NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA, SLOVENIA

BUTTERFLIESOF BELA KRAJINAMatjaž JežBorštnikova 99, Maribor My first genuine physical contact with butterflies of Bela krajina datesback to April 2004, just prior to May 1st, when Slovenia joined the EU. In themiddle of that sunny day we set out on a short walk from the village of Žuničito the Kolpa River. The landscape was clad in gentle greenery of the awaken-ing spring, with first butterflies fluttering along our path. My attention was in-itially attracted by Orange Tip (Anthocaris cardamine) males as well as by firstWhites and Blues, but then a totally fresh and gaily coloured Southern Festoon(Zerynthia polyxena) came flying unexpectedly past us. Well, if Festoons are fly-ing around here, then many more interesting things may be in store for us hereas well, I said to myself. Specifically, Festoons are a sign of warm winegrowingplaces with high species-richness, as known from the Primorska and Štajerskaregions. A little further up the path, a Small Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia)was showing itself off. It had just crawled out from the chrysalis, climbed to thetip of a grass blade and spread its fresh wings. It seemed in no hurry at all, as ifrelying upon the protective effect of the eye pattern on its wings, reminding meof an owl with ruffled feathers, if not even something worse. This meant thatseveral inquisitive people were able to get very close to it and to take pictures ofit in no rush. On that day I firmly decided to return soon to these places, for thiswonderful landscape is certainly worth of any serious research. And indeed, inthe ensuing years I returned to Bela krajina several times. Numerous beautifulimpressions built up in me, while in my notebooks data on over 400 butterflyand moth species piled up. This is of course not enough to claim that we are wellfamiliar with all Bela krajina butterflies, but it is certainly enough to round upthe notion of their diversity and characteristics. One of the particularly busyyears was the year 2008, when carrying out a research into butterflies withinthe framework of the Biology Students’ Camp taking place at Stari trg ob Kolpiand its wider vicinity. At that time we surveyed butterflies in meadows, gladesand forests in the Kolpa valley and in wetlands along the Lahinja River. Thecamp was concluded with observation of moths at two localities, in a glade near NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 151

Radenci and in wet meadows at the source of the Lahinja. Part of the researchwas implemented within the framework of the European Moth Night (EMN).In 2009 and 2010 I was dedicating my work mostly to the butterflies of Bela kra-jina litter stands, while in the ensuing two years I was additionally engaged in thestudy of butterflies inhabiting meadow orchards with high-stemmed trees. In2008 and 2012, we were regularly surveying moths within the EMN framework. If I was asked to give a special preference to one of the butterflies of Belakrajina, I’d certainly opt for the Fenton’s Wood White (Leptidea morsei, Fenton,1881), a relatively small white butterfly of the family Pieridae. The diameter ofits lower wings oscillates between 4.5 and 5.5 cm. The wings are white, in theexternal corner of its front wings there is a black spot, which is fairly distinctin males, but only slightly indicated in females. On the bottom part of its rearwings it has a slight greyish pattern. Still, we should not get into further de-tails as far as the Fenton’s Wood White’s description is concerned, given that wehave another two closely related species in Slovenia: the Wood White (Leptideasinapis, Linnaeus, 1758) and Réal’s Wood White (Leptidea reali, Reissinger,1990). As all three are very much alike, errors can quickly occur during determi-nation, so this should be left to experts, while we better return to the Fenton’sWood White. It is an Eastern-European-Asian species, distributed from CentralEurope across Turkey, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, Northern China and Korea Female ofto Japan. In Europe, it can be found in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Green-veined WhiteHungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Romania (Čelik 2005). Its natural habi- Photo: Tomi Trilartats are open and gappy forests, glades and forest edges. These are thermophilic152

oak forests, with Sessile Oak, Turkey Oak, Maple and Manna Ash prevailing in their tree layer, and with Black Pea (Lathyrus niger), which is the only proven nutritional plant of its caterpillars in Slovenia (Verovnik et al. 2011), thriving in the undergrowth. The Fenton’s Wood Whites produce two broods. The first can be seen from mid-April till the end of May, the second from mid-June to mid-Ju- ly. The Fenton’s Wood White is distributed in the eastern part of Slovenia: in the regions of Dolenjska, Bela krajina, Bizeljsko and Kozjansko and in the cen- tral part of Podravje (Čelik et al. 2005). The results of research carried out in the last few years show that their distribution is shrinking, as some localities in the marginal districts have no longer been confirmed. But the core area of the Fenton’s Wood White in Slovenia is no doubt Bela krajina, where Natura 2000 sites have been delineated for its conservation. They, however, are still not ade- quate enough and will have to be supplemented (Verovnik et al. 2011). And now let us peep into the Kolpa Valley. The main features of its upper part are the steep and partially rocky slopes consisting of carbonate rocks. As they are facing south, they form explicitly warm and dry living environment overgrown by thermophilic forests of Turkey Oak, Hop-Hornbeam and Manna Ash. The shrub layer includes the Wig Tree, which reminds us of Primorje, the Slovenian littoral region. During the summer, the butterflies characteristic of gappy forests,Swallowtail glades and forest edges can be seen in this environment. Among them are thePhoto: Jernej Kavšek Large Chequered Skipper (Heteropterus morpheus), Large Skipper (Ochlodes ve- natus), Green-veined White (Pieris napi), Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi), Common Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus). NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 153

These are followed by several species from the family Nymphalidae, such as theSilver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daph-ne), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Comma (Polygonia c-album), Painted Lady(Vanessa cardui) and Hungarian Glider (Neptis rivularis). At this time, severalBrowns can also be seen: the Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Large Wall Brown(Lasiommata maera), Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania), Ringlet (Aphantopushyperantus), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and Dryad (Minois dryas). With alittle luck, we shall also be able to admire the Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine),our most attractive satyrid. Among numerous other butterflies, it was describedin 1763 by our prominent naturalist D. A. Scopoli, and in his honour this forestbeauty was named after him in our country. In the lower part of the Kolpa Valley,the slopes above the river are more gentle and endowed with a higher number ofmeadows. Most interesting as far as butterflies are concerned are the extensivelyfarmed dry meadows, among which, however, some are becoming increasinglyovergrown. Among the Skippers we shall first catch sight of some of the commonestspecies, such as the Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus mal-vae), Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) and Small Skipper (Thymelicua sylvestris).Somewhat rarer is the Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae), whose caterpillars liveon Marshmallow. The commonest among swallowtails are the Scarce Swallowtail(Iphiclides podalirius) and the Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), whereas Peacockthe Whites are most often represented by the Large White (Pieris brassicae) and Photo: Matjaž Ježthe Cabbage White (Piers rapae). We may also be lucky enough to come acrossthe Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa), which permanently inhabits our littoral154

region, while elsewhere in Slovenia it mostly occurs individually as a migrant. Quite common apart from the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) are the Small Blue (Cupido minimus), Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades) and Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus). The stonier, dry and overgrown areas are inhabited by three fairly »odd« species: the Provencal Short-tailed Blue (Cupido alcetas), Eastern Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama) and Chequered Blue (Scolitantides orion) (Verovnik et al. 2012). The centre of these three species’ distribution lies in the Primorska-Karst region, and their occurrence outside this region is very rare in- deed. In this case, too, we can see an interesting relation of Bela krajina with the Primorska region, as emphasized by the botanist Dr Brane Vreš when listing the »Mediterranean species«. Dry meadows with ample Wild Thyme is home also to the Large Blue (Phengaris arion), which is known to spend part of its life in the an- thills of the ants from the family Myrmica. This ecological specialization, however, made the Large Blues sensitive to the environmental changes, which is the reason why they are endangered and protected in our country. During our summer visit of dry meadows we first caught sight, as far as but- terflies from the family Nymphalidae are concerned, of the Small Tortoiseshells (Aglais urticae), although not butterflies, but their caterpillars. There were a few tens of them crowding in a clump of nettles. There was, of course, no lack ofMale of Alcon Large Blue Heath Fritillaries (Melitaea athalia) flying around in large numbers, amongstPhoto: Tomi Trilar which some copulating pairs could be observed as well. Several Knapweed Fritillaries (Melitaea phoebe), Weaver’s Fritillaries (Boloria dia) and Queen Fritillaries (Isoria lathonia) could also be seen. The conservationally important NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 155

is the Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia), which can be seen in both wet anddry meadows and found in several places in Bela krajina (Verovnik et al. 2012).In Slovenia, it is an endangered (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia,2002) and protected species (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia,2004a); in Europe, it is protected by the Habitats Directive (Čelik et al. 2005). Summer is the time of Browns (Satyridae). These butterflies are predom-inantly brown with well emphasized eye patterns on their wings. The smallestamong them is the Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), a member of the sec-ond generation in this time of the year. Much larger is the dark Meadow Brown(Maniola jurtina), one of the commonest butterflies of our meadows. It flyingrange spreads from lowlands to the altitude of a thousand metres or even more.The Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) is clad in totally different colours withblack-and-white checkered pattern. This species, too, is among the most widelydistributed and abundant species in Slovenia, except that it is more sensitive to theenvironmental changes than the Meadow Brown and has become rare in some ar-eas. Much larger than the two above butterflies is the Dryad (Minois dryas), a darkbrown beauty with big black eyes with blue pupils. Bela krajina has an »odd«species among the Browns as well. This is the Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus), yetanother species whose centre of distribution is in the Primorska region. Now let us take a walk along the Lahinja and through the marshy mead- Red Admiralows along its banks. They begin already at its source below the village of Knežina Photo: Matjaž Ježand continue past Črešnjevec, Šipek and Podlog towards Butoraj. Here we shallget to know some characteristic marsh butterflies. The most interesting among156

