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Introduction to Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes represent a unique phenomenon of karst hydrography and are one of the most beautiful wonders in Europe. In a karst river basin of limestone and dolomite, between high forested mountains Kapela and Plješivica, lies a series of sixteen beautiful lakes of a crystal blue-green colour fed by many small streams and brooks descending by runoff from the mountains over a distance of some eight km, aligned in a south-north direction. The lakes are situated at 44°51N 15°37E in central Croatia in the eastern part of the mountainous region of Lika-Senj County. The whole area has been proclaimed in 1949 as National Park and as such inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979. The National Park, ranging in altitude from 1279 m to 367 m, has an area of 298 km2, out of which 223 km2 are forests (74.8%), 69.6 km2 are meadows (23.3%) and about 2 km2 (0.72%) are water areas (lakes) (http://en.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/). The lakes are divided into the Upper and Lower Lakes. Twelve upper lakes lie in a dolomite valley and are surrounded by thick forests and interlinked by numerous waterfalls, while four lower lakes, smaller and shallower, lie on the limestone bedrock canyon and are surrounded only by sparse underbrush. The lakes spill over from an altitude of 636 to 503 m into each other in foaming cascades and thundering waterfalls separated by the natural dams of tufa, calcium carbonate deposited from water by the action of moss, algae and bacteria. Tufa barriers grow at the average rate of about 1 cm per year. A mountain type of continental climate prevails in the region of Lika and the Dinaric Alps. The main characteristics of the climate are pleasant and sunny summers and relatively long, severe and snow-rich winters. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is heavily forested by mixed stands of beech and fir at higher levels and pure stands of beech at lower altitudes. It has a notably wide variety of plant communities, due to its range of microclimates, differing soils and varying levels of altitude. The area is fauna-rich and is home to an wide variety of animal species such as about 50 species of mammals (e.g. European brown bear, wolf, lynx, bats), 12 amphibian and some species of reptiles, as well as about 150 bird species (e.g. wood grouses, eagle owl), most of them breeding there. The Plitvice Lakes are today one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in Croatia. Total capacity of the park today is about 800 beds in hotels, 100 beds in camp, as well as about 800 beds in family houses in the area. During their stay tourists express the most interest for touring around the lakes in the central zone of the National Park, riding the panoramic train, rowing, biking or hiking. Scientific research on Plitvice lakes date almost 160 years back starting in 1860 with limnological measurements of lake depths, followed by first geological, botanical and zoological investigations. Systematic scientific investigation of the phenomenon of Plitvice Lakes started after the World War I by speleologist Josip Poljak and botanist Ivo Pevalek (1938), who noticed a very complex biodynamics of tufa forming and barriers growth processes. Systematic hydrological, limnological, chemical and hydrobiological investigations were performed in 1951, and they became a multidisciplinary research organized and sponsored by the National Park authorities, which included comprehensive geological, hydrogeological and meteorological studies, as well as investigation of aquatic and forest ecosystem and fauna in order to protect the National Park natural values. In collaboration with the Institute of Biology of the University of Zagreb the Biological Station “Plitvice Lakes” was founded in 1961 with the aim to coordinate scientific research in the area of the National Park. With the change of name and location, and brief interruptions, this station operates in a new building until today as the Scientific Research Centre "Academician Ivo Pevalek".

Plitvice Lakes, karst, project STRAVAL, climate, flora, fauna, history, tourism, protection, investigation

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