BIOMARE PRIMARY SITES: DETAILED QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
Proposer:
Institute: Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAS), Sopot 81-712, Powstancow Warszawy 55, Poland
Contact person: Jan Marcin Weslawski
e-mail address: weslaw@iopan.gda.pl
Proposed Primary Site:
Bay of Puck , Southern Baltic (54° 45' N, 18°30' E)
Background:
Bay of Puck is an inner basin of the Bay of Gdansk, one of the few embayments at the southern coast of Baltic sea. It is situated at the major harbour city of Gdynia and very popular tourist resort of central Polish coast. Research facilities are available both in the research laboratories in cities surrounding the Bay (Sopot, Gdynia) and special field station - Hel Marine Station of the University of Gdansk. Bay covers an area of approx. 40.000 ha, its inner part is a shallow, sandy seagrass bed.
PRISTINESS: Primary sites should be as free as possible from anthropogenic stressors, and natural stressors atypical of the region (e.g. reduced salinity, high turbidity).
List potential sources of pollution that are likely to impinge on the site:-
Industrial pollution: none local at present, general as the whole Baltic Sea
Agricultural pollution: limited in recent decade
Mining: none
Dumping: none
Dredging: none
In relation to contaminant levels in other Baltic areas, the general level of contaminants in the Bay of Puck area can be considered as "average" (see HELCOM 1998).
What is the human population of the site in total and per unit area?
Estimated population of 200 thousands lives along the coast of the Bay
Estimate 50 persons per km2
What is the average population growth per year?
Stable population
How is sewage disposed of? If possible give an estimate of the quantity and quality of the output.
Local sewage processing plants in Gdynia and Swarzewo
Describe the extent of commercial fishing in the area. Please specify the kinds of gear used (trawling, seine netting, lobster pots etc.)
Limited local fishery for flatfish, perch, herring, eel, and salmon with traps and netting.
Give an account of tourist activities in the area (how many tourists per year; what do they do?).
Number of tourists are visiting the outer sea coast on the Hel Peninsula, much less the inner coast of the Bay. Tourists are concentrated in few areas rich in facilities. Locally on favourite sandy beaches tourists are concentrated to 30 persons/100m2.
Provide evidence that there are no natural stressors such as high turbidity or reduced salinity that are atypical of the region.
The lowered salinity is typical for the whole Baltic Sea, and physical conditions in Bay of Puck are of typical range for the large region.
Give references to any chemical or physical data that support the claim that this is a pristine site.
There is no truly pristine area in the whole area of Baltic Sea. From the heavily impacted southern Baltic coast Bay of Puck represents the least impacted site.
Korzeniewski J. (ed) 1993 Zatoka Pucka. University of Gdansk, Gdansk, 500pp
Kruk Dowgiallo L (ed) 2000 Natural valuation of the marine area of Nadmorski Landscape Park. Crangon 7, 186pp (in Polish with English summary)
General physical data and information are given in:
Majewski A (ed) 1990 Zatoka Gdanska. IMGW, Wyd. Geologiczne, Warszawa 400pp
Kruk Dowgiallo L (ed) 2000 Natural valuation of the marine area of Nadmorski Landscape Park. Crangon 7, 186pp (in Polish with English summary)
HABITATS: The site should comprise a mosaic of habitats in a well-defined area that are representative of the region.
List the range of habitats present at the site:-
Littoral
Rock: except small outcrops, there is no rocky coast over 1500 km of south-west Baltic sea
Sand: Different types of sandy beaches
Mud: Muds locally
Sublittoral
Rock: as above
Sand: X
Mud: X
Seagrass beds: regenerating seagrass beds over large parts of the bay
How representative is this site of its region (i.e. what regional habitats are missing)?
None that the proposers are aware of.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The site should already be well-studied (i.e. biodiversity studies should not rely entirely on new research).
For what groups of organisms are comprehensive inventories available? Please list major taxa in each category below, and list publications.
There is extensive literature on most taxa, research started in 1920-ties and continued recently at the University of Gdansk, University of Lodz, Institute for Water Management, Center for Marine Biology, Institute of Ecology and Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences.
Specifically the following taxa were investigated: Crustacea, Mollusca, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Ostracoda, Harpacticoida, Nematoda, Pisces, Hydrozoa, Bryozoa
Macrobenthos:
All the major macrobenthic taxa known from the Baltic are present in the Bay of Puck, except for the few local deep water species. There is also an admixture of freshwater insects and fish living along the shallowest and freshest part of the Bay.
