The paper studies drastic hydrological changes caused by construction of five reservoirs and six hydro-electric power plants (HEPP), built mostly in the 1960s, along the watercourse of the karst ...river Cetina, located in deep and well-developed Dinaric karst. The total river length from its spring to mouth in the Adriatic Sea is about 105 km. Discharges are monitored at nine gauging stations and then compared using statistical methods. Discharges measured before construction of hydraulic structures were compared with discharges measured afterwards. Analysis of the results determined that the complex natural hydrologic regime has been completely destroyed. The hydrology of the upper river, from the spring to the Prančevići Dam (length of about 65 km), is changed by the development and operation of the Peruča Reservoir and the Peruča HEPP, as well as the Lipa and the Buško Blato Reservoirs and Buško Blato and Orlovac HEPPs. Water diversion from the Prančevići Reservoir through two tunnels and pipelines to power the Zakučac HEPP has dangerously altered hydrological regime of the Cetina River’s 40 km-long downstream section. In the 65 km-long upstream section, instantaneously after the Peruča Reservoir putting in operation. In the downstream section the majority of natural flow is lost. The mean annual discharges dropped from more than 100 m3 s-1 to less than 10 m3 s-1. Due to HEPPs operation, minimum annual discharges have drastically and dangerously decreased.
The Dinaric karst in the north differs from the rest of the karst in Croatia in terms of karstification depth. The infiltrating precipitation drains in cascades from deeply karstified mountainous ...areas to the shallow or fluviokarst, forming the tributaries of the Kupa River. Time series analyses were conducted on a 5-year dataset to elucidate the hydrogeological conceptual model of the area and clarify disparate findings from tracer tests under varying hydrological conditions. The flow duration curve, autocorrelation functions, and recession curves were used to evaluate the spring discharge variability, the karstification degree, and the karst aquifer’s size. The crosscorrelation function and temperature dynamics were employed to assess the spring’s response to recharge and the hydrogeological system behavior. Comparative analysis with previous studies was conducted to contextualize the obtained results. The research outcomes delineated several key findings: (i) the deep karst zone is less developed than the shallow karst zone; (ii) groundwater exchange is significantly faster in shallow karst; (iii) groundwater divides in the Kapela Mountain are zonal; (iv) the homogenization of groundwater occurs during periods of high water levels; (v) fast water exchange transpires without concurrent groundwater temperature homogenization; and (vi) a definition of the boundary between deep and fluviokarst in Croatia.
The Western Balkan’s Vjetrenica Cave in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina is renowned for high richness of subterranean species. However, the data on its fauna have been published only in monographs ...printed in a small number of copies, making them hardly accessible to the wider scientific community. To overcome this issue, we compiled the data from published monographs with the data from our own recent field surveys. Further, as they are connected via water channels or small crevices in bedrock, we defined the Vjetrenica Cave System as a system comprising Vjetrenica and Bjelušica Caves and Lukavac Spring. Altogether, 93 troglobiotic, i.e., obligate subterranean aquatic (48) and terrestrial (45), taxa were reported for the system, verifying the Vjetrenica Cave System as the second richest locality in subterranean biodiversity in the world. The global uniqueness of the system is also reflected in the fact that as many as 40 troglobiotic species were described from the system. Finally, we reviewed the factors endangering this unique subterranean community and questioned whether it will withstand human-induced changes and pressures due to infrastructural development in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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A new species of the Yellow Sally genus (
Isoperla
Banks, 1906) is described, based on morphological (males and females adults, larval and egg) and molecular (the barcode region of the cytochrome c ...oxidase subunit I gene (
COI
)) features. Popijač’s Yellow Sally,
I. popijaci
Hlebec & Sivec,
sp. nov.
inhabits two karstic sources of the Krasulja rivulet in Croatia. Male and female of the new species are characterised by colouration patterns of the head and pronotum; the dimensions of the female subgenital plate; the medial penial armature and oval-shaped egg without collar and anchor. The larvae differ from their congeners by the uniquely coloured head and pronotum. Based on morphological characteristics
I. popijaci
sp. nov.
belongs to the
I. tripartita
species group. Phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships were reconstructed using three methods of phylogenetic inference and three species delimitation methods. As
I. popijaci
sp. nov.
occurs at a narrow area of the Krasulja rivulet in Krbava field, the study puts emphasis on the conservation and hotspot importance of the temporary rivers in the Dinaric karst. Furthermore, the study accentuates the necessity for further research on the genetic diversity of Plecoptera in Croatia.
