Momir Paunović

Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković" University of Belgrade · Hydroecology and Water Protection

The aim of our study was to detect the actual distribution of oligochaete species and to identify their ecological differentiation with respect to environmental factors: altitude, temperature, oxygen concentration, conductivity, total organic carbon, and waterbody type. Although widespread, differentiation of oligochaete communities in four waterbo...

The attractiveness of a species influences human perceptions and attitudes toward it, while flagship species play a significant role in shaping public conservation interests. This research investigated how humans perceive the attractiveness of and their willingness to protect vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic representatives. The study focused on...

The aquarium pet trade is a source of potentially invasive crayfish species, which can be subsequently intentionally or unintentionally introduced into new environments. This can lead to biological invasions that represent a threat to native biodiversity and, in particular, freshwater ecosystem functioning. In global terms, Europe is the most affec...

For management strategies aimed at biological invasions, a detailed survey of the general public’s knowledge is crucial. For this purpose, our present study aimed to (i) investigate the level of comprehension regarding biological invasions, (ii) assess the ability of responders to discriminate between invasive and native species, and (iii) evaluate...

Environmental studies which aim to assess the ecological impact of chemical and other types of pollution should employ a complex weight-of-evidence approach with multiple lines of evidence (LoEs). This study focused on in situ genotoxicological methods such as the comet and micronucleus assays and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis as one...

Accurate and complete environmental information is at the basis of sustainable development. This report summarises for the first time the status of air, climate, water and soil in the Western Balkans (WB), describing current knowledge as of 2021 and gaps with respect to the EU aquis in order to a) benchmark the progress during the accession process...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) surveillance of COVID-19 and other future outbreaks is a challenge for developing countries as most households are not connected to a sewerage system. In December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the Danube River at a site severely affected by wastewaters from Belgrade. Rivers are much more complex systems th...

During extreme hydrological conditions such as flood events, sediments and alluvial soils may become re-suspended. As a consequence, the concentration of solid particulate matter (SPM) in the water column increases. As sediments represent a sink for the contaminants, when such perturbation occurs, the toxic substances may be re-dissolved into the w...

Urban waters are often neglected in biodiversity research; nonetheless, the number of aquatic microhabitats present in a city and the surrounding urban area is impressive. Twenty-two waterbodies in the Belgrade functional urban area (FUA) were investigated for faunistic and diversity patterns and to assess the effects of environmental factors on th...

Rivers of Europe, Second Edition, presents the latest update on the only primary source of complete and comparative baseline data on the biological and hydrological characteristics of more than 180 of the highest profile rivers in Europe. With even more full-color photographs and maps, the book includes conservation information on current patterns...

The Balkan Peninsula is known as a biodiversity hotspot. This area is characterized by diverse climate, orographic and hydrological conditions which represent a good basis for the diversity of flora and fauna. The fauna of leeches (Hirudinea) is no exception. The majority of European species are recorded in this area, many of which are endemic to t...

The Balkan Peninsula is a vital part of Europe’s biodiversity in respect to freshwater gastropods and many of recorded taxa are stenobionts of narrow distribution. This chapter presents review of the freshwater gastropod fauna distribution in springs, small mountain streams (first order streams), and groundwaters of the Western Balkan and points to...

We examined the spread and distribution in the Danube River of a new alien gastropod species, Clathrocaspia knipowitschii (Makarov, 1938) (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae: Caspiinae). First findings of this species for Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are presented. Clathrocaspia knipowitschii was initially found in 2013 in the Iron Gate str...

The study was conducted on the Danube River, within the project Joint Danube Survey 3 (JDS3). The main aim was to estimate the quantity of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems through passive biological monitoring. Three freshwater species were used for microplastic (MP) isolation from different taxonomic groups of organisms: Mollusca, Oligochaeta,...

The present pilot study tested and validated the use of the 'Invasive Alien Species in Eu-rope' smartphone app (IASapp) in the Lower Danube Region. The study was conducted in three stages: (1) Testing the effectiveness of the app in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia by organizing information and field testing campaigns; (2) Improving and extending the f...

Examination of brown trout seasonal diet variation and investigation of terrestrial prey importance in a food-rich stream using four indices of prey importance (number and weight abundance , frequency of occurrence, index of relative importance) revealed that aquatic prey constituted the major part of the diet (>90%) throughout the examined period....

