Zaštita i obnova obalnih laguna jezera Pomorie, Bugarska

Pomorie Lake is a hypersaline lagoon on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Its position along the second most important bird flyway in Europe – Via Pontica – and the existence of saltpans are the main factors defining the importance of this wetland for breeding, migrating, and wintering birds. The site hosts the largest breeding colony of Sandwich Terns on the Balkan Peninsula and significant shares of national populations of Avocet, Common Tern, Little Tern, Kentish Plover, and Black-winged Stilt. Critically endangered damselfly Dark Spreadwing Lestes macrostigma population recorded at Pomorie Lake is the most important in Bulgaria and important at the European level. Threats to the site are numerous and include tourism developments and habitat loss, disturbance of breeding birds by water sports and visitors, and developments leading to a disrupted hydrological regime. LIFE for Pomorie Lagoon project aimed to ensure a stable hydrological regime and restore bird breeding habitats. A baseline bird study revealed decreasing numbers of Sandwich Tern and Avocet due to damaged freshwater inflow control, resulting in lower salinity and flooding of nesting habitat. A restored wood-silt breeding islet had an imminent effect on the number of breeding pairs of Sandwich Terns and Avocets, with an increase of 52% and 150% on an annual basis between 2021 and 2022.Jezero Pomorie je obalna slana laguna na bugarskoj obali Crnog mora. Laguna se koristi za proizvodnju soli i vađenje ljekovitog blata. Smještaj uz drugi najvažniji selidbeni sustav ptica u Europi – Via Pontica – i postojanje solana, glavni su čimbenici koji utječu na važnost močvare za gniježđenje, selidbu i zimovanje ptica. Na tom području nalazi se najveća gnijezdeća kolonija dugokljunih čigri na Balkanu s 1000 do 2400 parova i značajnim udjelima nacionalnih populacija modronoge sabljarke, crvenokljune čigre, male čigre, morskog kulika i vlastelice. Populacija u Europi kritično ugrožene velike zelendjevice Lestes macrostigma (red Odonata) zabilježena u jezeru Pomorie najvažnija je u Bugarskoj i značajna na europskoj razini. Očuvanje i socio-ekonomska važnost lagune prepoznata je njezinim proglašenjem Ramsarskog područja, Važnog područja za ptice (IBA), nacionalno zaštićenog područja i dva područja Natura 2000 – posebnog područja očuvanja „Pomorie” prema EU Direktivi o staništima 92/43 i područja posebne zaštite “Pomoriysko ezero” prema EU Direktivi o pticama 2009/147. Nevladina organizacija Zeleni Balkan vodi dugoročni program očuvanja ovog područja koji traje više od 25 godina. Rezultati obnove staništa najbolje se očituju u porastu broja dugokljunih čigri s 5 parova u 1998. na 2200 parova u 2020. godini i uočenom neredovitom gniježđenju crnoglavog galeba Larus melanocephalus i debelokljune čigre Gelochelidon nilotica u razdoblju 2013.-2018. Prijetnje su brojne i uključuju razvoj turizma i gubitak staništa; uznemiravanje gnijezdećih ptica vodenim sportovima i posjetiteljima; te razvoja koji dovodi do poremećaja hidrološkog režima. Projekt “LIFE for Pomorie Lagoon” imao je za cilj osigurati stabilan hidrološki režim i obnoviti stanište za razmnožavanje ptica. Istraživanja ornitofaune ukazuju na opadanje broja dugokljunih čigri i modronogih sabljarki zbog poremećene kontrole dotoka slatke vode i rezultirajućeg smanjenja saliniteta i plavljenja staništa za gniježđenje. Obnovljeni otočić za gniježđenje imao je neposredan učinak na gniježđenje dugokljunih čigri i modronogih sabljarki s porastom od 52% i 150% na godišnjoj razini između 2021. i 2022

Development of Digital University Model in Modern Conditions: Institutional Approach

Currently, special attention is paid to the development of digital technologies. In the context of the pandemic, the remote, distance, digital format of work has become top requested. Those events coincided with the general trend towards total digitalization of all spheres of life, including education. New concepts have emerged and taken hold - digital education and digital university. However, a mechanism for the development of a digital university has not yet been proposed. In the present study, an institutional approach was used to analyze the problems of the development of a digital university. The research scheme was used: institutions - motivation - control. The results of the empirical study (questionnaire and survey of university entries and its partners) made it possible to identify the existing contradictions between the participants in university activities and the external environment in terms of assessing aspects of the digital development of the university, to highlight the most effective institutions, conditions of positive motivation and control mechanisms for successful digital transformation of a university. The authors propose their own version of the concept for the development of a digital university, introducing as the core of it a new scientific concept - infrastructure logic. They lay a foundation for the principles of infrastructure logic, formation mechanisms and approaches to the use of indicators of digital development based on infrastructure logic, directions for improving the strategy of digital development of the university 4.0. The conclusions and recommendations formulated in this study can be used by other educational systems and universities

