Editing Danube Delta (section)

==== River bank and levee ecosystems ====
[[File:Nycticorax nycticorax' AM1 slepowron.jpg|thumb|Black-crowned night heron]]

The firm land of the delta used to be covered with large groves of willow trees, which have been cut down almost entirely and replaced with Canadian poplars. On the river banks kept in their natural state, small groves of willow trees (''[[Salix alba]]'', ''[[Salix euxina|Salix fragilis]]'', ''[[Salix purpurea]]'', ''[[Salix pentandra]]'', and ''[[Salix triandra]]'') can still be found, mixed with white poplar (''[[Populus alba]]''). Occasionally, the willow trees form corridors along the arms and bigger channels of the Danube. On the [[levees]] of [[Letea]] and [[Caraorman]], mixed forests of oaks (''[[Quercus robur]]'', and ''[[Quercus pedunculiflora]]'') with various other  trees (''[[Fraxinus pallisiae]]'', ''[[Ulmus foliaceae]]'', ''[[Populus tremula]]''), shrubs (''[[Prunus spinosa]]'', ''[[Crataegus monogyna]]'', ''[[Rosa canina]]'', and ''[[Berberis vulgaris]]'', among others), and vines (''[[Vitis sylvestris]]'', ''[[Hedera helix]]'', ''[[Humulus lupulus]]'', ''[[Periploca graeca]]'', which reaches up to 25m) grow on [[sand dune]] areas. On the Letea levee, these exotic-looking forests grow especially in the depressions between the sand dunes, in small groves called '''hasmace'''. Fauna of this region include the [[meadow viper]] (''Vipera ursinii''), [[osprey]] (''Pandion haliaetus''), and [[Eurasian eagle owl]] (''Bubo bubo'').