HYDROECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE YOUNG LANDSCAPE OF THE SIRET RIVER WITHIN UKRAINE

Abstract

Assessing the state of management objects in the sphere of interaction between society and nature is one of the central tasks of geoecology and constructive geography. As a rule, the objects are geosystems, landscapes (natural-anthropogenic, anthropogenic, technogenic, etc.). In the field of hydroecology, river basin systems and their components are important objects of management. These are river landscapes, young river landscapes (YRL). Modern observations of the hydro-ecological state of the Siret River cover only the last two decades. In the same period, the first relevant studies were conducted. The least attention is paid to hydromorphological indicators. The River Basin Management Plan is currently being developed. Therefore, the task of comprehensive assessment of the hydro-ecological state of the Siret River using the landscape approach is relevant in both theoretical and practical terms and complements the approaches used according to the EU WFD. Fixation of the natural territorial structure of the river landscape was carried out using GIS technologies. An appropriate database of hydromorphological information on the river basin is also being formed. An important indicator of the degree of anthropogenic influence on the morphology of riverbeds and floodplains is anthropogenic changes in the territorial structure of the MPL. In connection with the cutting of rivers, the configuration of the multi-year channel formation strip, first of all, its width, as well as the configuration of homogeneous areas of the channel and floodplain (YRL) can significantly change. In these cases, the action of the channel alluvium selection factor can be combined with other types of anthropogenic influence, in particular coastal protection, flood protection, urbanization, etc. A comparison of the hydromorphological indicators of the state and quality of the young landscape of the Siret River (within Ukraine) with other hydroecological and geoecological indicators shows the similarity of the main trend, the patterns of spatial changes: the deterioration of the condition with progress from mountainous areas in the mountains to areas increasingly distant from the mountains, more mastered by man. At the same time, hydromorphological indicators show slightly worse assessments of the state of the landscape and ecosystems. This is related both to the features of the chosen evaluation methodology and to the practice of low attention of society to the hydromorphological quality of the landscape.