The small water bodies such as headwater streams, springs, ditches, small lakes, and ponds are critical to maintaining freshwater biodiversity. This is especially true for Dinaric karst, where they are often the only water bodies present. However, despite their importance, they remain widely overlooked and excluded from government policies like the EU Water Framework Directive. This book includes information on different aspects of these essential but still neglected habitats.  This book intends to be of interest to a wide range of audiences, from researchers and conservationists to the...

After providing a historical overview, this book highlights the current state of knowledge, gaps in our knowledge, recent findings and future prospects with regard to the biological, chemical, geological, and geographical specificities of the Plitvice lakes in Croatia. The Plitvice lakes are a unique environment and home to tufa – a type of calcium carbonate deposit that provides a substrate for living organisms. Its formation process has resulted in a vastly diverse environment of lakes, streams and riparian habitats. The Plitvice lakes have, therefore, historically been both an...