Studied over the course of the “Conservation of Biodiversity” Masters’ programme at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the “Ovidius” University in Constanța, in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, GeoEcoMar and the Romanian Institute of Geology
The study of the relationship between the mineral and organic environments – or, in conservationist terms, between geodiversity and biodiversity, is a major objective of the Dobrogea – Witness to the Millennial Civilizations of the Levant multi-annual project undertaken by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization in partnership with the “Ovidius” University of Constanța, the GeoEcoMar Institute and the Romanian Geological Institute. From a theoretical and methodological standpoint, this study is important as it provides a holistic approach to natural research through the interaction between the biotic and abiotic environment, an in-depth knowledge of which can support more applied and thorough conservation.
Soils represent the most direct medium to research the exchanges occurring between the biotic and the abiotic environments, constituting the interface between the stone it sits on, and the surrounding air, water and vegetation. The chemical compounds in the earth, mobilised into solutions, are transferred to plants as nutrients; and, further down the natural food chain, to animal organisms, with the cycle being reflected in the characteristics of the habitat it evolves in.
The relationship between soils and vegetation across steppe and forested steppe habitats, floodplains (in the Casimcea plateau) and the area of the Danubian canarale (between Hârșova and Topalu) was researched by Masters students at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the “Ovidius” University of Constanța, led by Lecturer Marius Skolka, PhD and also benefitting from the guidance of a notable specialist in the field of chemistry, Dr Naliana Lupașcu of the GeoEcoMar Institute. Masters’ students Mălina Ștefan, Mădălina Ciocan, Isabela Sadica, Traian Cosma and Ion Burdușan took part in the three-day introductory stage of this study between the 10th and 12th of October.
