BIODIVERSITY CHANGES IN THE IRPIN RIVER WETLANDS FOLLOWING DAM DESTRUCTION DURING DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS IN KYIV, UKRAINE

The destruction of a dam on the Irpin River in 2022 resulted in the flooding of over 2,500 hectares of floodplain, representing one of the first documented environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine. This study provides an assessment of early changes in three biotic components – macrophytes, fish, and birds – within the newly formed waterbody. The findings indicate a shift in the ecosystem toward a lentic regime, accompanied by transformations in species composition and habitat structure. A decline in macrophyte species richness, an increase in ichthyofaunal diversity, and the dominance of hydrophilic bird species were observed. In total, 12 species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, 5 species included in the European Red List (as Vulnerable or Near Threatened), and 83 taxa protected under the Bern Convention were recorded, underscoring the high conservation value of the study area. These results provide a valuable baseline for assessing how wetland ecosystems respond to military impacts and enable meaningful international comparisons of the impacts of armed conflict on wetlands, particularly in the context of conserving transboundary migratory species.