them is the Large Copper (Lycaena dispar), which inhabits mostly wet meadows or marshes. The nutritious plants of its caterpillars are different species of Sorrel, especially those that are particularly fond of wet or marshy grounds. The Large Copper, too, is endangered and protected, and fully justified, let us add, given that wetlands are among the most endangered habitats. The wet meadows along the Lahinja River are one of the key areas for the survival of this species in Slovenia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 2004b), which is also the reason why it has been stipulated a Natura 2000 site. Some hygrophilous species can be found here as well: the Purple-edged Copper (Lycaena hippothoe), Dutch Alcon Blue (Phengaris alcon) and Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino). In hygrophil- ous butterflies of Bela krajina yet another special feature can be noticed; they are found in the areas of karstified dry meadows with sinkholes, where they would certainly not be expected at the first sight. Owing to the poorly permeable clay- ey soil, there is enough moisture at the bottom of these sinkholes for hygrophil- ous plants to proliferate in them, and so a network of microhabitats was formed, which enable the hygrophilous butterflies to survive in the midst of this arid land- scape. A good example of such meadows can be seen near the village of Vrhovci. And now let us say a few words about night butterflies (moths), which are represented in our country by more than 3,000 species. Divisioning into dayCaterpillar of and night butterflies is not taxonomically conditioned, but are labelled with re-Small Emperor gard to the predominant time of their activities. In the families in which nightPhoto: Tomi Trilar butterflies prevail, exceptions can be found as well: the species that are active both night and day, or species that are active only during the day. One of such NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 157

examples among Noctuidae (owlet moths) is the Silver Y (Autographa gamma),which is active day and night, or the Burnet Companion Moth (Euclidia glyphi-ca), which is active only during the day and can often be seen flying in the mead-ows. Among Sphingidae (hawk moths), such an example is the HummingbirdHawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), which can be observed by day whilehovering next to flowers, from which it sucks nectar with its long proboscis.Among Arctiidae we shall not overlook the Jersey Tiger Moth (Callimorpaquadripunctaria), which was in 2008 (during the Students’ Camp) observed onthe inflorescence of the Dog Fennel in daytime and on the observation tent dur-ing the night. The Jersey Tiger Moth is one of the species that are protected bythe Habitats Directive. For its survival, the »Natura 2000 Bela Krajina« in thearea of Jugor was stipulated. Something special among night butterflies are, similarly as in day butter-flies, Southern European and Mediterranean thermophilic species. One of themis the Plum Lappet (Odonestis pruni) (Lasiocampidae), which is distributed in thegreater part of Europe, but is much more abundant in its southern parts. Anotherinteresting moth species is the Lappet (Gastropacha quercifolia), which is in itsseating position highly reminiscent of a dry oak leaf. Very distinct among thehawk moths is the southern species Oak Hawk-moth (Marumba quercus), whichis in our country distributed largely in the Primorska region and very rarelyfound in the sub-Pannonian region. As far as Geometridaea are concerned, letus mention two moths that are considered true beauties and were observed nearthe village of Vrhovci. The first is Geometra papilionaria. Its more than six centi-metres long wings are turquoise green with two white lateral lines. The Britishcall it »Large Emerald«, which indeed befits this lady of the night. The other,the Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria) is of similar size and almostsnow white. Its rear wings are tapered and elongated at the end, similar as inswallowtails among day butterflies, which is the reason why some people call itNight Swallowtail. Among thermophilic Geometridaea, an inconspicuously greyGnophos furvatus, which is characteristic of dry grasslands and shrubbery on car-bonates, appeared near Radenci. In such areas, the Ground Lackey Malacosomacastrensis (Lasiocampidae) occurs in large numbers as well. Males’ wings meas-ure are about 3 cm in diameter, while those of the females, which are not so gai-ly coloured, are twice as big. Among Noctuidae, Polipogon gryphaliscan can bementioned first, a tiny species from the subfamily Herminiinae. It inhabits thePrimorska region, and it was only a few years ago that it was found in the sub-Pan-nonian part of Štajerska. But now we have a confirmation that it inhabits Belakrajina as well. Eucarta amethystina and Eucarta virgo are another two SouthernEuropean species of the family Noctuidae, which are also protected owing to theirrareness and threat status. The first, E. amethystina, was recorded in fairly greatnumbers at Radenci, Drašiči litter stands, Marindol litter stands and near Vrhovci.The second, E. virgo, which is much rarer, was found near Vrhovci. It was accom-panied by Calyptra thalictri, another rare species of the owlet moth family; it ischaracteristic of warm steppe shrubbery, where its caterpillars feed on Thalictrum158

spp. To this colourful company, two more species can be added, whose main characteristics are their gaily coloured rear wings: yellow, blue or black. These are Catocala promissa with cherry-red rear wings and Polyphaenis sericata with orange rear wings. Both are characteristic of Bela krajina’s oak forests. On the net of the Camp’s observation tent, many much smaller butter- flies, called »Microlepidoptera«, can also be observed among the relatively large night butterflies mentioned above. Most striking above them are Oncocera sem- irubella (Pyralidae) and Anania verbascalis, Pleuroptya ruralis and Phlyctaenia coronata (Crambidae), which are generally distributed in Slovenia. At Vrhovci, however, we chanced upon the extremely rare Ostrinio quadripunctalis, which can be distinguished by the four light dots on its dark coloured wings. References Čelik, T., Verovnik, R., Gomboc, S., Lasan, M. (2005). Natura 2000 v Sloveniji. Metulji (Lepidoptera). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. 288 str. Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogroženih rastlinskih in živalskih vrst v rdeči seznam. (2002). Uradni list RS, št. 82, str. 8893–8894 in priloga 16, str. 8940–8944. Tolman, T. in R. Lewington, (2008). London: Collins Butterfly Guide. 384 str. Uredba o zavarovanih prosto živečih živalskih vrstah. (2004a). Uradni list RS, št. 46, str. 5963–6016. Uredba o posebnih varstvenih območjih (območjih Natura 2000). (2004b). Uradni list RS, št. 49, Ljubljana, str. 6409–6480. Verovnik, R., Rebeušek, F., Jež, M. (2012). Atlas dnevnih metuljev (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) Slovenije. Miklavž na Dravskem polju: Center za kartografijo favne in flore. 456 str. Verovnik, R., Zakšek, V., Čelik, T., Govedič, M., Rebeušek, F., Zakšek, B., Grobelnik, V., Šalamun, A. (2011). Vzpostavitev in izvajanje monitoringa izbranih ciljnih vrst metuljev v letih 2010 in 2011: končno poročilo. Ljubljana: Biotehniška fakulteta. 195 str.Male of Meadow BrownPhoto: Tomi Trilar NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 159

Streber (Zingel streber)Photo: Ciril Mlinar Cic160

FISHESOF BELA KRAJINAMeta PovžUlica bratov Učakar 108, Ljubljana With their tributaries, the Kolpa, Lahinja and Dobličica of Bela krajinaare karst rivers in the Kolpa catchment that have not yet been spoiled by highdams and reservoirs and can still offer intact habitat to more than a third of ourindigenous freshwater fish species. Bela krajina is a province of both fast and slow flowing waters with high-ly varied channels. The diversity of riparian and aquatic habitats is exceptionaland thus the source of equally exceptional fish diversity as well as species com-position of fish assemblages. These waters are inhabited by at least 35 differentspecies from 11 families – and each of them found its own natural environmenthere. Among the 32 indigenous species, six are endemic to the Danubian catch-ment. Unfortunately, three non-indigenous species can also be found among theinventoried fish species: Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), PumpkinseedSunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) and Prussian Carp (Carassius gibelio) (Table). In thewaters of Bela krajina, in the Kolpa River to be precise, some of Slovenia’s rar-est species have been recorded in the last few decades: Streber (Zingel streber),Balkan Spined Loach (Cobitis elongata), Golden Loach (Sabanejewia balcanica)and Stone Gudgeon (Romanogobio uranoscopus). As a particularly interestingfeature let us mention that two new species for Slovenia have been caught forthe first time in the Kolpa River and added to the list of Slovenian indigenousspecies – the Kessler’s Gudgeon (Romanogobio kesslerii) and Pontian Shemaya(Alburnus sarmaticus). Both were first captured by Austrian students duringtheir regular excursion dedicated to the research of fresh waters, organized in1980 on the Kolpa near Radenci in agreement with the Slovenian Ministry ofEnvironment and Spatial Planning. The Kessler’s Gudgeon was later caught alsoin the Sava River, whereas the Pontian Shemaya is still present only in the Kolpa.Some rare specimens were captured in the Croatian part of the Kolpa immedi-ately after the border as well, but can no longer be found downstream the river.It now looks that that the Kolpa’s section downstream from Radenci remains itsonly piece of habitat in Slovenia – in times past it also lived in the Sava, Drava NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 161

and, according to some very old data, even in Lake Bohinj. The list of Bela kra- Stone Gudgeonjina fishes still lacks, unfortunately, once regularly occurring Sterlet (Acipenser (Romanogobio uranoscopus)ruthenus), which disappeared decades ago. The last one was caught above Ozalj Photo: Janez Gregori(Croatia) in 1972. The great majority of fishes that inhabit Bela krajina’s watercourses areriver species, which means that they require, in order to live and survive, runningwater with plenty of oxygen and varied channels, which they can certainly findin this part of Slovenia. They need river shoals, depths, pools, gravelbars, siltyshoals and river sections overgrown with vegetation, if to spawn successfully andto bring up their offspring. Most of them spawn at gravelbars, only few on theaquatic and underwater vegetation, whereas some other species make us of bothfor this very purpose. Among these are also fishes, which migrate to spawningor grazing sites upstream and downstream either on the rivers themselves or totheir larger or smaller tributaries. The Kolpa is inhabited by 35 fish species, including the three alreadymentioned non-indigenous species (Rainbow Trout, Pumpkinseed Sunfishand Prussian Carp). From its source to Dečina, the following salmonid speciesprevail: European Grayling (Thymallus thymallus), Brown Trout (Salmo trut-ta m. fario), Danube Salmon (Hucho hucho) and their accompanying fishes, i.e.Bullhead (Cottus gobio), Chub (Squalius cephalus) and Stone Loach (Barbatulabarbatula). The largest numbers of different fish species in the Kolpa occur inthe section from Dečina to Metlika, given that the habitat diversity is the great-est in this section as well. From Metlika downstream, fish diversity is gettinggradually lower owing to the changed Kolpa, which acquires in this section the162

