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Abstract: Contemporary environmental concerns highlight the vulnerability of karst environments to changing hydrometeorological patterns and vegetation disturbance, necessitating a unified, interdisciplinary strategy for comprehensive understanding. This paper critically examines the current state of research. To overcome the identified gaps, it presents an integrated multi-scale ecohydrogeological monitoring approach tailored to karst critical zones (KCZ) and its spatio-temporal variability. Forested karst aquifer in Slovenia is used as a case study to demonstrate and assess the strengths and limitations of the proposed monitoring framework. To decipher flow dynamics and propose customized data collection strategies the approach combines surface and underground sites and employs advanced methods adapted to the challenges of karst environments. The results highlight the benefits and advancements of monitoring and sampling approaches to ensure representativeness in heterogeneous environments. The focus is on the use of enhanced precipitation monitoring systems to expand sampling areas nearly fivefold and improve precipitation and throughfall measurements. Additionally, customized lysimeter techniques for karst soils and microscale adaptations for cave exploration have been developed, addressing the challenges of instrument placement in environments with significant variability. Further opportunities lie in improving instrument protection, integrating sensor networks, combining remote sensing and scaling from plot to aquifer level. However, challenges remain in achieving spatio-temporal representativeness and ensuring the operational reliability of snow monitoring, soil solution sampling and drip flow measurements. Threats include environmental pressures and hydrometeorological conditions, equipment tampering and funding stability. Nevertheless, this comprehensive approach improves monitoring of ecohydrogeological processes in the KCZ, promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and environmental resource management.
Keywords: Karst, integrated monitoring, interdisciplinary strategy, hydrological processes, environmental management, ecohydrology
Published in DiRROS: 21.03.2026; Views: 200; Downloads: 152
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Abstract: Herein, we present a dataset of the geochemical and isotopic characteristics of water collected from September 2012 to June 2014 to evaluate biogeochemical processes within the Oplotnica River silicate catchments. Additionally, we collected soil samples at Javorski creek to characterize the soil profiles using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. Discharge and temperature data for the Oplotnica River at the Perovec gauging station were gathered from the Slovenian environment agency. Temperature at both Javorski and Lukanjski creeks was measured on-site, while pH and conductivity were measured in the lab with Metrohm pH low ionic strength glass electrode and Pt1000 electroconductivity electrode, connected to Metrohm 712 Conductometer. Cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, NH4+) were analyzed with Metrohm Metrosep C4-150/4.0 column without suppression and anions (NO3-, NO32-, SO42-, Cl-, PO43-) with Metrohm Metrosep A Supp 5-150/4.0 column with chemical suppression. Both connected in Metrohm Ion Chromatography modular system. Total alkalinity was measured with double-end point titration (pH=4.5, 4.2) measuring pH with Metrohm pH low ionic strength glass electrode and titrating with 0.01 M HCl controlled by Metrohm 702 SM Titrino titrator. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was measured with TOC analyser Shimadzu TOC-5000A as a difference between dissolved total carbon (DTC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Thermodynamic modeling was performed with the PHREEQC speciation program to evaluate pCO2 and the saturation state of calcite and dolomite. The major solute composition of the analyzed surface water was as follows: Na+Ca2+Mg2+K+ and HCO3-SO42-Cl-NO3-. In surface water the δ13CDIC ranged from -26.1‰ to -1.4‰, and the 13CPOC from -28.2 to -22.3‰, and 15N from -2.2 to 2.6‰ (measured only in September 2012). 13Corg. ranged from -28.3 to -24.9‰, while 15N ranged from -4.9 to 5.4‰ at three soil profiles (up to a depth of 70 cm) at Tratice I, II and III locations at Javorski creek. Characteristic plants within catchment area have 13C in the range from -31.2 to -29.2‰ and 15N in the range from -8.0 to -5.5‰. Data were collected through field and laboratory analyses. These data were used to calculate saturation indices, partial pressure of CO2 (SIcalcite, SIdolomite, pCO2), and to perform a mass balance calculation of carbon to determine the processes that contribute most to the isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC). Furthermore, bicarbonate weathering intensity was calculated within the catchment area. The main conclusions are that the saturation index of calcite (SIcalcite) ranges from -6.1 to -1.9, and the saturation index of dolomite (SIdolomite) ranges from -12.7 to -4.2. The bicarbonate weathering intensity is 10.4 mmol/km²·s, which is typical for silicate catchments.
Keywords: isotope Geochemistry, biogeochemistry
Published in DiRROS: 21.01.2026; Views: 286; Downloads: 146
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Keywords: monitoring, stanje gozdov, osutost dreves, poškodovanost dreves, rast dreves, meteorološke meritve, ozon, pritalna vegetacija, fenološka opazovanja, foliarni popis, zračne usedline
Published in DiRROS: 03.11.2025; Views: 357; Downloads: 0

Keywords: okoljska DNK, talna biodiverziteta, talni nevretenčarji, izcedna voda, kiti za ekstrakcijo DNK
Published in DiRROS: 05.06.2025; Views: 898; Downloads: 366
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Keywords: monitoring, stanje gozdov, osutost dreves, poškodovanost dreves, rast dreves, meteorološke meritve, ozon, pritalna vegetacija, fenološka opazovanja, foliarni popis, zračne usedline
Published in DiRROS: 12.11.2024; Views: 912; Downloads: 0
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