General assessment of the biodiversity of the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal wetland Atanasovsko Ezero

The paper presents data on the total biodiversity, the newly described and threatened, rare and invasive species of the complex wetland Atanasovsko ezero, which is situated in the vicinity of the town Burgas on the southern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. Different parts of Atanasovsko Ezero were declared as Managed Reserve, Ramsar Site, Protected Zone of the network Natura 2000 and Important Bird Area. The structure of the paper is in accordance with the taxonomic part of the Updated Management Plan of the area, which is in a process of approvement.. Based on the critical review of the literature, supplemented by recent field studies and survey data, it could be stated that at least 1173 species, varieties and forms have been found on the territory of the complex wetland. More than 35% of them have different threatened status according to international and national legislative and non-legislative documents. By contrast, only four of the recorded species (i.e. 0.3%) have been declared as invasive. This combination of rich biodiversity with the presence of globally and regionally threatened species proves the outlining of the area amongst the most important sites of Bulgarian biodiversity and nature conservation.