Balkan Spined Loach (Cobitis elongata)Photo: Ciril Mlinar Cic character of a wide and slowly running river, now void of salmonids. Various carp species predominate here, such as the Nase Carp (Chondrostoma nasus), Chub (Squalius cephalus), Spirlin (Alburnoides bipunctatus), Vimba (Vimba vimba), Common Bleak (Alburnus alburnus), various Spined Loach species, and others. Apart from the three non-indigenous species, all are autochthonous. The Kolpa has numerous more or less well maintained dams which, how- ever, impede the fishes during their migration upstream or downstream largely in the of spawning migration and low water level seasons. Gravelbars, where sev- eral species spawn, such as Nase Carp (Chondrostoma nasus), Chub (Squalius cephalus) and Danube Roach (Rutilus virgo), are situated mainly below dams, which is why the latter have to be regularly renewed, maintained and, especial- ly during each renovation, planned for vertical-slot fishways for all fish species, which migrate either to their spawning grounds or grazing sites. At Primostek, the Kolpa is joined by its largest tributary, the Lahinja, which at Črnomelj collects the Dobličica and, below Gradec, the Krupa. Owing to its small drop, the Lahinja has in its upper part a very varied channel and a winding course. Pursuant to this is the diversity of fish habitats, diversity of fish species and, in turn, of fish assemblages. The Lahinja has several shoals over- grown with vegetation, depths with gravel beds and occasional deep pools with most different fishes hiding between roots below. The spawning grounds are ex- tremely diverse and therefore suffice the requirements of all fish species. The Lahinja is home to 26 fish and one lamprey species  –Danube Lamprey (Eudontomyzon vladykovi). Just as in the Kolpa, the Lahinja is inhab- ited by the three non-indigenous fish species (Rainbow Trout, Pumpkinseed Sunfish and Prussian Carp), while all the rest are autochthonous. The Lahinja is extremely rich with fish at Butoraj downstream from the reconstructed mill. Just below it, large spawning grounds of the Danube Roach (Rutilus virgo), Nase Carp (Chondrostoma nasus) and Chub (Squalius cephalus) are located, as well as a tract where the larvae of Danube Lamprey (Eudontomyzon vladykovi) wait for NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 163

the time to come when finally maturing into adult lampreys and engenderingnew offspring. Towards the point where the Lahinja flows into the Kolpa, thefish diversity is gradually reduced, with fewer and fewer salmonids and increas-ing number of carp species. With its slow and meandering course, the Dobličica joins the Lahinja asits largest tributary at Črnomelj. The same as its recipient, the Dobličica is rich-ly endowed with diverse aquatic and riparian habitats with profuse herbage orsand, which in facts conditions, just as in previous watercourses, the diversity offish habitats. The Dobličica is inhabited by the already mentioned three non-in-digenous species and by 14 autochthonous fishes with prevalent carp species.Among salmonids, only the Brown Trout (Salmo trutta m. fario) can be found.Carp species are represented by Common Bleak (Alburnus alburnus), Spirlin(Alburnoides bipunctatus), Nase Carp (Chondrostoma nasus), Chub (Squaliuscephalus), Common Barbel (Barbus barbus), and others. The freshwater fishes of Slovenia and therefore those of Bela krajina aswell are endangered in one way or another and thus in need of special protec-tion. This is why they appear on different lists, where indicated whether they areendangered on the Slovenian scale or even at the European level. Together with the Lamprey, no less than 24 species from Bela krajina’swatercourses are listed in different threat categories on the Red List of Slovenia,i.e.: seven in V (vulnerable) category, fourteen in E (endangered) category andone (Sterlet) in Ex (extinct) category. With the Decree on protection of en-dangered animal species, twelve fish species (including Lamprey) are protected.Among the fishes of the Kolpa catchment, no less than six are Danubian endem-ics: Kessler’s Gudgeon (Romanogobio kesslerii), Danube Roach (Rutilus virgo),Danube Salmon (Hucho hucho), Streber (Zingel streber), Balkan Spined Loach(Cobitis elongata) in Stone Gudgeon (Romanogobio uranoscopus) (Table). The most endangered fishes of Bela krajina are certainly those living inthe Krupa, given that this river has been polluted with polychlorinated biphe-nyls (PCB) for several decades. The Krupa, too, is of special interest due to itsvaried channel and diversity of habitats. As far as salmonids are concerned, onlythe Brown Trout can be found in it; the rest are carp species. Although it hasnever been thoroughly researched what lives in it, we presume that all the speciesthat inhabit the Dobličica live here as well.ReferencesIUCN (1994). Red List categories. IUCN Species Survival Commission. Available at:www.iucnredlist.org/Povž, M., Sket, B. (1990). Naše sladkovodne ribe. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. 370 str.Povž, M., Šumer, S., Budihna, N. (1998). Ribe in raki Pokolpja. Ljubljana: i2. 95 str.164

Indigenous species Kolpa 35 Lahinja Dobličica Red list pDrsopetoececnrcieeteesd Danubian species 27 species 17 species   endemics   +Danube Gudgeon – Gobio obtusirostris ++   V +   Ex    Bullhead – Cottus gobio +++          Sterlet – Acipenser ruthenus Ex     E-     E  Chub – Squalius cephalus +++ V     E +  Crucian Carp – Carassius carassius +    V     E    Common Carp – Cyprinus carpio (wild E) + + +   +   E    Tench – Tinca tinca +++ V +   E   +European Grayling – Thymallus thymallus +       +     +  Common Barbel – Barbus barbus ++   E     E    Balkan Spined Loach – Cobitis elongatoides + +   E   + E    Vimba – Vimba vimba +    E       +  European Perch – Perca fluviatilis +++       V    Pontian Shemaya – Alburnus sarmanticus + + + E     V + +Kessler's Gudgeon – Romanogobio kesslerii + +     +   E   +European Bitterling – Rhodeus amarus ++     + + E +  Eurasian Minnow – Phoxinus phoxinus +++ V   12 +Spirlin – Alburnoides bipunctatus +++ 22 6Vladykov's Lamprey – Eudontomyzon vladykovi + +  Danube Roach – Rutilus virgo +++Nase Carp – Chondrostoma nasus ++  Large-spot Barbel – Barbus balcanicus ++  Brown Trout – Salmo trutta m. fario +++Roach – Rutilus rutilus +++Stone Loach – Barbatula barbatula +++Sheatfish – Silurus glanis +++Danube Salmon – Hucho hucho +   Northern Pike – Esox lucius +++Streber – Zingel streber +   Balkan Spined Loach – Cobitis elongata ++  Common Bleak – Alburnus alburnus +   Golden Loach – Sabanejewia balcanica ++  Stone Gudgeon – Romanogobio uranoscopus +    Number of species 31 + 1 1 24 14 ExNon-indigenous species      Pumpkinseed Sunfish – Lepomis gibbosus + + +Prussian Carp – Carassius gibelio + + +Rainbow Trout – Oncorhynchus mykiss + + + Fishes and lampreys in the waters of Bela krajina (Kolpa, Lahinja, Dobličica). 165 NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA

European Tree FrogPhoto: Jani Vidmar, Archives of the Institute of theRepublic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation (IRSNC)166

THE AMPHIBIANSOF BELA KRAJINAMaja Cipot, Aleksandra Lešnik, Katja PoboljšajCentre for the Cartography of Fauna and FloraIntroduction Amphibians are vertebrates with variable body temperature, which de-pends on the environment in which they live. In their annual life cycle they areconfined to aquatic and terrestrial habitats (summer foraging areas and hiber-nation sites) that constitute equal parts of their living space. Breeding sites areusually standing or slow flowing waters, where amphibians mate and lay eggsor larvae. In a few weeks or months, the latter gradually metamorphose intojuveniles that are capable of surviving on land (by developing, for example, limbsand lungs). After spawning, the adult amphibians make back for their terrestrialhabitats, where they feed and accumulate energy supplies for the coming winter.In autumn they set out for their hibernation sites, where they spend this partof the year in an inactive state. The migration distances between habitats differamong amphibian species: Edible Frogs, for example, spend most of the yearclose to their spawning grounds, newts usually migrate from their breeding sitesup to 500 metres away, whereas Common Toads may cover several kilometresduring their migration season. The amphibians’ presence and distribution in a certain area is influencedby numerous factors. It is important that their habitat is diverse enough, whichenables them to find, in a relatively small area, enough suitable foraging areas,shelters and food. Amphibians are increasingly subjected to a series of anthropo-genic disturbances associated with urbanization (chemical, thermal and organicpollution, traffic, introduction of non-indigenous species), the consequences ofwhich are particularly loss, degradation and fragmentation of suitable habitatsand interruption of their migration routes. In the region of Bela krajina, no less than 14 amphibian species of the21 living in Slovenia are known. Until a few years ago, the best researched anddescribed species was the one that remains the most hidden to the everyday ob-server’s eyes. With its two subspecies (Proteus anguinus anguinus Laurenti, 1768, NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 167

and Proteus anguinus parkelj Sket & Arntzen, 1994), the Olm is a highly sig- Common Toadnificant part of the fauna of Bela krajina’s water sources and, above all, such an Photo: Dušan Klenovšekinteresting creature that is presented in a special chapter. Although the remaining 13 amphibian species of Bela krajina are not somysterious as the Olm, their distribution and biology was still poorly researcheduntil a few years ago. In the collection managed by the Biology Departmentof the Biotechnical Faculty in Ljubljana, the oldest amphibian specimens arekept: the European Fire-bellied Toad (Bombina bombina), Italian CrestedNewt (Tririturus carnifex), Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae) and Edible Frog(Pelophylax kl. esculentus) from 1965, while the majority of specimens originatefrom the 1970s and 1980s. The first extensive research dates back to the end of the 1990s, when car-ried out within the framework of the Youth Biology Research Camp Podzemelj‘95 and of the project entitled »Karst Ponds – a Network of Water Habitats«(CKFF 2000). This was followed by the Biology Students Research Camps(Semič 2001, Stari trg ob Kolpi 2008). The most intensive research into Belakrajina’s amphibians species, however, was taking place between 2010 and 2011within the framework of international projects »Protection and Managementof Freshwater Wetlands in Slovenia, WETMAN 2011–2015 (LIFE09 NAT/SI/000374)« and »The Sources of Life/Izviri življenja – Izvori života (OP IPASl-HR 2007–2013)«. The most important aquatic habitats of Bela krajina’s amphibians are vari-ous karst ponds, fishponds and springs, for the region is of a distinctly karst char-acter. The few watercourses do not represent significant amphibian breeding168

