A biologist named the animals that have settled on the bottom of the Kakhovka Reservoir

The site of the former Kakhovka Reservoir is already being colonized by plants and small animals, but it will be some time before a fully-fledged ecosystem develops there—and it will not be exactly the same as it was before the flooding.

Ivan Moisienko, head of the Department of Botany at Kherson State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, and professor, spoke about this in a comment to Intent.

Who Is the First to Colonize the Area?

According to the scientist, wind-pollinated plants, particularly willows, were the first to colonize the former reservoir area. Insect-pollinated plants are still much fewer in number—they are more sluggish and are only just beginning to appear.

“If there are no nectar-producing plants, there will be no insects,” explained Moisienko.

The number of insect-pollinated plants is gradually increasing, but wind-pollinated species still dominate.

According to the professor, animals such as deer cannot yet settle in the area—for this, the animal needs a sparse forest where it can move freely with its antlers. For now, however, the forest in this area is too dense.

Small predators, such as foxes and martens, have already appeared in the area—zoologists have spotted their tracks. But the arrival of large animals, according to Moiseenko, will take time: the trees need to mature, and the forest needs to thin out naturally.

“These trees—the willows—need to mature, and the forest needs to thin out on its own—that’s a normal process. And then, of course, large animals will appear there,” the scientist noted.

Why the ecosystem won’t be the same as before

Moysienko emphasized that even a fully restored ecosystem will not be 100 percent the same as it was before the reservoir was flooded. According to him, this is confirmed by the experience of floodplains that have never been flooded—for example, the floodplains downstream of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant or in the Dnipro-Oril Nature Reserve.

“They are not the same as they were 70 or 80 years ago; they, too, have changed,” the professor noted.

The reason, he explained, is global warming, which is leading to the emergence of southern plant species as well as the spread of invasive (introduced) species.

“If those floodplains that have never been flooded have already changed over the past 50 to 80 years, then it’s clear that we can apply this experience to a large-scale site—it won’t be 100 percent the same as it was, because everything around it has already changed," Moysienko concluded.

Ірина Глухова