Degradation of Dolines on Logaško polje (Slovenia)

Abstract

As an example of long-term human intervention onto karst geomorphology, the article deals with the area of the Logaško polje, where degradation processes of dolines have been very intense during the last fifty years. The analysis of aerial photographs from different periods (years 1944 and 2000) was carried out on a study area of 604 ha. It showed that 77.5 % of dolines (441 of total 569) have completly disappeared mostly by being filled up with different waste materials (excavation material, municipal, industrial and building waste etc.) or they were built up while 22.5 % (128) of dolines have been entirely or partly preserved. Several anthropogenic factors that had an important influence on doline-changes are being evaluated. Despite the fact, that doline is a typical geomorphological feature in karst landscape the public (local or state) and the scientific sphere pay little attention on their geomorphological preservation and protection. Considering the paradigm of sustainability, the landscape and its landforms, as they are part of Earth’s surface, would need to be classified as a non-renewable natural heritage or even non-renewable natural resources.