sites, the only exception being the larger Lahinja and Kolpa Rivers with theirtributaries and the appertaining mosaic of aquatic and wet habitats. The inhabitants and visitors of Bela krajina most often come across am-phibians in rainy spring evenings with the latter massively crossing the roads onthe way from their wintering quarters to the breeding sites. Most often, this is ourlargest amphibian – the Common Toad. Equally common traffic victims are thesomewhat smaller but much faster brown frogs, the Agile and Common Frogs.In 2010 and 2011, the employees of the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia forNature Conservation, Novo mesto branch, carried more than 6,300 CommonToads and 600 brown frogs across the road at Hrast near Vinica with the aid ofvolunteers in less than two weeks within the campaign entitled »Amphibiansneed us – let’s help them«. There are many more such problematic road sections(black spots) in Bela krajina, invariably near major water sources where amphib-ians lay their eggs (such as the road near the water intake at Krivi potok nearŽelezniki, the road near the impoundment of the Bajer pond near the village ofPotoki, the Komarna vas – Smrečnik road along the karst pond in the middleof pasture at Komarna vas). On the roads along the water sources, where manyadults, spawns and/or tadpoles were counted, a larger number of the run overspecimens can also be expected, with the extent of this problem also dependingon the traffic density on these roads.Amphibian species of Bela krajina Common Toad (Bufo bufo) lays the characteristic strings of spawn wrappedaround aquatic plants in permanent deeper and major waters with the abundanceof water plants, including those inhabited by fishes. In Bela krajina, it is foundin more than 50 water sources, most often in karst ponds, stream water intakes,ponds and oxbows, less often in streams, springs and minor temporary waters.Common Toads lay strings 169of spawn wrapped aroundaquatic plants.Photo: Katja Poboljšaj NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA

European Green Toad (Bufo viridis) belongs to the rare amphibian spe-cies of Bela krajina. Some older data from 1995 are known that report on twosites: Stari trg karst pond and Nerajec quarry (Poboljšaj 1997). The determina-tion, however, is not certain as only tadpoles were found in both cases. In 2011,too, a tadpole was caught during sampling in the karst pond at Hrast pri Jugorju,which greatly differed from hundreds of Common Toad’s tadpoles and couldpossibly be a tadpole belonghing to the European Green Toad. Just on the basisof these finds it of course cannot be claimed that the European Green Toad livesin Bela krajina, although in view of the species’ distribution in Slovenia and ofits low detectability we expect that with the recovery of adults we shall be ableto confirm the species’ presence in this part of Slovenia as well. In Bela krajina, the Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina) and Common Frog(Rana temporaria) from the group of brown frogs are generally distributed am-phibian species as well. In the higher lying woodlands (Poljanska gora and thefoot of Kočevski Rog in the west, and the foot of Žumberačka gora northeastof Metlika), the Common Frog is more common and abundant than the AgileFrog, while in the lowland part of Bela krajina the situation is quite opposite, forhere the Agile Frog prevails. Brown frogs lay their eggs in clumps. Agile Frogs lay them separately andusually arrange them evenly in the water; they are never concentrated in a singlespot and they rarely sink. Common Frogs lay eggs in a single spot on mats, mostoften in the sunniest part of the pools. This is why each clump often cannot becounted separately, which means that the number of clumps has to be countedon each separate mat which, however, is quite difficult in larger, overgrown andhardly passable waters. By counting the clumps in each separate water source, thesmallest number of egg-laying adults can be estimated. In 2011, a good 2,300Common Frog’s clumps and 5,000 Agile Frog’s clumps were thus counted in allexamined water sources, which means that in 2011 from 4,600 to 6,500 adultCommon Frogs and from 10,000 to 18,000 adult Agile Frogs breed in thesewater sources. In 2011, 25,000 adult true frog individuals bred in the examinedwater sources. Considering the fact that many more water sources exists in thearea of Bela krajina than examined in 2011, the number of brown frogs is nodoubt much higher. In spite of it, however, no fairly accurate figure can be given,as we are not acquainted with the conservation status and availability of all arti-ficial breeding sites, such as karst ponds, riverine woodlands and pools, let alonethe natural breeding sites, such as oxbows, floodplain meadows and floodplainwoodlands along the streams. The third brown frog – Moor Frog (Rana arvalis) – has not been confirmedin the area of Bela krajina as yet, but in view of its distribution today and in the pasta possibility exists that it has survived here as well. The nearest known populationsof this species inhabit the areas of Krakovski gozd near Novo mesto and CroatianPokuplje – the Pannonian part of the Kolpa River valley near Karlovac. Green frogs arrive at their spawning grounds a little later than toads andtrue frogs. In central Europe, the group of green frogs (genus Pelophylax) is170

Green frogs lovesunbathing on the watersurface.Photo: Vinko Kukman,Archives of IRSNC composed of three taxa. Pool Frog (P. lessonae) and Marsh Frog (P. ridibundus) are the species from which the Edible Frog (P. kl. esculentus) originated through a special type of cross-breeding (hybridogenesis), but is not a species by biolog- ical definition. The common characteristics of the taxa in the group of green frogs is that the individuals keep close to water all year round, but the taxa differ from each other in ecological sense as well. Marsh Frogs, for example, prefer larger standing waters (e.f. lakes, larger ponds, even rivers) and also overwinter in them, while Pool Frogs are more inclined to smaller waters and spend the winter on land not far away from their spawning grounds. As a hybrid, the Edible Frog occupies the entire span of water habitats. These are those particular amphibians that are most often met in the summer months by promenadres, anglers and re- searchers. When startled on land, they immediately jump into the water, causing the characteristic »splash«. In the mating period they are active day and night, othwerwise mostly during the day, when calling constantly. The Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina variegata) can be seen only by an at- tentive visitor of smaller karst ponds and sunlit forest cart tracks with puddles left in them after rainy days. As the Yellow-bellied Toad’s back is of greyish brown to dark olive protective colours, it is hardly noticeable in muddy poodles in cart tracks. This is why we have to pay particular attention when hearing the charac- teristic silent melodic calling: ooo-ooo-ooo. When getting better acquainted with this barely five centimetres large amphibian, we get particularly enthusi- astic over its heart-shaped pupils and the fact that at a direct contact with the predator (which is the human hand as well), this frog subsides, arches its back, lifts its head and back part of the body, and usually places its front limbs over its closed eyes with the bottom part up, pretending to be dead. Thus it exposes part of the orange-black deterring belly pattern, which is supposed to freighten the predator. This is the so-called Yellow-bellied Toad’s reflex. During the intensive research carried out in 2010 and 2011, adult Yellow- bellied Toads were found on 38 water sources; juvenile and subadult individuals NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 171

were recorded on 8 sources, while on 8 weater sources reproduction with presentspawns and/or tadpoles was confirmed. In the area of Bela krajina, the Yellow-bellied Toad was found in the past at 39 water localities, 19 of which were in2010 and 2011 re-examined, but were found only on 7 of them. On 12 watersources, on which found in the past, it was not registered in 2010 and 2011.Most often it was recorded in karst ponds (42% of the finds), in cart track pud-dles and along streams (27% of the finds), 9% were from streams, 9% from largerstanding waters such as ponds and water intakes, and twice the toad was foundin a spring and marsh (4%) and once each in a canal and trough (2%). The most prominent with regard to the number of found individualswere the valley of Križanji stream, the area of Sinjevrški karst pond with thespring and stream, the valley of Krivi stream in the forest above the water intake,puddle along the Komarna vas - Štale road, karst pond in the village of Zagozdac,the area of both ponds near the sawmill at Ponikve, Rožnodolski bajer karstpond, and Grabrna karst pond in the village of Doljna Lokvica. Our smallest as well as noisiest frog is the European Tree Frog (Hyla ar-borea). A male »choir« can be heard even a few kilometres away. The EuropeanTree Frog is rare, although generally distributed all over Slovenia. In Bela krajina,too, it was found only on 13 water sources between 2010 and 2011. This is thespecies that selects for its spawning grounds smaller sunlit pools with amplewater vegetation but – what is most important – without fishes in them. Wefound it in 8 karst ponds and 5 larger standing waters (ponds and stream waterintakes). In spring and summer, »dragon-like« silhoutettes can be observed rest-ing on the bottom or floating in the middle of more or less permanent waters aswell as on small to medium sized standing and slow-flowing waters without fish-es. These are not dragon puppies but newts – representatives of urodeles. Theyare small to medium sized amphibians without parotid glands and with latteral-ly flattened tail. They are known for their distinct sexual dimorphism. Males are Smooth Newt Photo: Dušan Klenovšek172

more colourful than females, have swollen cloaca during the mating season and ridge developed along their backs. Bela krajina is home to three of the four newt species living in Slovenia. They are distinguished from each other by their size, shape of the back ridge and colour of their belly. With its 10 to 18 cm long body, the Italian Crested Newt (Triturus car- nifex) is the largest newt species in Europe. It is distributed all over Bela krajina, but is rare and occurring in low densities. In the last decade, the state of its hab- itat has worsened (unfavourable status) and its pupulation is clearly on decline. In 2010 and 2011, all Italian Crested Newt’s known sites were examined several times. At 9 of the 13 previously known sites the species was not confirmed. In half of these karst ponds, presence of fishes was confirmed, while the rest were dry, which in our opinion were the two main reasons for the Italian crested Newt’s distribution decline in Bela krajina. The Common Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) and Alpine Newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) belong to the group of smaller urodeles, as they do not exceed 11 cm in length. They select more or less permanent, small to medium sized standing or slow-flowing waters void of fishes. With predator fishes they can coexist in those waters where shallower parts with more aquatic vegetation are at their disposal, as suitable hiding places can be found there. In the mating season, the Common Newt males develop a distinct jag- ged crest along their backs, extending from the back part of the head to the tail. Their back limbs have webbed feet, with the bottom part of their tail acquiring blue and red colours. The belly is strewn with black dots; it is gently orange in the middle and white on the side (yellow-white in females, which are more mon- ochromatic and with smaller dots on their bellies). The Alpine Newt’s characteristic feature is its single-coloured yellow-or- ange or even bright orange-red belly without dots. The throat is of the same colour as the belly, although it may be strewn with tiny black dots in someEgg of the ItalianCrested Newt (right) incomparison with the eggbelonging to the oneof the »small« newts(Common or Alpine).Eggs of the ItalianCrested Newt are larger(4.5 to 6 mm) with whiteto light yellow embryo,while eggs of the smallnewts are smaller (3 mm)with darker embryo.Photo: Maja Cipot NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 173

