the Gilort River.

Pentru mai multe informații despre proiectul Fish For Life, vizitați și celelate secțiuni ale site-ului www.fishforlife.ro