Gardno Protection District

Details

Published on Monday, 14 November 2011 22:57

Gardno Protection District comprises three lakes with its scope: Gardno, Dołgie Duże and Dołgie Małe. Beside the areas situated within the protection borders, there also belong the affluents of prior mentioned lakes, Gardno-Łebsko channel from the direction of the Gardno Lake within the borders of the Park as well as the Łupawa River above and the Gardno Lake below, within the borders of the Park.
The Gardno Lake has 2468 hectares of the area. This is an eutrophic lake, nonstratified, of the average depth of 1,3 m (maximum depth is 2,6 m). It is separated from the Baltic coastline with a land strip of the width 0,8-2 kms. The lake is mainly supplied with water from the Łupawa River. Additionally, there fall the following flows into the lake: Bagiennica, Grabownica, Brodniczka and Brodna. Their estuary is in the southern and western part of the lake. The waters of the Gardno Lake are the subject to mixing not only due to effecting winds, but also due to the fact of seeping of the sea water at the bottom, up towards the estuary as well as the surface outflow of fresh water towards the sea. Dissimilarity of life compared to typical inland reservoirs is connected with the periodical influx of sea waters at the bottom. One can approach here live organisms characteristic both for fresh and salt waters.
In the central part of the lake, there is a Stone Island with the area of 6000 m2. The area of the island is comprised with strict protection. Emerged flora from the lake forms a consistent strip of bulrushes, simultaneously constituting the habitats of many animals; immersed flora is poor. As a flux lake, its protection is very significant because it is situated on the route of fish migration such as: eel, bulltrout, salmon, ziege and vimba.
The Dołgie Wielkie Lake is an eutrophic reservoir of the area of 156 hectares and is situated in the river basin of Gardno-Łebsko channel and the Łeba River. The average depth of the lake is 1,4 m, whereas, the maximum depth is 2,9 m. The coast-line is poorly developed, and the bottom surface is little diversified, what, with the intensive water waving, makes the lake classify as nonstratified water reservoir. Waters from the lake are carried away by the flow with no name. This is the lake classified as a lobelia reservoir, what is indicated by the presence of uniflower littorella (Litorella uniflora) registered in the Red Book of Plants in Poland.
The Dołgie Małe Lake is the smallest lake situated on the terrain of the Slovinski National Park and it is comprised with strict protection. This reservoir has humus trophic type, and the surface of water-level amounts merely 6,3 hectares with the average depth 0,7 m (maximum depth is 1,7 m). Similarly to the other lakes of the Park, this is nonstratified water reservoir. One small flow flows out of the lake, which connects the reservoir with the Gardno-Łebsko Channel. The out-flow of waters from the lake is periodical. This is a reservoir of poorly diversified coast-line and considerably silted at the surface of the bottom.
Apart from the lakes, together with the passages of rivers and flows falling into them and directly adjoining the lakes, also a 3 km passage of the Łupawa River above the dam of the water power station in Smołdzino, classifies in the composition of the district. A characteristic content of fauna, including ichthyofauna (Salmonidae fish) as well as the falls of the river-beds decide on the mountainous character of the river in this region.