individuals. During the mating season, males develop the characteristic yel-low-white ridge with black dots that form a zigzag pattern. Both Alpine and Common Newts are generally distributed in Bela kra-jina, except that the Common Newt is present in much fewer water sources(a total of 21) than the Alpine Newt (a total of 43). They also differ in termsof the types of water sources in which they live. Both are most often found inkarst ponds and pools. For the Alpine Newt, karst springs represent 48%, forthe Common Newt 57% of all localities. The Alpine Newt can often be foundalso in smaller and inconstant waters, such as puddles in cart tracks (16%), andin springs (9%). We shall also often come across it in larger standing waters –ponds and stream water intakes (18%), although the Common Newt is foundmuch more often in them (33%). The majority of the Common Newt’s sites arealso the Alpine Newt’s sites at the same time. A very special inhabitant of the Bela krajina forests is the Fire Salamander.Although a common urodele, generally distributed all over Slovenia, the adultswith their characteristic yellow-black pattern are rarely met during the day. Mostoften they can be seen mostly during the night and after rain, when the air isstill moist enough, and even this predominantly in the vicinity of streams andsmaller oxygen-rich pools, in which females lay their larvae; the greater part ofthe day is spent by Fire Salamanders in their various hideouts. In Bela krajina, itwas quite expectedly found mostly in in streams (16), springs (12) or in standingwaters that are closely associated with this amphibian – in karst ponds behindsprings (3) and in ponds or stream water intakes (4). It is most probably presentin the majority of springs and in the entrance parts of the caves. In streams, inwhich it has no enemies, even a few hundred Fire Salamander’s larvae could beseen. Apart from its interesting coloration, the Fire Salamander is very inter-esting owing to the fact that it mates, in contrast to the majority of Slovenianamphibians, on land and is viviparous. Neither does it lay eggs, but already welldeveloped larvae, which are initially developed in the body of a female, which Fire Salamander Photo: Mira Ivanovič174

deposits them  – after about 6 to 8 months, when the larvae have already de- veloped limbs and external gills  – in the pools of smaller forest streams. Fire Salamanders are long-lived; they usually live more than 20 years, while the high- est recorded age reached even 50 years. It is most probable that higher-lying localities and dry karst country in the Councils of Črnomelj, Metlika and Semič Councils are inhabited also by the Alpine Salamander (Salamandra atra), whose central distribution in Slovenia is limited to the Julian Alps, the Karavanke Mts and Mt Snežnik at an altitude between 600 and 2,500 metres. To Bela krajina nearest known information on this species comes from Gorjanci Mts and Žumberačka gora in Croatia. As far as the shape of its body is concerned, the Alpine Salamander resembles the Fire Salamander, except that it is smaller, slimmer and totally black. Its special feature lies in the fact that it has perfectly adapted to the life at high altitudes and in the dry karst world. The same as the Fire Salamander, it mates on land and is vivipa- rous, but is, in contrast to it, totally water-independent. After fertilized, the eggs and larvae develop in the female’s body, and it is only after two years – in higher places even after four – that only two fully metamorphosed young salamanders capable of living on land usually hatch from the initial 60 eggs. References Cipot, M., M. Govedič, K. Poboljšaj, B. Skaberne in M. Sopotnik (2011). Popis začetnega stanja in preučevanje vpliva projektnih aktivnosti na populacije dvoživk (Amphibia) na projektnem pilotnem območju Gornji kal (kal Hrast in kal Krivača): končno poročilo. Naročnik: Zavod Republike Slovenije za varstvo narave, Ljubljana. Miklavž na Dravskem polju: Center za kartografijo favne in flore. 29 str., pril. Govedič, M., M. Cipot, G. Lipovšek, B. Skaberne, R. Slapnik, M. Sopotnik, A. Šalamun, B. Trčak, M. Vamberger in J. Valentinčič (2011). Inventarizacija flore in favne vodnih virov na območju občin Črnomelj, Metlika in Semič: končno poročilo. Naročnik: Zavod Republike Slovenije za varstvo narave. Miklavž na Dravskem polju: Center za kartografijo favne in flore. 84 str.Common FrogPhoto: Slavko Polak NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 175

ProteusPhoto: Domin Dalessi176

OLM –CAVE SALAMANDERBoris Bulog, Lilijana Bizjak MaliUniversity of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology Proteus, the cave-dwelling salamander has been known to the locals of theSlovenian Karst region for centuries, as evidenced by its depiction carved in the10th century by a stonemason in a well-head. This work of art is today kept by theKunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna. It was first documented in 1689 by the re-nowned chronicler and polymath Janez Vajkard Valvasor in the Glory of the Duchyof Carniola (Die Ehre des Herzogthums Krain), who was neither a botanist nor zo-ologist but interested in both plants and animals. While travelling between Logatecand Vrhnika in 1682, he learned about water allegedly flowing only at a specifictime. According to the local farmers, the reason for it lay in a dragon living in thenearby mountain. To Valvasor, the would-be dragon was »a scant inch long and liz-ard-like being, in short, it was a worm and vermin, as often found here and there.«At Stična in the Dolenjska region, where these little animals are thrown onto thesurface during high waters, the locals referred to them as »human fish« already atthat time because of its skin colour, similar to that of white people. Blind cave sal-amanders were found here also by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, a mine doctor fromIdrija, who sent them all over the world to be researched by his learned friends. In 1768, the blind cave salamander was presented to the learned worldby the physician and zoologist J. N. Laurenti, who named it Proteus anguinus –after the Greek god Proteus. Owing to its elongated shape, the Proteus was giventhe species name anguinus (snakelike). It is classified in the family Proteidae. At times, the blind cave salamander is informally called simply “močeril”which translates as »the one that burrows into wetness«, thus initially namedby H. Freyer.Evolution of the cave salamander Proteus is the only cave-dwelling vertebrate in Europe and the most sig-nificant biological attraction of subterranean water of the Slovenian Karst at NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 177

the same time. It could have developed only from Drawing of the blind cave salamanderan inhabitant of surface waters, reminiscent of the in Laurenti’s book »Specimen Medicum,recently discovered black cave salamander. Taking Exhibens Synopsininto account the Proteus’ physiology, the palaeogeo- Reptilium Emendatamgraphical and palaeoclimatological data show that its cum Experimentis circa Venena« (1768).northernmost populations possibly moved into theunderground only after the glaciers’ retreat less than10,000 years ago. The genetic research has indicatedthat Proteus split into somewhat different subspecies(or perhaps even species) already in the Pliocene sur-face rivers and lakes. During the progressive karstification, its population spreadinto subterranean waters as well, while their surface parts became extinct. Today’sblack Olm moved underground either very late or was relatively so well suppliedwith food in its habitat that it was able to retain the appearance of a surface animal. In 1819, P. Confgliachi and M. Rusconi published one of the most thorough early anatomical studies of the blind cave salamander with beautiful and detailed drawings.178

Proteus is distributed in the underground of the Dinaric karst from the Isonzo River in Italy in the northwest to the Trebišnjica River in Herzegovina in the southeast. Approximately 250 of its locations are known, most of them in Slovenia.Cave salamander’s The most significant characteristics of the Olmnewborns have relativelywell developed eyes and Cave salamander is an amphibian. Most of its relatives (salamanders,skin pigmentation. They newts, and frogs) have their larvae in the water, but after their metamorphosisfeed on yolk supplies in the adult animals move to land – and then lay their eggs in the water once more.the gut wall for a whole As neotenic animals, cave salamander does not metamorphose, which meansmonth after hatching. that when adult and sexually mature they retain certain juvenile characters ofPhoto: Marko Aljančič larvae owing to their delayed somatic development. They retain their external gills, gill slits and skin with several larval characteristics. The unpigmented cave salamander is also troglomorphic with the outer appearance of a cave-dwelling animal: the skin that is usually without the dark pigment, regressed eyes with traces of eye lens and degenerated sensory cells in the retina, disproportionate growth of the head longitudinally, and elongated and truncated snout. It is also biologically adapted to the underground: the need for food is relatively small, metabolism slowed down, somatic development slow, the number of off- spring low; some of its senses, electroreceptive amp- ullary organs, the inner ear and organs for detecting the Earth’s magnetic field are better developed and more sensitive than in sur- face amphibians. The unpigmented blind cave salamander is a Dinaric ende- mit, which means that its distribution is limited to the Dinaric karst. The black Proteus is even stricter endemit, probably limited to Bela krajina. At the same time, the cave salamander is a relict, therefore a remnant of certain fauna that inhabited a wider area in the ancient past. Development of the Olm (ontogenesis) From the very beginning, biologists have been highly interested in the blind cave salamander’s reproduction. Some of them claimed that it gives birth to live young, while others insisted that it lays eggs. At the end they agreed that the form of reproduction depends on aquatic temperature, although they had NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 179

no real evidence to prove this. In the natural The black (andenvironment, nobody has succeeded to moni- unpigmented)tor the course of reproduction in our endemic subspecies of Olmcave-dwelling amphibian as yet. In a labora- has well developedtory pool, the female selects a suitable place, mechanoreceptiveto which she sticks up to 70 eggs mostly to neuromasts andthe lower side of the rocks or into inaccessible electroreceptivecrevices. She adheres them separately and pro- ampullary organstects them against other specimens. on front of the head. The relatively well The embryonic development lasts up developed eyes areto five months, when no more than 2 cm long covered by translucentlarvae hatch from eggs. The claim that females skin. In Proteus, thegive birth to live young in special circum- eardrums are notstances has never been proved. In seminatural developed.conditions, unpigmented cave salamander’s Photo: Domin Dalessidevelopment lasts for about 140 days at 10 degrees Centigrade. Then the larvaehatch from egg envelops, and when they use up the supply of yolk in the gutwall in the following 115 days, they begin to feed independently and becomeincreasingly similar to adult cave salamanders. By changing the temperature inlaboratory conditions, their development can be either accelerated or inhibit-ed. The blind cave salamander’s larva has a fairly normally developed eye which,eventually, falls behind in its growth, and some of its components gradually at-rophy or totally disappear. The eye sinks deep into the subcutaneous tissue. Theunpigmented Olm becomes sexually mature as late as between its fourteenthand sixteenth year and most certainly lives to the age of at least 70 years, giventhat some individuals were kept in captivity for that particular period of time.180