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Karst landscapes are characterized by intermittent and sinking streams. The most common method used to study underground hydrological connections in karst is tracing tests. However, a more ...biologically oriented approach has been suggested: analysis of the genetic structure of aquatic organisms. Biological tracers can be sought among trogloxenes, that is, surface species that occasionally enter caves and groundwater. One such example is the fish genus Phoxinus, which exhibits high genetic diversity and complex phylogeography in the Balkan Peninsula. In the north‐western Dinaric Karst, the complex hydrological network was digitalized in 2020. Contemporaneously, Phoxinus lumaireul populations in the Slovenian Dinaric Karst were intensively sampled and analysed for fragments of two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene. The derived phylogeographic structure and data on hydrological connections were compared to evaluate support for three alternative scenarios: The genetic structure (1) is a consequence of the ongoing geneflow through underground connections, (2) reflects a previous hydrological network or (3) is an outcome of anthropogenic translocations. The results suggest that the first two scenarios seem to have played a major role, while the third has not had profound effects on the genetic composition. Comparison between the genetic structure of Slovenian Dinaric Karst sampling sites and that of hydrologically isolated reference sampling sites indicated a greater genetic connectivity in the former. Moreover, the range of Adriatic (1a) and Black Sea (1c) haplotypes does not correspond to the Adriatic–Black Sea basin divide but is shifted northwards.
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Proteus anguinus is a neotenic cave amphibian endemic to the Dinaric Karst and represents a symbol of Slovenian natural heritage. It is classified as 'Vulnerable' by the International Union for ...Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is one of the EU priority species in need of strict protection. Due to inaccessibility of its natural underground habitat, scientific studies have been primarily conducted on Proteus in captivity where amphibians may be particularly susceptible to opportunistic microbial infections. In this case report, we present the results of an analysis of an individual that had been kept in captivity for 6 yr and then developed clinical symptoms, including ulcers, suggesting opportunistic microbial infection. Pigmented fungal hyphae and yeast-like cells were present in the dermis and in almost all other sampled tissues. Sampling of the ulcer allowed the isolation of a diverse array of bacterial and fungal species. We identified the water-borne, polymorphic black yeast Exophiala salmonis, an opportunistic pathogen of fish, as the cause of the primary infection. This is the first report on a fungal infection of Proteus and on cave salamanders in general.
Karst aquifers in the Dinaric karst are very rich with groundwater and are a very important resource for public water supply. The characteristics of the Dinaric karst are the lack, or very thin ...layer, of covering deposits, large amounts of precipitations, high groundwater velocities, very deep groundwater flow with a lot of faults and fault zones, pits to groundwater, concentrated sinking and large karst springs, making them extremely vulnerable to all anthropogenic influences, which are very quickly transmitted to the aquifer. Numerous multiparameter methods have been developed in the last 20 years to determine the level of vulnerability of aquifers. Each of them has its own specifics and is well adapted to the climate and region for which it was developed. The Karst Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment (KAVA) method was developed in accordance with all the characteristics of the deep karst aquifers of the Dinaric karst and tested on several basins in the area. It was developed as a part of the Global Environment Facility United Nations Environmental Programme – the Mediterranean Action Plan Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (GEF UNEP/MAP MedPartnership Project). This paper presents the KAVA method and its application to two characteristic karst basins of the Dinaric karst: the Novljanska Žrnovnica spring catchment area and the Bakar Bay catchment area.
The waters of the Dinaric Karst drain into both the Adriatic and the Black Sea basins. Precipitation is high, yet surface waters are scarce, with the exception of sinking streams. Dinaric Karst is a ...biodiversity hotspot, with diverse speleo- and epigean freshwater fauna. The distribution patterns of taxa in Dinaric Karst have arisen from a combination of vicariance and dispersal and their alteration over time. Within fishes, there are genera that include both species that are widespread and species with restricted ranges (e.g., Phoxinus, Telestes), and genera with only restricted distributions (e.g., Delminichthys, Phoxinellus). Some (Delminichthys, Phoxinellus and Dinaric Telestes) have a similar lifestyle, specialized for dwelling in sinking streams in karst poljes. The present study compares the distribution ranges of Phoxinus, Delminichthys, Phoxinellus and Telestes in Dinaric Karst based upon their mitochondrial genetic lineages, including dating of divergence times and reconstruction of ancestral geographic ranges. The biology of Phoxinus has played a major role in its wider distribution than the other three genera, which exhibit some limited ability to migrate underground, but which cannot disperse along main river courses due to their specific adaptation for dwelling in the sinking streams of karst poljes.
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The Oštarije–Tounj area lies in the contact zone of two large geomorphological units: the Ogulin-Plaški basin and the Una-Korana plateau, along the northern edge of Dinaric karst in Croatia. This is ...a highly karstified landscape, with numerous surface and subterranean karst forms. The objective of this study was to determine the significance of the karst relief and the processes of its formation, with the aim of examining the interaction of these two large units during their geomorphological evolution. General and specific digital geomorphometric analyses were used, with geomorphological mapping. Within the morphogenetic approach, the morphostructural conditions of karstification, spatial distribution and significance of karst, and fluviokarst relief forms were analysed. Several dry valleys were established, indicating that this area was the important corridor for surface runoff from the Ogulin-Plaški basin towards the Una-Korana plateau. Tectonic up-lifting of the narrow zone between these two units created an orographic barrier, which hindered any further surface runoff and created the conditions for the development of karst subterranean watercourses. This paper provides a proposal of the morphogenesis model of the Ogulin-Plaški basin, summarised with the description “flattening and closure”.
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