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Aim Migration is a constantly changing adaptation due to the climate condition evolution. The struggle for surviving during harsh winter season is different across Europe, being more complex toward the inner parts of the continent. The current approach explores the Common Buzzard number variation during the cold season and the climatic predictors of birds of prey wintering movements in relation to the possible influences of the Carpathian Mountains, which may act as a geographical barrier providing shelter from cold air outbreak from north and northeast of the continent. Location Romania (45°N25°E). Taxon Birds of Prey. Methods We applied a GLMM to investigate the relation between continental and local climatic factors with the number of Common Buzzard observations in two regions. The first region is located inside the Carpathian Arch and the other one outside, east of this large mountains chain. Results The Common Buzzard numbers wintering Eastern from the Carpathian Mountains are highly influenced by AO (Z = 2.87, p, The analysis of meteoclimatic conditions reveals different spatial origins of Common Buzzard observed in Romania. While the high number of individuals in Moldova is related to their eastern and northeastern Europe origins, in Transylvania the higher number of individuals observed is related to the more sheltered characteristics of the region attracting individuals from central‐eastern Europe. Also, the Transylvania region being well sheltered during cold air outbreak represents a more favorable region for wintering. From this point of view, we can consider that the Carpathian Mountains are a geographic barrier for wintering birds of prey.

The COST Action ‘European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility’ (ERBFacility) aims to develop pan-European raptor biomonitoring in support of better chemicals management in Europe, using raptors as sentinel species. This presents a significant challenge involving a range of constraints that must be identified and addressed. The aims of this study were to: (1) carry out a comprehensive review of the constraints that may limit the gathering in the field of raptor samples and contextual data, and assess their relative importance across Europe; and (2) identify and discuss possible solutions to the key constraints that were identified. We applied a participatory approach to identify constraints and to discuss feasible solutions. Thirty-one constraints were identified, which were divided into four categories: legal, methodological, spatial coverage, and skills constraints. To assess the importance of the constraints and their possible solutions, we collected information through scientific workshops and by distributing a questionnaire to stakeholders in all the countries involved in ERBFacility. We obtained 74 answers to the questionnaire, from 24 of the 39 COST participating countries. The most important constraints identified were related to the collection of complex contextual data about sources of contamination, and the low number of existing raptor population national/regional monitoring schemes and ecological studies that could provide raptor samples. Legal constraints, such as permits to allow the collection of invasive samples, and skills constraints, such as the lack of expertise to practice necropsies, were also highlighted. Here, we present solutions for all the constraints identified, thus suggesting the feasibility of establishing a long-term European Raptor Sampling Programme as a key element of the planned European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility., This paper is based on work from COST Action European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility (COST Action CA16224) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), including a grant for a short-term scientific mission awarded to the lead author. COST is funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. Silvia Espín was financially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación postdoctoral contract, IJCI-2017-34653).

The overuse of antibiotics combined with the limitation of wastewater facilities has resulted in drug residue accumulation in the natural environment. Thus, in recent years, the presence of antibiotic residues in the environment has raised concerns over the potential harmful effects on ecosystems and human health. The in vivo studies represent an essential step to study the potential impact induced by pharmaceutical exposure. Due to the limitations of traditional vertebrate model systems, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has recently emerged as a promising animal model to study the toxic effects of drugs and their therapeutic efficacy. The present review summarizes the recent advances made on the toxicity of seven representative classes of antibiotics, namely aminoglycosides, β-lactams, macrolides, quinolones, sulfonamides, tetracyclines and polyether antibiotics, in zebrafish, as well as the combined effects of antibiotic mixtures, to date. Despite a significant amount of the literature describing the impact of single antibiotic exposure, little information exists on the effects of antibiotic mixtures using zebrafish as an animal model. Most of the research papers on this topic have focused on antibiotic toxicity in zebrafish across different developmental stages rather than on their efficacy assessment.

In the current study the response of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities to multiple anthropogenic stressors in a typical lowland river that crosses pristine sectors situated toward headwaters, as well as densely populated urban areas was assessed. We wished to develop an effective bioassay procedure for assessing water and sediment quality in lotic ecosystems from Romania with the aid of macroinvertebrate organisms correlated with physico-chemical parameters and pollutants in both dissolved fractions and material bonded to sediment. A fast scanning approach of the river, from springs to the mouth, was employed. We found significant changes in physico-chemical parameters along a longitudinal gradient, the highest values being registered within the urban area and heavily agriculturally developed areas. The macroinvertebrates showed affinities for certain abiotic factors, emphasising their potential use for future studies as reliable ecological indicators, shaped by a synergic combination of urban effects and magnitude of type of land use.

