Mauro Hrvatin

A methodology for natural landscape typification of Slovenia

Based on digital data on relief, rock, and vegetation, the most significant elements of the internal structure of Slovenian landscapes and at the same time of their external appearance, a geographic information system and verification in the field were used to create several natural landscape typologies of Slovenia with a varying number of types. The most generalized typology is based on the spatial overlap of four relief, seven lithological, and seven vegetation units. It has twenty-four landscape types: four flat, eleven low hilly, six hilly, and three mountainous types.

Surface Roughness and Land Use in Slovenia

The article describes characteristics of several relief indicators (surface height, surface slope, surface aspect, height coefficient of surface roughness, slope coefficient of surface roughness, and aspect coefficient of surface roughness) relative to various types of land use in Slovenia and establishes the con-nection between surface roughness and land use and between relief indicators and individual types of land use.

Karst as a criterion for defining areas less suitable for agriculture

The proposed European Union indicators for defining areas less suitable for agriculture in Slovenia are not entirely appropriate because taking them into account would omit some distinctly and clearly unsuitable areas–for example, Suha krajina (Dry Carniola) and Bela krajina (White Carniola)–and farmers would be unjustifiably financially harmed. In such a case, every European Union member state has the right to propose an additional indicator to reduce such discrepancies. With regard to actual natural conditions, in Slovenia especially some karst landscapes would be unjustifiably omitted, and so we have proposed a karst indicator as an additional criterion based on the distribution of karst (i.e., carbonate) rocks. Through spatial coverage of karst rocks and soils, we determined whether more reasonable and less strict application of European criteria regarding soil could be satisfactory for better results in defining areas less suitable for agriculture in Slovenia.

Landscape characteristics of common land in Slovenia

Common land is land with an ancient form of ownership. At one time it was economically important, but now its importance lies in the preservation of cultural landscapes and ecological balance. This article uses the geographic information system to analyze selected landscape indicators with respect to various types of agricultural land and determine whether and to what extent the assertion holds true that in Slovenia common agricultural land is preserved primarily in areas with poorer natural conditions for agriculture.

Differences between 100-meter and 25-meter digital elevation models according to types of relief in Slovenia

Studying relief and landscapes, we often employ digital elevation models. Their applicability is primarily linked to their accuracy. In this paper, we compare the older 100-meter digital elevation model of Slovenia and the more recent 25-meter digital elevation model. We assess applicability relative to differences in surface heights, surface slopes, and surface aspects for all of Slovenia and for four areas with different relief. We compare the frequency of distribution, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, range, and the coefficient of variation. The statistical analysis of the two digital elevation models of Slovenia indicates that the smallest differences exist relative to surface heights, there are larger differences relative to surface aspects, and the largest differences exist relative to surface slopes.

Determination of landscape hotspots of Slovenia

Based on digital data on relief, rock, and vegetation, the most significant elements of the internal structure of Slovenian landscapes, and their external appearance, a geographic information system was used to calculate landscape diversity of Slovenia. Areas with high landscape diversity are landscape hotspots, and areas with low landscape diversity are landscape coldspots. One-tenth of Slovenia with the highest landscape diversity was defined as landscape hotspots, and one-tenth of Slovenia with the lowest landscape diversity was defined as landscape coldspots. Most landscape hotspots are located in the Alpine part of Slovenia (more than two-thirds of their total area), and most landscape coldspots in the Dinaric part of Slovenia (almost half of their total area).

From Urban Geodiversity to Geoheritage: The Case of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Abstract The city of Ljubljana lies at the intersection of various geomorphological regions that have strongly influenced its spatial organization. Prehistoric settlements were built on marshland, a Roman town was built on the first river terrace of the Ljubljanica River, and in the Middle Ages a town was built in a strategic position between the Ljubljanica River and Castle Hill. The modern city absorbed all usable space between the nearby hills. This paper reviews some relief features in Ljubljana, their influence on the city’s spatial development, and urban geoheritage. The results indicate new possibilities for urban geoheritage tourism in the Slovenian capital and its surroundings.