The Formation and Development of the Dnipropetrovsk Academic Hydrobiological School (1930s — 1960s). Part 3

Abstract

The third, final part of the article is presented, dedicated to the activities of the Dnipropetrovsk academic hydrobiological school of technogenically transformed freshwater ecosystems at the fourth stage of its development (1975—1990). The first and second parts describe the previous stages of the school’s effort, which fell on the 1930s and 1970s. A characteristic feature of the fourth stage was the separation of two main, innovative, at that time, directions of hydrobiology: (i) theoretical and applied issues of fish breeding and aquaculture in reservoir conditions, (ii) environmental (the problem of clean water in reservoirs). The team leader in this time was prof. A.I. Dvoretskyi. The comprehensive theoretical and practical eff ort of Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, the Institute of Fisheries of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences and other research institutions laid grounds for building a unique Dnieper warm water fishery. A new field of applied hydrobiology, industrial fish farming, was created in regional fisheries. The laboratory of warm-water fisheries of the Institute of Fisheries of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, which operated on the basis of the Prydniprovsky warm-water fishery, was the only research institution in Ukraine engaged in technological issues of industrial aquaculture. Two successful pages in the history of Dnipropetrovsk hydrobiologists are considered in detail: (i) works aimed at creating “Dniprovsko-Orilsky” nature researve in the core of industrially burdened Prydniprovie region, to observe the environmental impact of man-made factors and preserve many endangered species of aquatic plants and animals, (ii) the construction of the freshwater exposition “Aquarium” on the shore of Monastyrskyi Island, in the water area of the Dnieper Reservoir, which, in addition to research, has a huge social effect: for many residents of the industrial Dnipro, excursions to “Aquarium” have become a unique opportunity for contacts with the living nature, helping educate kind and careful attitudes towards “our smaller brothers” and foster the ecological worldview. On the basis of research into the eff ort of the Dnipropetrovsk academic hydrobiological school, presented in three parts of the article, the general conclusion is formulated: the work of Dnipropetrovsk hydrobiologists in 30s—90s of the 20th century constituted an integral field of research “Technogenic transformation of freshwater hydroecosystems”