Kalchik river, Mariupol, Ukraine

Environment

Environment

Affected by human activity

Affected by human activity

Pollution

Pollution

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Surrounding area

Kalchik is a river flowing through the territory of the Donetsk region of Ukraine. It is a right tributary of the Kalmius river. Kalka is a small rivulet, a tributary of the Kalchik, which flows between the villages of Katerinovka and Maloyanisol in the Nikolsky district of the Donetsk region.

The source of Kalchik is located in the village of Kalchinovka, on the border of Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions. Kalchik flows into Kalmius 6 kilometers from its mouth in the city of Mariupol, on the northern outskirts of the Azovstal plant. It has a tributary Maliy Kalchik. The Starokrymskoye reservoir is located on the river. The river is 88 km long. The drainage area of ​​Kalchik is 1263 km². Water consumption is from 3.0 to 30 m³ / sec. On the watershed between the rivers Berda and Kalchik there is the Kamennyi Mogily reserve, a branch of the Ukrainian Steppe Reserve.

Underwater landscape

A complex of aquatic and wetland vegetation and no less diverse fauna develops in the Kalchik River and its tributaries. The organisms that live in the river have adapted to their habitat. The bottom of the river is silty with sandy shoals, consisting of granite chips. The main ecological groups of organisms in water bodies are plankton and benthos in the form of phyto – and zoobenthos. The hydrofauna is represented by freshwater fauna. Of the higher aquatic plants, the Kalchik River is characterized by reed, cattail, horn-leaved plants, and duckweed near the banks.

Fishes:

• Neogobius melanostomus
• Pseudorasbora parva
• Rhodeus amarus
• Gobio gobio
• Squalius cephalus

Crustacean:

• Astacus astacus

Plants:

• Ceratophyllum demersum
• Potamogeton natans

Threats to ecology

The upper and middle reaches of Kalchik is polluted by salts washed away from agricultural territories, in the lower reaches of the Mariupol household wastewater. An increased content of oil products and non-volatile phenols is observed in water.

Water salinity increases from source to mouth. Near the mouth, mineralization reaches 2.5 g/l.

Riparian zone

Trees near the aquatic habitat

Many - Salix sp.