Underwater audiograms The black Olm (Proteus anguinus parkelj)of the non-pigmentedcave salamander Proteus It was discovered in 1986, some 300 years after the unpigmented Olm.anguinus anguinus (empty Specifically, it was found by the Karst Research Institute’s employees whilesquares and triangles) and pumping water from the Dobličica spring for water sources research purposes.of the black subspecies Somewhat later it was found in the nearby Jelševniščica spring at Jelševnik nearProteus anguinus parkelj Črnomelj. It inhabits, the same as the unpigmented cave salamander, only cave(full triangles) waters, and it differs from the white one by having very dark pigmented skin and(Schlegel, Steinfartz in quite normally developed eyes. Its eye has three to five times larger diameter andBulog 2009). relatively well developed lens and sensory cells in the retina. Its head is relatively shorter, rounder and, in general, shaped more nor- mally. It has a relatively longer body, but shorter legs than the white cave salamander. It also has more verte- brae in the spine. The biochemical research (allozyme analysis) has shown that the white Olms of Bela kra- jina are more closely related to the black Olms than the white Olms of Dolenjska are to the white Olms of Notranjska. The black Proteus is thus just a popula- tion of Dolenjska group that lagged behind in adapt- ing to the cave environment. Although the black Olm does not show this with its appearance, it is still a cave animal, which comes up to the surface only at night, avoiding light. It looks that it lives exclusively in the immediate vicinity of Črnomelj and is in the imme- diate neighbourhood with the white cave salamander. Hearing abilities of Proteus Little is known about the hearing abilities of Urodeles. Air-filled mouth cavity adjacent to the in- ner ear and lungs may, together with the sensory cells of the inner ear, act as under water sound pressure transducers. In Proteus the oral cavity is frequently filled with air that is not used in breathing activity. Its ability of sound pressure detection is possibly achieved with the tight anatomical junction between the ceiling of the gas filled oral cavity and the oval Apparatus for monitoring behavioural experiments in the study of hearing abilities of the human fish. Photo: Boris Bulog NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 181

window. The first behavioural (ethological) tests have shown that its sensitivityfor detecting underwater sound waves reaches into the area of frequencies ofsound waves between 10 and more than 12,000 Hz, while the greatest sensitivityis reached between 1,500 and 2,000 Hz. The results of our research show thatin Proteus the inner ear is an important mechanoreceptive sensory organ, whichenables this animal acoustic orientation in the specific underground aquatic en-vironment. Through the detection of sound waves, created by the rising waterlevel, it probably enables them, on the other hand, a timely retreat into the deep-er regions of their aquatic habitat, before they are thrown out on the surface,where they could possibly become prey of fishes and birds.Electroreceptors At the head of the unpigmented Olm, we discovered a new type of sen-sory organs. With an electron microscopic analysis of the club-shaped senso-ry elements we were able to uphold the assumption that we were dealing withelectroreceptive ampullary organs. Ampullary organs detect weak electric fieldsof animal and non-living origin in the environment and convey, to the animal,information for communication and orientation, and can enable prey detectionat the same time. Behavioural studies have demonstrated that human fish can de-tect weak electrical fields all the way to a value of 0.1 mV / cm. Black subspeciesof Olm has a slightly less sensitive ampullary organs.Orientation by the Earth’smagnetic field Detection of Earth’s magnetic field is one of With the aid of an infrared camera and a specialthe important sensory perception by means of which program, the computer initially recognizes thethe individual organisms may orient, especially for animal’s body and then simplifies it in a chain of eightlong-distance migration. We examined whether this segments (the head is marked yellow, the body withsensory ability is developed also in Proteus. orange crosses). In the upper left corner, the direction is recorded, in which the animal’s head is turned In the behavioural experiment, the Olm (the azimuth is the angle between the north and theswims in a small round container, which exerts no selected direction).influence with its shape on the animal’s orientation. Photo: Gregor AljančičThe container is surrounded by large coils, withwhich we change the magnetic field. The animal islooking for an exit from the container (experimentalarena) in different directions. The events are record-ed by an infrared camera (in visible light, the animalwould be disturbed by recording). With the aid of aspecial program, the computer saves the image everyfive seconds and analyses it concurrently: it monitors182

the animal’s movements and records the direction faced by it in a certain mo- ment. A large number of the data gathered in this way are processed with a sta- tistical program, which calculates from a set of data whether Proteus chooses a certain direction more often than others. The role of the eye and the light sensitive skin in dark environmentRelatively well It has long been known that the human fish detects light using skin wheredeveloped black we also found the presence of specific visual pigment in preliminary studies.Olm's eye.Photo: Boris Bulog The results of our latest research regarding the blind cave salamander’s eyes show that the photoreceptive sensory cells in the atrophied eye still contain light sensitive visual pigments (the pigments that participate in light reception). We arrived at this conclusion with the immunocytochemical analysis. Deep in the underground, which is dominated by permanent darkness, the eyes lose their role, and as a result of adaptation to the cave environment the blind cave sala- mander’s eyes become atrophied. They are detectable only as two tiny black dots shining through the skin. The physiological and behavioural research has shown that these eyes are still sensitive to light. It is interesting that the blind cave sala- mander’s young hatch with well developed eyes which, however, gradually atro- phy in their further development. If we have a look at the atrophied eye of the unpigmented blind cave salamander under the microscope, we shall notice that in some populations, it has retained the lens, retina and the optic nerve, but that the photoreceptive sensory cells, which are located in the retina, are rudimentary. The lens, too, is highly atrophied or even totally absent in individual popu- lations. Part of the sensory cell, which receives light stimuli, is in surface-inhabiting vertebrates built of a long pile of discs created through the folding of the cell membrane. It’s called a rod or cone. In the blind unpigmented cave salamander, no such regularly formed structures can be noted – the membranes of the sensory parts have disintegrated and are incorpo- rated into small spherical structures. The black cave salamander has incomparably better developed eyes than its unpigmented coun- terpart. They are similar to the eyes of its close relatives from the genus Necturus that inhabit surface waters of the eastern part of North America. The sensory cells in the retina maintain a similar structure as in surface vertebrate species. Of course, we can ask ourselves about the importance of a more or less regressed eyes in Proteus that still contain visual pigments and light-sensitive (photosen- sitive) skin in an underground water environment. Olm can be felt through that detect light in time to avoid dangerous exit from the cave dwellings. In surface waters, cannot long survive due to many aquatic predators. NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 183

The Olm’s threat status Karst covers almost a half of the country, and in its underground waterbasins our endemic cave amphibian – Proteus – has found its shelter as well. Alarge part of Slovenia between Ljubljana marsh and the Adriatic Sea is char-acterized by the classic karst, while Bela krajina is a specific geomorphologicalentity, a contact area of the Dinaric high karst and Bela krajina shallow karst,also known as the Bela krajina plain. Any pollution of the karst country’s surface may affect the quality of wa-ter in its underground. Owing to the poor public utility infrastructure, particu-larly the sewer system, the runoffs are usually routed into the nearby streamsor rifts in the ground. In the karst world, the public utility and industrial watertreatment plants are very rare indeed. Among dangerous pollutants are also com-munal and industrial landfills; with refuse, numerous pitches and sinkholes arefilled. The agricultural activities, too, can seriously pollute underground water inthe karst due to the extreme permeability of its terrain, specifically through theexcessive use of (questionable) slurry, artificial fertilizers, protective agents andthe stockfarms’ insufficient sewer system. Very serious damages are thus also inflicted to the rich cave fauna in theDinaric karst. We should of course be well aware of the consequences brought bypollution of the karst systems, especially cave waters. The karst underground’s self-cleaning capacities are poor, as they are lim-ited only to the filtration and mechanical sedimentation. Self-cleaning processesin surface rivers contribute significantly to the inclusion of substances in circula-tion, the importance of the involvement of primary producers (cyanobacteria, al-gae and macrophytes), animal part and decomposers. In the underground watersthere are not the primary producers due to the absence of light and self-cleaningprocess is incomplete. Hence, all products of biological decomposition are re-tained in the water. As the underground pollution has increased owing to thevarious human activities, the underground’s fauna, including the highly threat-ened Olm, is endangered as well, apart from groundwater that represents themain reservoir of drinking water in Slovenia. The research into the physical-chemical parameters in the last few dec-ades has shown: From 22 to 65 times higher arsenic content in the black Olm fromJelševnik in comparison with the content of this pollutant in individuals of theunpigmented specimens from uncontaminated areas; 7 times higher zinc content in the black Olm in comparison with the con-tent of this pollutant in the individuals of the unpigmented specimens from uncon-taminated areas; The reason for the increased levels of zinc in black Olm could bein a nearby landfill of the foundry Belt, which contained an elevated concentrationof zinc. The factory was later to rehabilitate polluted area and the pollution situa-tion has improved significantly. Elevated concentrations of arsenic were most likelydue to the use of pesticides (which include As) in the nearby fields and vineyards!184

The research vent- A great warning to us should be one of the worst natural disasters inhole in Jelševnik near Slovenia owing to the several decades lasting poisoning of everything alive withČrnomelj, where polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from Factory Iskra Semic in the source of thequality checks of Krupa river, including the blind cave salamander and the locals living along thethe groundwater river!and sediments areperformed regularly, Even today, over 50 years after the worst pollution during high waters,and where activities the source still ejects dead Olms, which have exceptionally high concentrationof Black Proteus are of PBCs in their tissues – one of the most poisonous and deadliest substancesregistered with an ever produced by human hands.IR camera in thedarkness of its natural The total concentration of PCBs in separate tissues of the blind cave sal-environment. amander from the Krupa source still reaches 30 times higher concentrations inPhoto: Boris Bulog comparison with individuals from uncontaminated areas; Let us not forget that many toxic agents accumulate in our tissues for sev- eral decades, the same as the poisonous PCBs have been piling up in the tissues of the blind cave salamander and people who have lived along the Krupa River, feeding on fish, milk, eggs and vegetable plants heavily contaminated with these deadliest poisons! Nitrate is (apart from pesticides) a matter that is, in terms of surpassing limit values of drinking water in Slovenia, one of the most problematic substanc- es among them all. According to the data available to us, we can conclude that nitrogenous fertilizers (ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate) great- ly contribute, together with pesticides, to the decline in abundance of several amphibian populations, which are extremely sensitive to the pollution of this kind already at the value under 10 milligrams per litre. Nitrates in the form of sodium nitrate have a very damaging impact primarily on larval stages (larvae) and neotenic forms, such as the blind cave salamander that permanently inhabits the aquatic environment. In Jelševnik the levels of nitrate in the period from 2000 to 2009 ranged from ~ 1 to 9 milligrams per litre, and in the last two years rise even over 16 mil- ligrams per litre, in some nearby localities even to al- most 20 milligrams per litre. Elevated concentrations have occurred periodically in particular in the summer and autumn months are most likely due to intense fertilization of agricultural land, with which nitrogen compounds are washed by rainfall into groundwater, whereas the high spring nitrate values are probably the consequence of intensive fertilizing prior to the grow- ing season. The explicit rise of nitrate values could have been noted in 2010 and 2011, when a biogas power plant began to function at Lokve near Črnomelj. NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 185