The upper stretch of the Pek River is located in proximity to one of the largest mining sites in Serbia. To estimate the influence of copper mining on river biota, the quantitative and qualitative macroinvertebrate community structure was analyzed, and the ecological status of the river was assessed using standard biological indices. Data was gathe...

The River Danube has played a pivotal role in the range expansion of Ponto-Caspian faunal elements in recent decades; therefore, the monitoring of its biota is of high scientific and conservation importance. In this publication, the records on peracarid crustaceans yielded by the macrozoobenthos samples for the 4 th Joint Danube Survey (2019) are p...

Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled by national experts during the JDS4 campaign in the first weeks of July with five different sampling approaches. Samples from Multi-Habitat Sampling (MHS) were completely analysed and used for Indicative Status Assessment (ISA). National experts with help of external experts processed and identified MHS sampl...

In Serbia less than 13 % of collected municipal wastewaters is being treated before their release in the environment. This includes all municipal wastewater discharges from Belgrade (capital city of Serbia; population 1,700,000). Previous research has identified the impacts of raw wastewater discharges from Belgrade on the Danube River, and this st...

Freshwater polychaetes are the most diverse in the Palaearctic, including the Ponto-Caspian region as an important area of diversity. One of several polychaete species that are spreading from this area is Manayunkia caspica. For a certain period of time, the range of this species in the Danube River has been limited, probably because of the Iron Ga...

During recent intensive research, monitoring and inventory programmes in the large, inland waters of Croatia, 72 specimens of the racer goby Babka gymnotrachelus were collected at eight locations in 2016 and 2018, and of these, 61 were juveniles. This confirms the establishment of a self-sustaining population in the main channel of the Danube in Cr...

Faxonius limosus (formerly known as Orconectes limosus in the literature) is an invasive alien crayfish species with the largest distribution range in Europe. The first record of this species from the Danube River in Serbia was near Apatin in 2002, and since then it has expanded its range along the entire Serbian section. The presence of F. limosus...

This article provides the first comprehensive list of alien macroinvertebrate species registered and/or established in aquatic ecosystems in Serbia as a potential threat to native biodiversity. The list comprised field investigations, articles, grey literature, and unpublished data. Twenty-nine species of macroinvertebrates have been recorded since...

In this study, we analyzed the impacts of different environmental conditions on aquatic worm communities along the Danube River, based on two longitudinal surveys, the Joint Danube Surveys 2 and 3 (JDS; 2007 and 2013). We identified the most important environmental factors (among analyzed groups) that shape worm communities: hydromorphlogical alter...

In this study, few different evaluation concepts were used for the assessment of genotoxic potential at the stretch of the Danube River identified as a significant hotspot of pollution originated through the untreated wastewaters. Three sites were chosen: one site upstream of the wastewater outlet in Novi Sad (Serbia), one at the outlet of wastewat...

This book reviews the current state of knowledge on, recent advances in, and future prospects of Montenegrin river basins in the context of anthropogenic activities. Edited by three respected experts in the field, the book begins with an introduction to the specific hydrogeological conditions in Montenegro and critical reflections on the impact of...

This study deals with bleak (Alburnus alburnus) sensitivity in detecting of the wastewater related pressure in large lowland rivers. The major objective was to investigate if the response measured in bleak should be linked to a certain stretch of the river and characterised as ”stretch specific”, or it should be linked to the sampling site and char...

Rivers suffer from more severe decreases in species diversity compared to other aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems due to a variety of pressures related to human activities. Species provide different roles in the functioning of the ecosystem, and their loss may reduce the capacity of the ecosystems to respond to multiple stressors. The effects on d...

Molluscs are diverse and abundant component of macroinvertebrate assemblages inhabiting different types of river ecosystems. According to the literature data, a total of 143 freshwater mollusc taxa have been recorded for freshwater ecosystems of Montenegro. Gastropoda was represented by 120 taxa from 14 families, while the Bivalvia was represented...

Simulium reptans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Simulium reptantoides Carlsson, 1962 are two species of the Simulium reptans group whose distribution is unclear because of their confusing taxonomy and systematics. Their genetic variability is well known for populations in northern and central Europe and shows that both species have two forms; however, the ge...

This concluding chapter briefly describes the main conclusions presented in the book The Rivers of Montenegro which has 12 chapters aimed at providing an extensive overview of the various hydrological and environmental aspects of the rivers and their basins in Montenegro. The book emphasizes the current gaps, recent advances, and future prospects o...

