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The quality of the aquatic environment and macrophytes of karstic watercourses

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Abstract

The quality of the aquatic environment and macrophytes were surveyed in the case of the remarkable karstic river Ljubljanica s. lat. (Slovenia). It consists of seven intermittent and permanent surface watercourses, connected by groundwater flows. We assessed 11 parameters describing the land use beyond the riparian zone, the structure of the riparian zone and stream channel morphology, as well as the distribution and abundance of macrophytes. The intermittent watercourses exhibited a relatively high level of naturalness, because the variable water regime prevents intensive human activity. Greater influence of the human activity on the permanent watercourses resulted in a modified riverine environment. The share of different ecological groups of macrophytes, i.e. submerged, emerged and amphibious species, reflected the water regimes of the different watercourses. A total of 62 taxa of macrophytes were identified in about 100 km of length examined. Of these, amphibious macrophytes dominated as a consequence of intermittent water regime. The relationship between environmental parameters and macrophytes, and the effects of the intermittent hydrology were investigated. All environmental parameters explained 28% of the variance in the distribution of macrophytes in watercourses, as determined by canonical correspondence analysis. Completeness of the riparian zone, bank undercutting and sediment accumulation were found to be the most influential.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financed by the MIDCC project (“Multifunctional Integrated Study Danube Corridor and Catchment”) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Austria, and by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Republic of Slovenia, through programs “Biology of plants” (P1-0212), “Young researchers” (3311-03-831202 and 3311-04-831246), and “Communities, relations and communications in ecosystems” (P1-0255). The authors thank undergraduate students Andrej and Igor Glišič for assistance in the field work and Dr. Roger Pain for revising the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, Univerza v Ljubljani, Večna pot 111, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Nina Šraj-Kržič, Urška Kuhar & Alenka Gaberščik

  2. National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Mateja Germ & Olga Urbanc-Berčič

  3. Department of Limnology and Hydrobotany, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090, Vienna, Austria

    Georg A. Janauer

Authors
  1. Nina Šraj-Kržič
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  2. Mateja Germ
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  3. Olga Urbanc-Berčič
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  4. Urška Kuhar
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  5. Georg A. Janauer
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  6. Alenka Gaberščik
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Correspondence to Nina Šraj-Kržič.

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Šraj-Kržič, N., Germ, M., Urbanc-Berčič, O. et al. The quality of the aquatic environment and macrophytes of karstic watercourses. Plant Ecol 192, 107–118 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9230-4

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