Factors of Formation of Business Activity in an Organization in Innovative Conditions

Currently, our country is in the phase of serious qualitative transformations caused by the need for the economy to recover from the crisis caused by the sanctions of Western countries. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to guarantee sustainable economic growth, to ensure stable economic development of all economic entities, in particular to increase their business activity. The task of increasing the business activity of the organization is of particular importance. The competitiveness of companies is steadily declining, which is associated with the unproductiveness of the business management system and the reasons for its formation.This means that it is necessary to develop fresh science-based approaches and directions that meet the task of increasing the business activity of the enterprise

Seasonal Abundance, Density and Distribution of Cetaceans in the Bulgarian Black Sea Shelf in 2017

Black Sea cetaceans are isolated and nominated as endemic subspecies listed in the IUCN Red List of Endangered species: the harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphin as Endangered (EN) and the common dolphin as Vulnerable (VU). Studies of their distribution and abundance are scarce but obligatory for assessment of their conservation status. Being highly mobile apex predators entails large variations in spatial and temporal distribution. Two vessel line–transect distance sampling surveys were conducted in 2017 in the Bulgarian shelf with the aim to estimate the density, abundance and distribution during spring and autumn. Results have revealed a shift from the coastal to offshore shelf of harbour porpoises with marked southern movement. Density of porpoises varied from 1.423 ind./km2 (CV = 25.4%) in spring to 0.576 ind./km2 (CV = 43.43%) in autumn. The density of common dolphins was also decreasing, from 0.391 ind./km2 (CV = 36.84%) to 0.088 ind./km2 (CV = 42.13%), which was more significant in offshore (0.031 ind./km2, CV = 58.04%) than in the coastal shelf (0.138 ind./km2, CV = 48.59%). Bottlenose dolphins had almost constant density in both seasons in the coastal shelf: 0.211 ind./km2 (CV = 52.15%) and 0.187 ind./km2 (CV = 52.13%) but a very low density in the offshore shelf in autumn: 0.042 ind./km2 (CV = 71.07%). The importance of existing NATURA 2000 sites for the harbour porpoise (BG0000621 Shabla-Ezerets, BG0000573 Kompleks Kaliaka, BG0001001 Ropotamo and BG0001007 Strandzha) and bottlenose dolphin (BG0000621 Shabla-Ezerets, BG0000573 Kompleks Kaliaka, BG0001501 Emona and BG0001001 Ropotamo) were confirmed

Analysis of Peculiarities of Using Digital Technologies in the University Professional Training Content

The relevance of the study is due to the increasing role of digital technologies in education. The abrupt shift of universities to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges. The purpose of this article is to analyze modern problems of traditional e-learning systems and identify the most effective digital technologies for improving the design system and implementing the content of professional educational programs at the university in the context of digitalization. Scientific articles in journals included in the Scopus database over the past five years, official websites of universities and their reports on the use of modern digital technologies were used as a statistical and empirical base for the study. Multiple comparative case studies and content analysis were ap-plied. To solve the identified problems, such modern digital technologies and methods as cloud computing, adaptive design, big data, 3D printing, wearable technologies and gamification were proposed. The paper proposes an updated digital education system model at the university consisting of such elements as Instructors & Students, Master Courses, Content Delivery, Courses Collaboration, Progress Tracking, Assignments, Practices and Exams. The conclusions and rec-ommendations formulated in this study can be used by different educational systems and universities

BlackCeTrends project Dataset supporting the paper "Validation of the F-POD – a fully automated cetacean monitoring system".

BlackCeTrends - Large coverage initiative for acoustic survey of cetaceans in the Black Sea An international project “BlackCeTrends” has been launched, in which six institutions from all around the Black Sea: Mare Nostrum NGO (Romania), Green Balkans NGO (Bulgaria), UkrSCES & BioEcoLinks (Ukraine), Turkish Marine Research Foundation TUDAV (Turkey) and Ilia State University (Georgia), together with British acoustic device manufacturer Chelonia Ltd. with the objective of assessing the trends in Black Sea cetaceans using a passive acoustic monitoring method. The main activity of the project is collection of acoustic data to understand the presence of cetaceans, especially harbour porpoises, by deploying fully automated passive acoustic monitoring instruments of the new generation, F-PODs. F-PODs are provided for free for a permanent loan as long as they are in use by Chelonia Ltd. They are designed specifically to detect and record the high-frequency sounds of dolphins and porpoises, and they were newly developed from C-PODs, which have been extensively used in the North and Baltic Seas. The collected data are downloaded periodically, approximately every 1-4 months, and the results are processed by specialized software. Four or five devices have been provided to each of the partners, of which nine are already in place, in the western part of the Black Sea (Figure 1) and all the others will be deployed in the near future