»At the EU level, Olm the cave salamander is classified in AppendixII and Appendix IV of the Directive on the conservation of natural habitatsand free-living animal and plant species, or Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) inshort. The objective of Appendix II is to retain favourable conservation statusof animal and plant species as well as of their habitats through the protection ofspecies and identification of special protection areas. These areas constitute theNatura 2000 network. Appendix IV specifically refers to »animal and plant spe-cies of community interest in need of strict protection«. Taking of cave salaman-der individuals from nature or their retention is thus allowed only under strictlycontrolled conditions and in limited numbers, as stipulated by the competentnational authorities. In Slovenia, Proteus was for the first time protected in 1922,together with the entire cave fauna, but the measures aiming at its protection inpractice have not been implemented. In 1982, it was included on the list of rareendangered species, for which strict trading prohibition applies. With its entryinto EU and adoption of the European legal order, Slovenia was obliged to in-troduce appropriate mechanisms for the protection of species from the HabitatDirective. On this basis, the cave salamander appears in the new Regulations oninclusion of endangered plant and animal species on the Red List. The PostojnaCaves and other cave salamander’s habitats have become, on the other hand,Slovenian part of the Natura 2000 network.«Bulog, Polajnar, 2007: sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Clove%C5%A1ka_ribica.ReferencesBulog, B. (2003). Amphibia: Proteus. V: Gunn, John (ur.). Encyclopedia of caves and karstscience (str. 62–64). New York; London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.Bulog, B. (2007). Okoljske in funkcionalno-morfološke raziskave močerila (Proteus anguinus).Proteus 70, (3), 102–109.Bulog, B. (2012). Ocena okoljskega onesnaženja kraškega podzemlja v Jelševniku pri Črnomljuin vplivi na črno podvrsto močerila (Proteus anguinus parkelj, Amphibia, Proteidae). Ljubljana:Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehniška fakulteta, Oddelek za biologijo. 16 str., tabele.Bulog, B., Mihajl, K., Jeran, Z., Toman, M. J. (2002). Trace element concentrations in the tissuesof Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Caudata) and the surrounding environment. Water air soil pollut.136, (1/4), 147–163.Bulog, B., Schlegel, P. (2000). Functional morphology of the inner ear and underwateraudiograms of Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Urodela). Pflügers Arch. 439, (3), suppl., str. R165–R167.Schlegel, P., Bulog, B. (1997). Population-specific behavioral electrosensitivity of the Europeanblind cave salamander, Proteus anguinus. J. Physiol. (Paris) 91, 75–79.Schlegel, P. A., Steinfartz, S., Bulog, B. (2009). Non-visual sensory physiology and magneticorientation in the blind cave salamander, Proteus anguinus (and some other cave-dwelling urodelespecies). Review and new results on light-sensivity and non-visual orientation in subterraneanurodeles (Amphibia). Animal biology 59, 351–384.Bulog, B., Polajnar, J. (2007). Človeška ribica. Available at:sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Clove%C5%A1ka_ribica.186

Bulog, B., Polajnar, J. (2007). Črni močeril. 4 str. Available at: sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Crni_mo%C4%8Deril. Kos, M., Bulog, B. (2000). The ultrastructure of photoreceptor cells in the pineal organ of the blind cave salamander, Proteus anguinus (Amphibia, Urodela). Pflügers Arch. 439, (3), suppl., str. R175–R177. Kos, M., Bulog, B., Szél, Á., Röhlich, P. (2001). Immunocytochemical demonstration of visual pigments in the degenerate retinaland pineal photoreceptors of the blind cave salamander (Proteus anguinus). Cell Tissue Res. 303, 15–25. Pezdirc, M., Heath, E., Bizjak-Mali, L., Bulog, B. (2011). PCB accumulation and tissue distribution in cave salamander (Proteus anguinus anguinus, Amphibia, Urodela) in the polluted karstic hinterland of the Krupa River, Slovenia. Chemosphere 84, (7), 987–993, doi: 10.1016/j. chemosphere.2011.05.026. Sket, B. (1997). Distribution of Proteus (Amphibia: Urodela: Proteidae) and its possible explanation. Journal of Biogeography 24(3): 263-280. Sket, B. and Arntzen, J.W. (1994). A black, non-troglomorphic amphibian from the karst of Slovenia: Proteus anguinus parkelj n. ssp. (Urodela: Proteidae). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde 64(1): 33-53.Jelševnik spring, hometo the black subspeciesof the Olm.Photo: Andrej Hudoklin NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 187

European Pond Turtle female (Emys orbicularis) in Bela krajina.Photo: Melita Vamberger188

EUROPEANPOND TURTLEMelita VambergerMuseum of Zoology (Museum fuer Tierkunde),Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Germany It is the only native muddy freshwater turtle that occurs in our country,specifically in standing to slowly flowing waters with ground. It is generally dis-tributed all over Slovenia except for the Alps. Owing to the destruction of thehabitat suitable for it and the fact that it was formerly hunted for food, it is pro-tected in our country with the Natura 2000 network and registered in the RedList of endangered reptiles (Reptilia). It is recognized by its characteristic yellow spots on the entire body, darkdish-like shell and relatively long black tail with two occasional yellow stripeson its back. The shell length does not exceed twenty-three centimetres; in mostcases, it is much shorter. The differences between the sexes are highly distinct.Males have concave belly shield called plastron, thick tail with anus, which isclearly situated behind the edge of the shell, and reddish to brown coloured iris.Females have generally more voluminous and higher shell, flat plastron, anusunder the edge of the shell, and yellow iris. Both sexes have five toes on theirforelegs and four on their hindlegs, with swimming webs between them. The European Pond Turtle’s diet consists mainly of food of animal ori-gin, occasionally of plants as well. The bulk of it consists of gastropods, aquaticand terrestrial insects and their larvae, amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs, fishfry and roe, carrion and water plants. In Slovenia, it can be seen from Februarytill mid-November. It hibernates in the winter, buried in silt in water, exception-ally buried on land. In spring, when solar radiation is powerful enough, it is themales that wake up from hibernation first. Immediately after their winter sleep,turtles begin to mate. Egg-laying takes place in the second half of May or in earlyJune, while young hatch within the same year or only in the ensuing spring ifsunny days were sparse. Females lay eggs in dry and warm places poor with vege-tation, such as sandy grasslands and forest edges. In some cases they also lay themin arable land, given that in such places soil is specially light and suitable forthem. Pond Turtles are exposed to predators particularly during their egg-laying.Among their predators are mainly the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), Wild Boar (Sus NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 189

scrofa), Marten (Martes sp.) and larger birds such as Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)and Common Raven (Corvus corax). Most of the nests are destroyed immediate-ly after or during the hatching process. Adult turtles are less endangered, but maystill become prey particularly of the European Otter (Lutra lutra). Among all turtle species, the European Pond Turtle has the largest range,spreading from north Africa across the larger part of the Iberian Peninsula, andform there across France, Germany and Poland far towards the east to the AralSea in Kazakhstan. The central area of its distribution embraces Corsica, Sardiniaand the Apennine Peninsula and extends to the Balkans and Asia Minor. Today,thirteen subspecies are known, two of which occur in Slovenia as well. Bela kra-jina is home to the subspecies Emys orbicularis orbicularis. The earliest source referring to the European Pond Turtle in Bela krajinaand in the rest of Slovenia at the same time dates back to 1689. In The Gloryof the Duchy of Carniola, its author Valvasor (1689) stated that the EuropeanPond Turtle was generally distributed all over Carniola (Kranjska), but was es-pecially common at Ljubljana Moors (Ljubljansko barje) and in Bela krajina.Turtles in Carniola were again discussed by Sajovic (1910) in a museum reportfor the year 1838, in which an observation of this species in a pond near Prilozjewas described. In 1842, Freyer’s report on part of the Carniolan fauna was pub-lished, which speaks of the European Pond Turtles’ distribution in Carniola.Sajovic (1910) states that in Valvasor’s time the turtle had still been commonin Carniola, while as early as in the 1840s it became fairly rare, as only someindividual records were still made. According to the oral tradition, the EuropeanPond Turtle was a delicacy that was at the end of the 19th century regularly soldat the Ljubljana Market. In 1995, a research entitled »We are looking for the European PondTurtle« was carried out in Bela krajina by the former Institute of the Republicof Slovenia for Nature Conservation and Cultural Heritage Novo mesto. Nomore than thirty observations of the Pond Turtle were made with the aid ofpupils from various Bela krajina school, media and the wider public. In the lastyears, additional investigations have been conducted in the area of Bela krajinaand these, too, have brought some new insights, although not only in terms ofits distribution but also with regard to its ecology and population structure. TheEuropean Pond Turtle has been confirmed at Rosalnica, Gornji kal and Krivačakarst pond. The turtles at Rosalnica clearly form a vital population, given thatindividuals of almost all age groups, except for hatchlings, have been ascertainedthere. The situation at Gornji kal and Krivača is somewhat different, as onlysome individual adults have been recorded, and it is envisaged that withoutappropriate conservation measures the species is threatened with extinction inthese two areas. More recent research has shown, however, that the species isgenerally distributed throughout Bela krajina. In spite of it, the European PondTurtle will have to be suitably protected particularly against disturbing humanimpact, or it is to become a victim of the developing civilisation.190

