engleski

Intra-Annual Dynamics Of Water Quality Changes In Plitvice Lakes Spring Zone

The Plitvice Lakes National Park, inscripted on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is a natural phenomenon consisting of 16 lakes divided by tufa barriers. The majority of water for the aquatic system comes from karst springs of Crna and Bijela rijeka. Due to its extraordinary sensitivity and based on the National Park Management Plan, this part is situated in the very strict conservation zone. This paper deals with the water quality research in Plitvice Lakes spring area. After their flow from the spring points, waters of Crna and Bijela rijeka are joined into the river Matica which then flows into the first of the Plitvice Lakes – the lake Prošće. These springs belong to the Black-Sea catchment area and their streams flow on carbonate bedrock from Jurassic period. Although they show characteristics of typical karst springs, the differences in physico chemical parameters and water quality are easily detectable and are probably caused by their catchment area bedrock, vegetation types, anthropogenic influences on watercourse and hydrological characteristics. The paper analyzes the recent three-year results obtained by monitoring the hydrological conditions and water quality (physico-chemical and microbiological parameters) on Bijela and Crna rijeka, as well as the results obtained from the biggest lake in aquatory – the lake Kozjak. The variability of water quality and hydrological regime among several sites has been established, as a consequence of intra- annual water cycle and anthropogenic influence in the catchment area. Moreover, the differences between the analyzed indicators in the spring zone and the lake Kozjak have also been established. Those differences can be attributed to the influence of inertia of the lake Kozjak as well as periodical changes of this aquatic system on analyzed characteristics.

Plitvice Lakes ; karst springs ; water quality ; hydrological characteristics

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