Aquatic Macrophytes of the Danube River near Novi Sad (Yugoslavia, river km 1255 - 1260) Janauer, G. A.1, Vukov, D.2, Igic, R.2 With 3 figures and 2 tables in the text Abstract: This study deals with a preliminary investigation of the aquatic vegetation of the Danube system at Novi Sad (Yugoslavia). The macrophyte survey in the main channel of the river and in one small oxbow was performed in 1998. Species richness in this reach of the main channel was intermediate with respect to parts of the river in other countries. The plant mass was very low and very small plant stands were developed. The oxbow is directly connected to the main channel at its lower end, but a considerably higher number of species was present than in the main channel. Again, only very small stands with low biomass were found. This indicates that there are many small niches in the near-bank habitats, but the hydrological dynamics prevent the development of larger vegetation patches. 1 Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstraβe 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Natural Science, University in Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. e-mail:
[email protected] Introduction The Danube is the second largest river in Europe. Its length is 2850 km and it flows through ten countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Ukraine). This makes it the most important navigational artery of Central and South-Eastern Europe.