European Pond Turtle male in Bela krajina.Photo: Melita Vamberger NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 191

ReferencesFreyer, H. (1842). Fauna der in Krain bekannten Säugethiere, Vögel, Reptilien und Fische: nachCuvier's System geordnet, mit Abbildungscitaten und Angabe des Vorkommens: nebst einemvollständigen Register der lateinischen, deutschen und krainischen oder slavischen Namen.Ljubljana: gedruckt in der Eger'schen Gubernial-buchdruckerei: 90 str.Fritz, U. (2003). Die Europäische Sumpfschildkröte. Bielefeld (Laurenti), 224 str.Govedič, M., Lipovšek G., Vamberger M. (2011). Popis začetnega stanja in preučevanja vplivaprojektnih aktivnosti na populacije močvirske sklednice (Emys orbicularis) na projektnempilotnem območju Gornji kal (kal Hrast in kal Krivača). Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije zavarstvo narave; Miklavž na Dravskem polju: Center za kartografijo favne in flore. 25 str.Hudoklin, A. (1995). Iščemo želvo močvirsko sklednico. Proteus 49/4: str. 178–180.Sajovic, G. (1910). Želve v ljubljanski okolici. Carniola 1 (2): str. 178–180.Tome, S. (2003). Strokovna izhodišča za vzpostavljanje omrežja Natura 2000, Močvirskasklednica (Emys orbicularis). Ljubljana: 11 str. Available at:www.natura2000.gov.si/uploads/tx_library/sklednica.pdf.Valvasor, J. V. (1689). Die Ehre des Herzogtums Crain, Ljubljana.Vamberger, M. (2008). Pojavljanje močvirske sklednice (Emys orbicularis) v ribnikih Drage priIgu. Diplomsko delo. Ljubljana: Oddelek za biologijo, Biotehniška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani.88 str.Vamberger, M. (2009a). European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in Slovenia, (str. 191).V: Rogner, M. (2009). European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), Edition Chimaira 4, Frankfurtam Main: 271 str.Vamberger, M. (2009b). Mnenje o stanju kvalifikacijske vrste močvirske sklednice(Emys orbicularis) območja Natura 2000 Metlika. Končno poročilo: 26 str.Vamberger, M., Kos, I. (2011). First observations on some aspects on the natural history ofEuropean pond turtles Emys orbicularis in Slovenia. Biologia 66/1: 1., doi: 10.2478/s11756-010-0138-z.Vamberger, M., Lipovšek, G., Govedič, M. (2011). Popis začetnega stanja in preučevanja vplivaprojektnih aktivnosti na populacije močvirske sklednice (Emys orbicularis) na projektnempilotnem območju Mura-Petišovci. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za varstvo narave;Miklavž na Dravskem polju: Center za kartografijo favne in flore. 25 str.Vamberger, M., Govedič, M. & G. Lipovšek (2013). Prispevek k recentni razširjenosti, ekologijiin varstvu močvirske sklednice Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) v Beli krajini ( JV Slovenija).Natura Sloveniae, 15 (2):23-38.192

European Pond Turtle basking.Photo: Melita Vamberger NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 193

White Stork is the most popular summer visitor of Bela krajina.Photo: Tomaž Mihelič194

THE BIRDSOF BELA KRAJINATomaž MiheličDOPPS - BirdLife Slovenia,Društvo za opazovanje in proučevanje ptic Slovenije My first opportunity to get acquainted with birds of Bela krajina datesback to 2002, when the first inventory of birds was organized by the DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia within the framework of research carried out for the NewOrnithological Atlas of Slovenia. The fact that this was the very first thoroughinventory in this part of Slovenia points at two features associated with birds,i.e., that Bela krajina was one of the least known areas in the country in terms ofbirds, and that it seemed highly promising in view of its natural resources. To agreat extent, this proved true during this very inventory, and was also the reasonwhy we, the ornithologists, returned here several times. There is no doubt that Bela krajina is best marked by its people andcultural landscape in particular. This landscape is well reflected on birds livinghere as well, so we might just start our presentation in Bela krajina’s culturallandscape. The diverse mosaic of traditional cultural landscape enables to findhere great numbers of birds that will be rarely seen in the areas where modernagricultural activities prevail. On the plains of Bela krajina we can enjoy observ-ing numerous Corn Buntings (Miliaria calandra), Yellowhammers (Emberizacitrinella), Red-backed Shrikes (Lanius collurio) and Common Whitethroats(Sylvia communis). All of them highly favour the mosaic-like landscape inter-mixed by hedgerows, where extensively farmed meadows or pastures prevail. Wecan find them in many places within the area except in larger forest stands. Onwarm sites with a larger number of vineyards the Cirl Buntings (Emberiza cirlus)are singing. Furthermore, these places are certainly best for the observation ofthe Wryneck (Jynx torquilla). But in spite of the fact that this bird is common inBela krajina, it is hardly possible to find this bird without knowledge about itscalling. It is quite amazing how often we can hear this bird here, but to observeit is quite seldom occasion due to its cryptic way of life. On the plain, where hedgerows cut into much more moist ground, thevery rare Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria), which favours primarily the areas withwell represented black thorn and hawthorn bushes, can be observed. If we shift NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 195

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In Bela krajina, the from the mosaic-like landscape to the areas with prevailing open sites, we shallScops Owl can be quickly notice the sound of Skylarks (Alauda arvensis). They can be observed es-found especially at pecially in the area around Krasinec or between Dragatuš and Vinica. Here, thewarm vineyard sites. Woodlark (Lullula arborea) can also be found, which has recently become veryPhoto: Tomaž Mihelič rare in Bela krajina as a whole. This is probably the species that has experiencedOne of the the greatest decline in Bela krajina in the last two decades, given that this birdcharacteristic birdsof mosaic cultural was still very common prior to 1995. In spite of our search, we managed to findlandscape is theYellowhammer. this species at merely two localities after 2002. This decline can call our atten-Photo: Tomaž Mihelič tion to the changes taking place particularly in mown meadows. As far as larks are concerned, we shall also be able to observe Crested Larks (Galerida cristata) especially around Metlika, most often in places with predominant sandy ground. Quite common in the open country is also the Linnet (Carduelis cannabina), which can be found in almost entire Bela krajina, particularly at Griblje. A visit to Bela krajina will be interesting also due to the White Storks (Ciconia ciconia), which can be seen especially between the villages of Podzemlje and Griblje. This is one of the species that gradualy breed more and more abun- dantly in Bela krajina until recently. Although a new breeder of this part of Slovenia, it has been warmly received by the locals. If you do not believe me, knock on the door of any house in the above mentioned villages and ask the peo- ple where the storks are nesting. And you will be impressed by their knowledge and friendly openness. Local people are well known for their hospitality, which means that you will be enjoying in their homesteads late into the night. A night in Bela krajina is yet another exceptional ornithological adven- ture. Here we shall easily observe or, better still, hear the Barn Owl (Tyto alba). NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 197

Its favourite hunting grounds are open plains, but the species can live in Bela Great White Egret visitskrajina in the mosaic-like country as well. If the belfry at the local church is not Bela krajina as well.screened – and we can still find a few of this kind here – this can be the first Photo: Branko Brečkogood sign. Of the rare owl species in Bela krajina we can also find the Little Owl(Athene noctua) and Scops Owl (Otus scops). The latter occurs most often at thesunward foot of the slope between Črnomelj and Semič. The most abundantowls of Bela krajina are the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) and Tawny Owl (Strixaluco) – the first in the open country and the latter in more forested sites. Inlowlands of Bela krajina we shall also be able to see the Ural Owl (Strix uralensis),which is otherwise much more common in the forests on the edge of Bela krajina,largely in Kočevski Rog, although we shall also see it in the Gorjanci Mts and MtPoljanska Gora as well. Its favourite habitat is old beech forests, which are alsohome to the White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) that has in the re-gion been confirmed at Kočevski Rog until recently. Of the rare woodpeckers weshould not miss the Middle-spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), whichcan be found in Oak woods. Here it shares its habitat with the rare CollaredFlycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). The commonest woodpecker species is the BlackWoodpecker (Dryocopus martius), which indicates that Bela krajina still hasmany forests preserved. The forest edge and mosaic cultural landscape, on theother hand, are home tothe Green Woodpecker(Picus viridis). Thisarea is also significantfor the Turtle Dove(Streptopelia turtur)that can be encounteredin litter-raking standsas well as at forest edg-es. Apart from gener-ally abundant GreatSpotted Woodpecker(Dendrocopos major)we shall also find, par-ticularly along theKolpa River, the LesserSpotted Woodpecker(Dendrocopos minor),considering that oldtrees immediately alongthe river are its idealhabitat. In general, theKolpa River does notmark the life of birds inBela krajina to such an198

Red-backed Shrike is extent as one would expect. However, Bela krajina can be proud of the White-a common species in tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) breeding in the area owing to its two largeragricultural landscape watercourses, the Kolpa and Lahinja Rivers. In the vicinity of Miliči, one of thewith sufficient number largest and longest known Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) colonies in Slovenia isof various structures located. The Bela krajina rivers will also reward us with the breeding Kingfishersand a good indicator of (Alcedo atthis), Common Sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos) and Pied Wagtailslarge insects present in (Motacilla cinerea). The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) breeds in rockwallsmeadows. above the Kolpa River. In the last few years, the Goosander (Mergus merganser)Photo: Tomaž Mihelič also began to occur on the Kolpa, with summer observations indicating that the species probably breeds here. This is all the more likely given that the species breeds in riparian rocks, which are very numerous in this area. We shall therefore not run out of bird puzzles for quite some time yet. References Enciklopedija ptic. Available at: www.ptice.si. Geister, I. (1995). Ornitološki atlas Slovenije: razširjenost gnezdilk. Ljubljana: DZS. 287 str. Sovinc, A. (2009). Naučimo se prepoznati ptice v Krajinskem parku Kolpa: priročnik za določitev 25 značilnih vrst ptic v Krajinskem parku Kolpa. Adlešiči: Krajinski park Kolpa. 36 str. NATURAL HERITAGE OF BELA KRAJINA 199

Greater Mouse-eared Bat is our largest bat.Photo: Primož Presetnik200