This study is the result of extensive investigations of leeches on the Balkan Peninsula. Our aim was to detect actual and potential (modeled) distributions of common Erpobdellidae species, and to identify their ecological differentiation with respect to the altitudinal and waterbody type gradient. Although widespread, these species rarely live toge...

Montenegrin surface water and groundwater are important for the Balkan Peninsula since they are connected by the transboundary Dinaric Karst Aquifer System with the waters of additional five countries. The pollution from the surface water can rapidly infiltrate in aquifer and endanger this sensible ecosystem and the health of humans through drinkin...

The study of aquatic Oligochaeta in freshwaters in Serbia contributes to the oligochaete fauna inventory of the Balkans. Based on our results and literature review, 97 species (45 genera from 8 families) are listed in the running waters of Serbia. From the list of 61 species recorded during our investigation, 12 were noted for the first time. The e...

Background. A sampling of stomach and intestine content is usually performed by dissection of the gastrointestinal tract of fish. To avoid fish sacrificing, various non-lethal techniques have been developed and tested. Such sampling methods are very useful, especially for small populations and protected species. In this study, a modified syringe st...

The river network in Montenegro is primarily affected by the geological processes in the karst which dominates the Montenegrin landscape. All the surface and groundwater from the territory of Montenegro flow into the Black and Adriatic Seas, with approximately 45.4% (6,268 km²) of its surface belonging to the Adriatic and 7,545 km² (about 54.6%) to...

This study was carried out to identify the relations between macroinvertebrate communities and river basin specific (RBS) pollutants in the Danube River. The investigation was performed at 68 sites along 2,500 km of the Danube. Forward selection (FS), canonical correspondence analyses (CCA), the Spearman correlation coefficient (SC) and BIO-ENV ana...

The literature data on the microbiological water quality of the surface and groundwaters in Montenegro is very scarce. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide an insight in the microbiological water quality of rivers in Montenegro by compiling the data obtained in period 2009–2018 in national monitoring program and the data collected within the Mon...

The territory of Montenegro includes three freshwater ecoregional units: the Dalmatian, the Southeastern Adriatic, and the Dniester-Lower Danube Ecoregions. The boundaries of the Dalmatian and Southeastern Adriatic Ecoregions in Montenegro are not clear and require revision. Contrary to the accepted FEOW global freshwater ecoregion system, which pl...

We comparatively examined the role of littoral and deep water sampling methods in assessing macroinvertebrate assemblages and in characterizing longitudinal changes in assemblage structure along >2,500‐km–long course of the Danube River, Europe. The effectiveness of detecting taxa corresponded well with an inshore–offshore gradient in sampling (i.e...

We conducted a comparative (2D landmark-based geometric and traditional) morphometric analysis on tadpoles at early developmental stages. Two species of brown frog ( Rana dalmatina and R. temporaria ) and the common toad ( Bufo bufo ) were involved, all raised in the laboratory from fertilized eggs collected in their natural habitat. Taxonomic iden...

Invasion of alien species can effects ecological state of water bodies through changes of composition and structure of macrozoobentos communities. We assessed biocontanination (SBCI index) and water quality by biotic indices at 12 sites along the Danube River in Serbia and at 17 sites including the Neman, Narew and Western Bug river basins in Belar...

The aim of this study was to reveal faunistic and diversity patterns and to assess the effects of environmental factors on the differentiation of leech communities. This study covers investigations of 82 karst springs in Montenegro from 2009-2017. The communities were analyzed in respect to five wellspring types-caves, sublacustrine, limnocrene, rh...

Many morphologically similar species of the simuliid (Diptera: Simuliidae) subgenus Wilhelmia, Enderlein are difficult to distinguish. Thus, the revision of the subgenus using various morphological, cytogenetic, and genetic analyses has been attempted. Neglected until now, the Balkan Peninsula, a crossroad between Europe and Anatolia, provides insi...

Trochospongilla horrida Weltner, 1893 (Spongillidae, Spongillida) has a relatively wide, though discontinuous, distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. The aim of this paper was to report the first finding of T. horrida in Serbia. During 2017, research was carried out on ten tributaries of the Sava and the Danube. T. horrida was identified at three...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the middle section of the Sava River in Croatia was unaffected by major human activities and rich in ichthyofauna. The Sava River was important for commercial and recreational fishing for the local population, which still remains today. However, the 1920s mining industry was established in Slovenia, which emitt...

