The Black Sea Biogeographic Region is a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region of land bordering the west and south of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, as defined by the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

Extent

The Black Sea Region is a coastal strip of land wide that runs along the coasts of Romania, Bulgaria, and a broader coastal strip in northern Turkey and Georgia. The coastline has rocky bays and sea cliffs, but is dominated by long stretches of low sand dunes and beaches sloping into the Black Sea.

Environment

The sea has a moderating effect on the climate, so temperatures do not fall much below in winter, and are not as high in the summer as in area further inland. The

Kaliakra Kaliakra () is a cape in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, which ends with a long and narrow headland east of Kavarna, northeast of Varna, Bulgaria, Varna and southwest of Mangalia. The coast is steep with ...

cliffs in the north of Bulgaria are rich in flora, including many species in common with the neighboring Steppic and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Regions. The western Black Sea Region is the

Via Pontica Via Pontica was an ancient Roman road in Thrace along the Black Sea, starting from Byzantium and passing through Deultum (today Debelt), Aquae Calidae (today an outlying neighborhood of Burgas), Apollonia, Mesembria, Odessos, Byzone, and K ...

, Europe's second largest bird migration route. The migrating birds use the coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons behind the shoreline, and some spend the winter in these wetlands. The

Danube Delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

is the best known of the wetlands. In Bulgaria and Romania the region is threatened by development of agriculture, industry, urbanization and tourism. The Black Sea itself, a very deep inland sea, is poor in oxygen and supports very little marine life in the deeper regions. However, it had a productive fishery until the 1960s, when stocks crashed in part because of over-fishing and in part from pollution and invasion by exotic species.

Conservation

The first list of Natura 2000 sites in the region was adopted in December 2008. This included 40 Sites of Community Importance under the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...

and 27 Special Protection Areas under the

Birds Directive The Birds Directive (formally known as Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds) is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones which was unanimously adopted in April 1979 as the Dir ...

for the part of the Black Sea biogeographical region in the European Union. Some sites meet both criteria, so the total was less than 67. About half the land area was covered by the sites. As of 12 December 2017 there were 45

Sites of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the Biogeographic regions of Europe, biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to t ...

. These were: *Plazh Shkorpilovtsi *Dolinata na reka Batova *Galata *Kamchia *Zlatni pyasatsi *Trite bratya *Kraymorska Dobrudzha *Pobitite kamani *Kamchiyska i Emenska planina *Reka Kamchia *Karaagach *Plazh Gradina - Zlatna ribka *Aytoska planina *Ezero Durankulak *Sredetska reka *Bosna *Derventski vazvishenia *Fakiyska reka *Zaliv Chengene skele *Atanasovsko ezero *Mandra - Poda *Burgasko ezero *Kompleks Kaliakra *Aheloy - Ravda - Nesebar *Pomorie *Ezero Shabla - Ezerets *Ropotamo *Emine - Irakli *Strandzha *Aladzha banka *Emona *Otmanli *Delta Dunării *Delta Dunării - zona marină *Dunele marine de la Agigea * *Mlaștina Hergheliei - Obanul Mare și Peștera Movilei *Pădurea Hagieni - Cotul Văii *Plaja submersă Eforie Nord - Eforie Sud *Vama Veche *Zona marină de la Capul Tuzla *Cap Aurora *Costinesti *Canionul Viteaz *Lobul sudic al Câmpului de Phyllophora al lui Zernov

Notes

Sources

* * * {{authority control Environment of Bulgaria Environment of Romania Environment of Turkey Biogeography