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ŠUMARSKI LIST 13/2005 str. 218     <-- 218 -->        PDF

I. Tikvić, Ü. Puntarić, Ž. Zečić. D. Ugarkovic, Z. Seletković: THE IMPACT OF MONTANE FOREST ... Šumarski list - SUPLEMENT (2005). 202-218
while no differences were found between the localities
in and out of the forest. In terms of fluoride, water in all
the localities was of the first category. However, twice
as high fluoride values were found on Papuk in relation
to the values on Velebit (Table 4). No differences were
found between the localities in the forest and out of the
forest, and neither were there any differences between
the protected area and commercial areas.


Iron and manganese were not found in the watercourses
of the Plitvice Lakes area, while extreme values
of iron, aluminum, and manganese were detected


in the river Orljava (Papuk 2). The quantities of metal
in the area of Velebit were within the limits of the first
and the second water category, while extreme aluminum
concentrations were found in the localities outside
forests (the stream of Tisovac and the river Orljava),
which correspond to the third - fifth water category.


Figure 5 shows cyanide values in the waters from
the watercourses in the study area. Cyanide values in
the localities Plitvice 1 and 2 responded to the first-category
water, while the other localities had the second-
category water in terms of cyanide content.


DISCUSSION


Surface water quality monitoring is regulated by a
number of criteria and water classification systems.
Water is usually classified into categories on the basis
of quality. These categories determine its use for a particular
purpose. Such a classification is based on com-


Water quality in the


Water quality has systematically been monitored in
several measuring stations in Croatia since the 1960s.
The year 2000 is considered the reference year for the
description of the quality of surface waters in rivers,
springs and lakes (S u r m a n o v i ć et al. 2003). According
to the results of water quality assessments in watercourses,
springs and lakes during 2000 and 2001,
and according to oxygen regime, nutrients and biological
indicators, waters in Croatia mostly fall in the second
(II) and (III) category (good to moderately good
quality), according to microbiological indicators in the
third (III) and fourth (IV) category (moderately good
to poor quality), but in about 10 % of the measuring
stations in the fifth (V) category (poor quality). The
quality of water in the karst area of Croatia is satisfactory
due to low intensity management activities (M i 1 ković
et al. 2003). Water quality in springs indicates
not only the degree of quality in the spring itself but also
the condition of water in the aquifer. Spring water
must satisfy the first (I) category criteria. The biggest
deviations from the planned 1st category were found in
quality assessments of spring water in 2000 and 2001
due to increased microbiological indicator values. By
the majority of other water quality indicators, most of
the springs belong to the first (I) or the second (II) water
category (M i 1 k o v i ć et al. 2003).


Water condition in Croatia is satisfactory, except for
some bigger deviations in water quality in the vicinity
of larger urban or industrial centers, larger agricultural
areas and major roads. The 2001 results of testing surface
water in Croatia and groundwater in the City of
Zagreb indicate, similarly to earlier years, certain deviations
from planned water quality (Š i rac et al. 2003).
Water quality in the majority of surface watercourses is


parisons of physical, chemical, biological and microbiological
indicators with prescribed border values for
a particular water type (NN 77/98). Input of harmful
and other substances in surface waters changes the
quality of water and restricts its uses.


Republic of Croatia


impacted by unrecycled municipal and industrial was


tewater, while the quality of groundwater is considered


satisfactory. Water is polluted by agricultural activities


and discharge of wastewater into watercourses. In Cro


atia, only a very small portion of wastewater is recy


cled. This is the reason that rivers in the Pannonian


area of Croatia are generally one category below the


desired quality. Pollution is mostly of bacterial origin


(Milković etal. 2003).


Table 5 shows water quality indicators of watercourses
in montane forest ecosystems and compares
them with data from the Croatian monitoring water
quality network of 2000. The localities closest to the
studied watercourses in montane forest ecosystems
were used for comparison.


According to Table 5, waters in the area of Velebit
show the highest quality in terms of all indicators, although
Glavač etal. (1985) report severe immission
pollution of beech and beech-fir forests in the Dinaric
range. Research by Prpić (1987), Martinović et
al. (1988), Seletković (1990), Komlenović et
al. (1991), Mayer (1989), Vrbek et al. (1991, 2002,
2004), and others confirms the above. Bearing in mind
the large degree of forest cover in the area and high water
quality, it can be concluded that forest ecosystems
are natural water filters. Waters in Plitvice and Papuk
are slightly polluted and do not transgress the second


(II) water category. Measuring stations of the state monitoring
network, situated as a rule in settlements, recorded
pollution approaching values for the third (III)
and fifth (V) water category (Hrvatske Vode, 2002).
Therefore, the difference in water quality in settlements
and in forest ecosystems is clearly noticeable.
This research included three springs in the area of Ve