Ćićarija(HR)/Čičarija(SLO) in Early Spring; Coastal Karst Region, Jelovice, Istarska Županija, Hrvatska (near border with Slovenija)
27-March-2023
The Ćićarija (Čičarija for the part in Slovenija, Cicceria for the tiny portion attributable to Italia, or Monte Carso/Mali Kras border ridge, Dolina, Trieste) is a historical mountainous region of northern Istria, formerly inhabited by Istro-Romanian population, which falls within the traditional Karst, the coastal one (Trieste and Gorizia Karst in Italy, Primorska in Slovenia) of the Karst Region extensively understood, the only area of this region belonging to Croatia.
The Ćićarija/Čičarija is geologically the mountainous scar that joins the Istrian peninsula to the European continent, while its morphology is the classic one of the limestone areas at this latitude and altitude (here at just under 700m above sea level) therefore very similar to other areas not considered part of the Karst region, such as the contiguous coastal Gorski Kotar (Rijeka, HR) seen in the previous photos.
Over the geological eras, the rains have softened the appearance of these mountains, but the poor soil roughens the surfaces covered largely by karst moorland (Gmajna) of gnarled grass which for most of the year (between winter frost and summer sun) is golden in color and from which angular rock conformations frequently emerge.
The steppe aspect of these areas, despite the high average rainfall (1600-2200mm/y), is to be found in the porous soil, often dry and poor, beaten by strong winds and the difficulty in developing forests, which would guarantee the biomass (woody residue) for the formation of humus, but here the microclimate of these basins comes into play which, despite their proximity to the Mediterranean but closed in all directions, generate strong night-time temperature inversions (clear skies and calm winds) with minimum values below the freezing point possible for 9 months of the year.
This is always due to the porous calcareous soil which limits stagnation of humidity and exacerbates thermal dynamics with strong daily excursions which make the survival of many species of deciduous tall trees difficult, and, at the same time, the summer heat and drought are not suitable for many trees of the alpine environment, which instead form extensive virgin forests a few kilometers inland, where the extremes of wind, temperature and humidity are softened and where humus can develop.
A ground which freezes deeply in winter and which overheats in summer, sometimes even in the course of the same day, especially in spring, and which does not favor the maintenance of humidity, is clearly an obstacle to the development of vegetation, even if they try, as evident in the photo, with the robust black Pine (Pinus Nigra var austriaca) the only ones to bear such extreme microclimates and large producers of wood residue.
In any case, the karst moorland is a biodiversity that must be maintained, not fought.
Ćićarija(HR)/Čičarija(SLO) in Early Spring; Coastal Karst Region, Jelovice, Istarska Županija, Hrvatska (near border with Slovenija)
27-March-2023
The Ćićarija (Čičarija for the part in Slovenija, Cicceria for the tiny portion attributable to Italia, or Monte Carso/Mali Kras border ridge, Dolina, Trieste) is a historical mountainous region of northern Istria, formerly inhabited by Istro-Romanian population, which falls within the traditional Karst, the coastal one (Trieste and Gorizia Karst in Italy, Primorska in Slovenia) of the Karst Region extensively understood, the only area of this region belonging to Croatia.
The Ćićarija/Čičarija is geologically the mountainous scar that joins the Istrian peninsula to the European continent, while its morphology is the classic one of the limestone areas at this latitude and altitude (here at just under 700m above sea level) therefore very similar to other areas not considered part of the Karst region, such as the contiguous coastal Gorski Kotar (Rijeka, HR) seen in the previous photos.
Over the geological eras, the rains have softened the appearance of these mountains, but the poor soil roughens the surfaces covered largely by karst moorland (Gmajna) of gnarled grass which for most of the year (between winter frost and summer sun) is golden in color and from which angular rock conformations frequently emerge.
The steppe aspect of these areas, despite the high average rainfall (1600-2200mm/y), is to be found in the porous soil, often dry and poor, beaten by strong winds and the difficulty in developing forests, which would guarantee the biomass (woody residue) for the formation of humus, but here the microclimate of these basins comes into play which, despite their proximity to the Mediterranean but closed in all directions, generate strong night-time temperature inversions (clear skies and calm winds) with minimum values below the freezing point possible for 9 months of the year.
This is always due to the porous calcareous soil which limits stagnation of humidity and exacerbates thermal dynamics with strong daily excursions which make the survival of many species of deciduous tall trees difficult, and, at the same time, the summer heat and drought are not suitable for many trees of the alpine environment, which instead form extensive virgin forests a few kilometers inland, where the extremes of wind, temperature and humidity are softened and where humus can develop.
A ground which freezes deeply in winter and which overheats in summer, sometimes even in the course of the same day, especially in spring, and which does not favor the maintenance of humidity, is clearly an obstacle to the development of vegetation, even if they try, as evident in the photo, with the robust black Pine (Pinus Nigra var austriaca) the only ones to bear such extreme microclimates and large producers of wood residue.
In any case, the karst moorland is a biodiversity that must be maintained, not fought.