The current study aims to assess the pollution status of the European river-sea system lower Danube River-Danube Delta-North West Black Sea, through an integrated analysis of metal concentrations in water, sediments and fish community. The Danube flows through numerous industrial cities and receives a significant amount of pollutants due to the reception of urban and industrial emissaries, as well as agricultural land runoff. Samples of water, sediments and fish (10 species) were collected from 7 representative sites along Danube River, Danube Delta and Black Sea shore. For the analysed fish species, potentially toxic and essential elements (Pb, Cd, As, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca, Na, K) from muscle and liver samples were measured and discussed. Measurement of elements and other environmental quality parameters were determined for water and sediments. The Black Sea area, represented by S6 and S7, received sediments from Danube with the lowest concentrations of Cd (0.05 ± 0.01 μg g−1, respectively 0.01 ± 0.001 μg g−1), Pb (3 ± 0.03 μg g−1, respectively 2 ± 0.03 μg g−1), As (2 ± 0.02 μg g−1, respectively 1.4 ± 0.3 μg g−1), Ni (8.9 ± 0.1 μg g−1, respectively 5.2 ± 0.2 μg g−1), Cr (8 ± 0.7 μg g−1, respectively 5 ± 0.2 μg g−1), Cu (3 ± 0.1 μg g−1, respectively 2 ± 0.04 μg g−1), Fe(6 ± 0.3 μg g−1, respectively 3 ± 0.1 μg g−1) and Zn (0.03 ± 0.003 μg g−1, respectively 0.017 ± 0.001 μg g−1). These results suggest that the Danube Delta system plays an important role in filtering the pollutants. Based on the biota and water analysis, there was no correlation observed between Cd, respectively Pb concentration in the environment and fish body (Person Coef. = −0.02 in muscle tissue and −0.01 in liver tissue, respectively Pearson Coeff. = −0.06 in muscle tissue and 0.1 in liver tissue). Cadmium remained an active element in the pollution of the Danube area (S1 and S2), with high concentration in the water matrix (0.14 ± 0.02 μg L−1, respectively 0.05 ± 0.01 μg L−1) and fish muscle (0.15 ± 0.03 μg g−1f.w. in C. carpio – S2). This fact was confirmed by several other studies.

In freshwater ecosystems toxic metals can follow different routes of bioaccumulation in the organisms' body mass, routes that are similar to electronic circuits, but far more complex due to their hierarchy levels. Reservoirs located on river courses have positive impacts on economic and social development because they concentrate large water volumes used for electrical energy production, water supply, irrigation, industry, aquaculture, providing ecosystems for migratory birds and aquatic species. The aim of the study was to assess the contamination with copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) of a cross-border reservoir located on River Prut (border between Romania and Republic of Moldova) in a temperate climate zone. Several aspects were considered: seasonal variation of water parameters and toxic metals, bioconcentration in eight fish species and transfer from prey to predator through the food chain, bioaccumulation by two freshwater molluscs separated in size groups and their role as bioindicators of toxic metals pollution. Metals concentrations were measured with an atomic absorption spectrometer (HR-CS GF-AAS). Cadmium, lead, nickel and chromium concentrations limits in water samples were below the detection limits (0.005 μg L-1Cd, 0.013 μg L-1Pb and 0.011 μg L-1Cr) during the monitoring period, suggesting that anthropogenic contamination was insignificant in the studied ecosystem. Fish liver and kidney had specific selectivity for copper (0.9-55.56 μg g-1) and cadmium (0.097-1.031 μg g-1) in case of pike-perch and bighead carp. The separation of molluscs in size groups did not prove that toxic metals increase in concentration with the organism age.

The Common Buzzard is a partial migrant in Eastern Europe, but its wintering densities are poorly known for this area due to a low number of studies. However, its migration patterns and wintering grounds can be affected by climate change with local fluctuations in numbers linked to weather conditions. Between 2010 and 2015 we annually carried out 15 transects/winter month in order to count the wintering population of Common Buzzards across Eastern Romania to look for climatic factors explaining variation in wintering density. Transects were controlled during two weeks from the end of the month, each covering a distance of 40 km, outlining the broadest winter monitoring of raptors in Central and Eastern Europe. Road survey was used, with a car driving at a low speed, and two observers counting birds, recording distance and habitat where birds occurred. In analyses, in addition to local weather data also 9 indices integrating weather conditions across longer time windows and larger areas were included. The wintering density calculated for the five-year period was 0.539 individuals/km2 fluctuating during the winter seasons with a possible cyclic pattern. The Buzzards selected pastures and herbaceous vegetation associations for hunting across their wintering grounds. Common Buzzard numbers fluctuate during the winter season (highest in December). They are positively influenced by rising solar flux and negatively by the low North Eastern Europe temperatures and Arctic Oscillation Index recorded within 14 days before the survey, which drive birds to southern wintering areas. These weather conditions (high pressure and low temperatures) represent the onset of the Siberian Anticyclone, a regular, annual weather system that occurs in Eastern Europe every winter.

