Tiszadobi ártér Természetvédelmi terület

One of the area’s greatest values is the original habitat of the highland hard‑bark oak forests, preserved in typical composition – some patches of which have become overgrown in most places, which can be attributed, besides changes in environmental conditions, to improper management and the devastating ash dieback after the 1930s.

The forest is dominated by ancient, massive‑stem oak trees of matuzalem age, among them slender Hungarian ash and alder, which here die standing. In spring the ground beneath the trees is covered by thousands of lily‑of‑the‑valley, which break through the yellowish, cracked loamy soil, but here the fragrant violet also opens, and on the cleared spots created by fallen giant trees on the un‑cultivated areas, summer crocuses bloom, and on the sunny edges of the forest the white groups of Tisza‑shore marguerite also flower in autumn.

In the floodplain area the forest shield‑fern and lady fern, common snake‑tongue, and eastern cornflower are found in several places. Among the orchids, the green‑white two‑leaf orchid and the broad‑leaf lady’s‑tresses also bloom here.

On the sunnier sides of the floodplain forest, lianas climbing the tall trees – rosehip (Cucubalus baccifer), wild grape, bindweed, forest honeysuckle, ash‑berry – form an impenetrable dense weave, and in the floodplain we find willow and poplar floodplain forests, with scattered huge white and black poplars among the trees.

The life of the moist‑soil, high‑humidity, dense forests found on the area is determined by regular water coverage. After floods, stagnant water patches develop in the lower‑lying parts, and the soil and grass layer is poor in plant and animal species.

The southern border of the area is a more than ten‑kilometre‑long stretch of Tisza backwater; a morotva, in which once a multitude of fairy roses grew, we meet reeds that have now – due to the indiscriminate introduction of herbivorous fish – become largely extinct.

The morotva reeds are very valuable parts of the protected area, such as the so‑called “Szelepi”, which before the regulation of the Tisza naturally detached from the river.

The biological aging of the reeds, as a result of “fertősödések”, has left little open water surface visible in their area. In this vegetation, however, the largest‑sized and petaled “békavirág”, the meadow buttercup (Ranunculus lingua), can be found. In the middle, deeper parts, accumulated organic debris forms floating mats. Their surface is covered with vegetation, even the reed grass clings to them. From these natural rafts, floating islands, wind and the wave action they generate sometimes tear off smaller pieces. The surface is covered by a continuous algae carpet, among which the white fairy rose blooms in summer. Here lives the tiny, also white‑petaled “békatutaj” and the water‑living fern, the water crowfoot as well. The gaps are filled by dense masses of small floating discs of the small‑ and spiny‑seeded “békalencse”, among them the smallest flowering plant, the water‑cress, which was discovered here in 1966. Here lives the abundantly spreading “sulyom”, and the nutrient‑rich waters’ sharp, saw‑toothed leaf plant, the “kolokán”, whose seeds sink to the riverbed in autumn, thus enduring the harsh winter.

In the marshes of the floodplains there is also a so‑called carnivorous plant, the common bladderwort (Utricularis vulgaris), which leads a special “predatory” lifestyle: it floats in the water without roots and, in order to survive, captures and digests tiny animal organisms; among its prey are also a few‑millimetre‑sized shrimp.

Fauna

In the dense vegetation the rock‑rose and the marbled snail occur in large numbers. In the puddles the pale snails are common.

The fish fauna of the lush, well‑heated small waters, the kelp thickets, and the reed beds is very rich. Here can be found the Lapp flea, which today is found only here and there, and which was once common in the former marshy parts of the Great Plain, but has become rare due to the gradual loss of its habitat.