Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Department of biology.
Abstract
Porodica čaplji (Ardeidae) pripada redu rodarica (Ciconiiformes). Od ukupno četiri potporodice, u Hrvatskoj se gnijezdi šest kolonijalnih vrsta koje pripadaju dvjema potporodicama: Ardeinae (dnevne čaplje) i Nycticoracinae (noćne čaplje). Uglavnom se gnijezde u kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske, a samo se siva čaplja (Ardea cinerea), čaplja danguba (Ardea purpurea), te velika bijela čaplja (Ardea alba) gnijezde i u priobalju. Budući da nastanjuju vodena staništa, vrste iz porodice čaplji (Ardeidae) predstavljaju indikatore kvalitete vlažnih i močvarnih područja. Uglavnom imaju status ugroženih vrsta i sve su, osim sive čaplje, strogo zaštićene vrste. Razlozi ugroženosti su nestajanje močvarnih područja i ostalih vlažnih staništa zbog regulacija rijeka i melioracija, propadanje šaranskih ribnjaka s ekstenzivnom proizvodnjom, paljenje tršćaka, krivolov i onečišćenje voda.Heron family (Ardeidae) belongs to the stork order (Ciconiiformes). From a total of four subfamilies, there are six colonial species that are breeding in Croatia and that belong to two subfamilies: Ardeinae (day herons) and Nycticoracinae (night herons). In Croatia, herons are mostly breeding in its continental area, and only the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), the purple heron (Ardea purpurea) and the great white egret (Ardea alba) are breeding in the coastal area, as well. Considering herons inhabit aquatic habitats, the species of the heron family (Ardeidae) are indicators of the quality of wetland areas. Herons mostly have the status of endangered species and all herons, except the gray heron, are strictly protected species. The reasons of endangering are disappearance of wetlands and other wetland habitats due to river regulation and land reclamations, deteriorations of carp fishponds with extensive production, burning of reeds, poaching and water pollution