As data on the distribution of freshwater sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae, Spongillida) in Serbia are extremely scarce, we investigated the main Serbian rivers and lakes with respect to Porifera occurrence, for which 17 lotic and 11 lentic water bodies were selected. Sponges were found in 11 of 17 rivers (62 specimens in total) and in 3 of 11 lakes...

Contaminated sediments transported onto the river terrace during high water events can contribute significant quantities of potentially toxic elements to riparian soils. Seven trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) were analysed in the river sediment and riparian soil of the River Sava and their spatial distribution, potential toxicity and...

The major objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wastewaters on the level of genotoxicity and the possible reflection of genotoxicity on the genetic variability in chub (Squalius cephalus) collected from the sites under different pollution pressures along the Sava River. To emphasize the impact of wastewaters, this study was carri...

Fish from the Sava River are consumed daily by the local people: therefore, concern has been raised about the health implications of eating contaminated fish. In the present study, potentially toxic elements (PTE), such as Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, As, Hg, and methylmercury (MeHg), were determined in ichthyofauna that are commonly consumed. PTE were...

Transport of hydrophobic pollutants in rivers such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals is often facilitated by suspended sediment particles, which are typically mobilized during high discharge events. Suspended sediments thus represent a means of transport for particle related pollutants wit...

The major objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wastewaters on the level of genotoxicity and the possible reflection of genotoxicity on the genetic variability in chub (Squalius cephalus) collected from the sites under different pollution pressures along the Sava River. To emphasize the impact of wastewaters, this study was carri...

Fish samples of different species (i.e. rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), barbel (Barbus barbus) and European chub (Squalius cephalus)) were collected from the Sava River Basin for a preliminary investigation of the levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PBDEs and PFAS as a whole. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs, in terms of pg WHO-TEQ/g ww, were below the maximum...

We report the first record of the genus Oxyethira Eaton, 1873 from Serbia. This finding increases the number of known hydroptilid genera from Serbia to four. A total of 14 larval specimens were collected in November 2015 from a small stream at the town of Inđija (SW Vojvodina, Serbia). Since there are no descriptions of larvae of Oxyethira spp., it...

The objective of this chapter is to present the data on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities along the Sava River, based on investigation performed during 2011 and 2012 at 12 sampling sites within the sector between Vrhovo (Slovenia) and Belgrade (confluence to the Danube). During our study 227 macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded in the Sava Rive...

The spread of alien crustaceans has significantly contributed to the homogenization of macroinvertebrate fauna of European freshwaters. However, little is known about alien Peracarida crustaceans of the Sava River, which represents the most important corridor for the spread of invasive species into Dinaric rivers with highly endemic fauna. In this...

Girardia tigrina (Girard, 1850) (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Dugesiidae), a native freshwater triclad of North America, is a widespread species, which has been introduced by human activities into various parts of the world, including Europe. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of this species by presenting its frst record and recen...

Sponges in the large rivers within the Danube River Basin (DRB) have not been adequately studied. Hence, the aim of this work was to undertake an investigation on the distribution of sponge species in the Danube and Sava rivers. Out of 88 localities covered by the study, sponges were found at 25 sites only (46 samples in total). By using morphologi...

Biomarkers attract increasing attention in environmental studies, as a tool for detection of exposure and effects of pollution, from both natural and anthropogenic sources. This study aims to assess the impact of multiple stressors during distinctive seasons, covering also extreme hydrological events (extensive flooding in the mid May 2014), on dif...

The Sava River Basin is a major drainage basin of southeastern Europe, significantly influenced by anthropogenic activities. Our study was focused on diatom communities as an indicator of the ecological status of running waters. We investigated over 937 km of the Sava River at 19 sampling sites. Benthic diatom communities and 17 diatom indices were...

The chironomid community in non-wadeable lotic systems was tested as a source of information in the construction of biological metrics which could be used into the bioassessment protocols of large rivers. In order to achieve this, we simultaneously patterned the chironomid community structure and environmental factors along the catchment of the Dan...

River ecosystems are subject to multiple stressors that affect their structure and functioning. Ecosystem structure refers to characteristics such as channel form, water quality or the composition of biological communities, whereas ecosystem functioning refers to processes such as metabolism, organic matter decomposition or secondary production. St...

The Velika Morava River is the greatest national Serbian river and the significant tributary of the Danube River. The major problems in the Velika Morava River Basin (VMRB) represent untreated industrial and municipal wastewaters. In this study, the level of genotoxic potential at the sites along the VMRB was evaluated by parallel in vitro and in s...