Case Studies from the Dinaric Karst of Slovenia

maritime influence of the Adriatic Sea. In somecases, the influence of the Adriatic Sea can extendeven further toward the Dinarsko gorovjethrough wide valleys of rivers such as the Krka,Bojana, Morača, Zeta and the downstreampart of the Neretva.On the continental side of the Dinarsko gorovje,the absence of the maritime influenceresults in more extreme diurnal and seasonaltemperature variations. Snow can persist onthe ground for more than one month on averageduring the winter, and up to severalmonths at higher altitudes. Another differencein comparison with Mediterranean part of Dinarickarst is higher amount of summer precipitation,which is a result of higher daily summertemperatures and more intensive convectionduring the day. Nevertheless, the influence ofthe Mediterranean Sea can be still observed inrelatively high autumn-winter amount of precipitation,which is not characteristic for thepure continental climate (where peak precipitationoccurs in the summer months).While global factors define the frameworkfor general climate conditions, the highest influenceon the Dinaric karst climate is the Dinarskogorovje, which act as an orographic barrier.While latitudinal dependence (in NW-SEdirection) is of minor importance, the greatestdifferences in climate can be observed acrossa southwest-northeast transect, along whichthree different distinct climates with gradualtransitions can be identified:• Mediterranean and Transitional Mediterraneanclimates• Mountainous climate• Transitional Continental climate.The Mediterranean and Transitional Mediterraneanclimates extend along the Adriaticcoast. The extent of these climates into themountainous massif depends on topographicrelief, ranging from 2 km below coastal mountainsup to 120 km along the river Neretva(Rodić 1987). These climates are characterizedby mild wet winters and hot dry summers. Theaverage January temperature of the Mediterraneanclimate (southern Dinaric karst, e.g.Dubrovnik) is higher than 5 °C while that of theTransitional Mediterranean climate (northernDinaric karst) is only slightly above 0 °C. AverageJuly temperatures can be up to 26 °C andthey decrease toward the Dinarsko gorovjeand toward Adriatic Sea (since the sea is somedegrees cooler during summer). Precipitationis highest in the early winter months (December/January;for Transitional Mediterraneanclimate in November), with lesser amounts inApril/May, while the lowest amounts of precipitationoccur during the summer. Amountsof precipitation vary from 600 to 1,500 mm/a(the island of Palagruža receives as little as21