Vegetation types of Lake Chimaditis before the artificial increase of its water level

The wetland vegetation of Lake Chimaditis is composed of manifold plant communities, most of which are dominated by only one species. Additionally, these almost mono-specific plant communities cover the greatest part of the lake surface, a fact indicating the intense degradation of some wetland types of the lake, which, however, still hosts important populations of rare bird species. The aim of the present paper is to present the different vegetation types of Lake Chimaditis according to its present status, as a gradual increase (by 70 cm) of the maximum water level is planned with the rise of the northern peripheral bank under construction that aims at reducing the lake area covered by high emergent vegetation, increasing the water volume of the lake and at improving the habitats of protected bird species. Specifically, from the interior open water areas towards the shore, the following habitat types were distinguished as zones: submerged plant communities (Myriophyllum spicatum), helophytes (Schoenoplectus lacustris, Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia, Phragmites australis, Carex riparia and Juncus acutus, peatlands with Cladium mariscus, wet meadows with Juncus inflexus), terrestrial communities (Ononis spinosa, Salix alba). The increase of the lake water level is expected to cause significant changes in the area and structure of most vegetation zones. At the same time, for the conservation of habitat types of great importance for the aquatic bird fauna (e.g. wet meadows), it is estimated that management practices, including systematic grazing and summer cutting of the vegetation of the littoral zone, will have to be implemented at specific locations of the lake.