Zmudzinski L, Osowiecki A 1991 Long term changes in the bottom macrofauna of the Puck lagoon. Acta Ichtyologica et. Pisc. 21 Suppl. 259-265
Jazdzewski K, Konopacka A 1995 Crustacea Malacostraca. Catalogus faunae Poloniae 53, 165pp
Meiobenthos:
Drgas A 2000 Meiofauna of the Bay of Gdansk with special reference to Nematoda. PhD at the University of Gdansk
Szymelfenig M 1990 Meiofauna of the Bay of Gdansk. PhD at the University of Gdansk
Microbenthos:
Zooplankton:
Wiktor K, Zmijewska MI 1985 Zooplankton species composition and distribution in the waters of the inshore part of the Gulf of Gdansk. SIMO 46, 65-114 (in Polish, English summary)
Bielecka L, Gaj M, Mudrak S, Zmijewska MI 2000 The seasonal and short term variability of zooplankton taxonomic composition in the shallow coastal area of the Gulf of Gdansk. Oceanological Studies 29, 1, 1-20pp
Phytobenthos:
Plinski M , Florczyk I 1984 Analysis of composition and vertical distribution of macroalgae in the western part of the Gulf of Gdansk in 1979 ands 1980. Oceanologia 19, 101-115
Phytoplankton:
Plinski M , Picinska J 1986 The dynamics of seasonal change of the phytoplankton biomass in the Gulf of Gdansk. Oceanologia 23, 77-83
Sympagic fauna
No applicable
List any other publications relating specifically to the biodiversity or environment at the site.
Example :
Jazdzewski K 1973 Ecology of gammarids in the Bay of Puck. Oikos, 15, 121-126
There is an extensive literature on most taxa inhabiting the Bay, however most of it is in Polish
List publications relating to historical/time-series data at the site.
Ossowiecki A 2000 The long term trends in macrozoobenthos structure in the Bay of Puck. Crangon 3, 134pp, in Polish with English summary
Is biodiversity information available in electronic form? If so, what is the nature of the database (CD-ROM, web-site)?
Some of the distribution maps and species lists are available in the individual databases kept at respected research institutions (Sea Fisheries Institute, Inst. Oceanography University of Gdansk, Center for Marine Biology)
PROTECTION STATUS: The pristine nature of the site should be protected by legislation if it is to be a "flagship site" for future monitoring.
What conservation legislation (national, European, international) is currently in place, how well is it implemented and how long will it last?
The Bay of Puck is protected nationally as the Nadmorski Par Krajobrazowy (Seaside Landscape Park), its marine part is proposed as the Marine Reserve in the international HELCOM BSPA.
FACILITIES: The infrastructure for biodiversity research should be available. There should also be a national commitment in terms of financing and scientific activity (i.e funding should not be entirely dependent on the success of any future EU programme).
The extensive appropriate infrastructure is available (laboratory facilities, microscopes, holding facilities for fresh material). Facilities for collecting are available (small research boats, zodiacs etc).
The services offered in University of Gdansk Marine Research Station at Hel:
- Power generation and water supply.
Other laboratories and research sites are available in Institute of Oceanology in Sopot, Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia and Institute of Oceanography in Gdynia.
How accessible is the location?
Full access year round
Is it limited seasonally (e.g. not accessible in winter)?
No, except for exceptional circumstances.
Is it accessible by car or by boat (indicate means of transport and distance from laboratory facilities in km)?
Access year-round, some of the labs are situated at the water front of the Bay.
What is the status of local facilities:
Laboratory: modest to good
Boats: Charter possibilities by arrangement.
Are these facilities available for guest researchers? Yes
What facilities are there for SCUBA diving?
All needed including decompression chambers etc.
What housing is available?
In Hel Marine Station enough for up to 20 persons, food and lodging might be organised on site. Otherwise regular network of guesthouses, hotels etc.
List the sources of funding currently in place specifically for biodiversity research at this site (from where and how much).
Within Poland, funding is obtained from:
List by name the persons currently involved in biodiversity research at this site, their roles and the percentage of their time spent on this research.
There are over 30 scientists actively working in the field of biodiversity in the Bay, to name just few;
Weslawski JM - Polish coordinator of biodiversity research at the site, 30% of time
Jazdżewski K - crustacean taxonomist
Zmijewska I - zooplankton
Bogaczewicz Adamczak B - phytoplankton
Warzocha J - macrobenthos communities
Szymelfenig M - meiofauna
Drgas A – meiofauna, nematodes
Kruk-Dowgiallo L – phytobenthos
Wolowicz M – molluscs, genetic methods
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.
Bay of Puck represents the richest and most diverse marine - brackish site at the central-southern coast of Baltic. After colapse of old fashion industry and agriculture in 1980-ties the conditions in Bay have improved rapidly, including massive return of seagrass beds. Bay of Puck represents the best studied, with very long historical record of data (back to early XX cent), very typical site for the extensive region ranging from Lithuania to the east to Germany to the west.