This study investigates the influence of gender in the bioconcentration of essential and nonessential elements in different parts of Black Sea turbot (Psetta maxima maeotica) body, from an area considered under high anthropogenic pressure (the Constanta City Black Sea Coastal Area in Romania). A number of 13 elements (Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni, Cr, As, Pb and Cd) were measured in various sample types: muscle, stomach, stomach content, intestine, intestine content, gonads, liver, spleen, gills and caudal fin. Turbot adults (4&ndash, 5 years old) were separated, according to their gender, into two groups (20 males, 20 females, respectively), and a high total number of samples (1200 from both groups) were prepared and analyzed, in triplicate, with Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and High-Resolution Continuum Source Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Graphite Furnace techniques. The results were statistically analyzed in order to emphasize the bioconcentration of the determined elements in different tissues of wild turbot males vs. females, and also to contribute to an upgraded characterization of the Romanian Black Sea Coast, around Constanta City, in terms of heavy metals pollution. The essential elements Mg and Zn have different roles in the gonads of males and females, as they were the only elements with completely different patterns between the analyzed groups of specimens. The concentrations of studied elements in muscle were not similar with the data provided by literature, suggesting that chemistry of the habitat and food plays a major role in the availability of the metals in the body of analyzed fish species. The gender influenced the bioaccumulation process of all analyzed elements in most tissues since turbot male specimens accumulated higher concentration of metals compared to females. The highest bioaccumulation capacity in terms of Ca, Mg, Na, Ni, As, Zn and Cd was registered in caudal fin, liver and intestine tissues. Also, other elements such as K, Fe, Cu and Mn had the highest bioaccumulation in their muscle, spleen, liver and gills tissues. The concentrations of toxic metals in Black Sea turbot from this study were lower in the muscle samples compared with the studies conducted in Turkey, suggesting that the anthropogenic activity in the studied area did not pose a major impact upon the habitat contamination.

Balboaca L.-E., Baltag E. a., Fasola-Matasaru L., Ion C. 2014. First observation of the Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus in Romania. Ring 36: 45-49. The Yellow-browed Warbler is a species of the Sylviidae family that breeds in Asia and winters in South East Asia and western Europe. In northern and north-western Europe it is considered one of the most numerous nocturnal migratory species from Siberia. In the southern and eastern part of the continent there are fewer observations of the presence of the species in passage or in winter. On 29 September 2013, during a ringing session in the southern part of the Danube Delta (Romania), we captured a juvenile individual of the Yellow-browed Warbler. This is the first record of the species in Romania.

Capsule Using a new survey station network we report the highest number of migrating raptors and Black Storks ever recorded on Bosporus during the autumn migration period. Also, we show that migration occurs with similar intensities over the full length of the strait, but individual migration patterns differ for some species at a local scale.

This paper describes a survey of the birds in Moldova Region (Romania) in the present day. Its focus is on ecological information and distribution, as well as on rare and endangered species. As well as providing information for ecologists, the survey will contribute to future archaeozoological work in the Moldova Region, where the bird fauna of the past is still not well known. During 2008–2012, we set up a monitoring programme that aimed to estimate the diversity of bird species. To build a complete database for Moldavian bird species, it was necessary to make observations in the different habitat types: wetlands, anthropogenic areas, pastures, orchards and forest ecosystems. As a result of this programme, compared with 1837, when Cihac reported over 200 species of birds, now there are now an estimated 284 species. The increased number of species recorded in the Moldova Region is due to the enrichment of ornithological information on the one hand and on the other hand to the higher number of ornithologists who are doing research in the field. Some species have expanded their distribution further north (e.g. long-legged buzzard), but the unequivocal climate change, the drastic changes of habitat and changed agricultural policies have all led to the extinction of species such as the great bustard, little bustard, vultures and others. The main factors that affect the bird populations at a local level in this region are the changes in the agricultural and forestry policies, the changes in weather-related parameters that have a deep impact on habitats but also the lack of ecological education of the population. Unlike in other similar regions, in Moldova, human impact has had a very low influence on the distribution of bird species, but we cannot say the same for bird numbers that have declined in recent years. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The White Stork is a farmland and wetland bird that has become part of village communities by nesting in urban areas. Despite breeding close to people, allowing easy access for monitoring, its population in Eastern Europe is poorly studied. This paper presents the breeding success and habitat selection of a White Stork population from Eastern Romania. During the 2016 breeding season their breeding performance was poor compared to other European countries; on average only 2.25 nestlings fledged per nest. With respect to their habitat selection, the Eastern Romanian population uses similar habitats to storks elsewhere in Europe. Parameters influencing their breeding success could include weather conditions, geomorphology, habitat, landscape and intraspecific variables. To find those variables involved in the fluctuation of chick numbers General Linear Model (GLM) analyses, with a step procedure selection, were used. These analyses covered 55 variables. The best model of breeding success included altitude (P = 0.001); a higher elevation is associated with a lower number of chicks per nest. The number of river sectors (P = 0.045) and the distance to the nearest empty nest (P = 0.001) also have a positive influence on breeding success. These two variables could relate to the food availability in the study area. —Fasola-Matasaru, L., Baltag, E.S., Ichim, P. & Cojocaru, D. (2018). Factors influencing the breeding success of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in Eastern Romania. Ardeola, 65: 271–282.