Dinarski kras je obsežno, 800 km dolgo in do 150 km široko kraško območje, ki zavzema večji del Dinarskih gora in zavzema zahodni del Slovenije. Dinarski kras se odlikuje po velikih sklenjenih površinah, izjemni pestrosti reliefnih oblik, izjemnih jamah, velikih rekah ponikalnicah in kraških izvirih. Zaradi izrazitih oblik in pojavov so se tu že zgodaj pojavili opisi krasa pa tudi znanstvena raziskovanja. V 19. stoletju, je iz imena pokrajine Kras nastal termin karst, domača imena za reliefne oblike, dolina, polje, uvala, ponor pa so postali znanstveni termini. Tu so bile odkrite in opisane tudi prve jamske živali. Kljub odkritju številnih novih kraških območij v drugačnih geoloških ali klimatskih pogojih ostaja Dinarski kras še vedno svetovno pomembno kraško področje. Dinarski kras je locus tipicus za številne oblike in pojave, je mesto intenzivnega raziskovanja, pa tudi mesto, kjer se srečujejo krasoslovci s celega sveta. Knjiga na poljudnoznanstven način opisuje osnovne karakteristike Dinarskega krasa ter karakteristične primere tipov površja z Dinarskega krasa.

Knjiga je strokovno delo, ki temelji na prevodu slovenske knjige Maje Andrič, Tjaše Tolar in Boruta Toškana (Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU) Okoljska arheologija in paleoekologija: palinologija, arheobotanika in arheozoologija (2016). Poleg prevoda leta 2016 izdane knjige, delo dopolnjujejo dodatna poglavja, ki vključujejo tovrstne raziskave na Hrvaškem, vključujoč geoarheologijo, ki v slovenski različici ni obravnavana. Ta del knjige sta izpopolnila Katarina Gerometta s Sveučilišta Jurja Dobrile Filozofske fakultete v Puli in Siniša Radović z Zavoda za paleontologiju i geologiju kvartara HAZU v Zagrebu. Avtorji na poljuden način razkrivajo načine (tj. metode dela) in rezultate raziskav nekdanjega okolja. Rastlinski in živalski ostanki kot tudi odloženi sedimenti, ki jih lahko najdemo na arheoloških najdiščih ter v močvirskih in jezerskih sedimentih so dober vir podatkov o načinu življenja, gospodarstvu, prehranskih navadah, nekdanjem okolju in prilagoditvah človeka nanj v različnih arheoloških obdobjih. Gre za prvo celovito knjižno predstavitev področij delovanja palinologije, arheobotanike, arheozoologije in geoarheologije v hrvaškem jeziku.

Karst terrains have been modified and adapted through a range of human activities as the need for flood control, irrigation, food production, hydropower production and other resources has increased. Successful reclamation projects require construction of dams and reservoirs. Karst terrains present the most complex working conditions for dam foundation and realization of safe reservoir space. Practical engineering solutions are extremely complex and the need for successful solution requires serious investigations and the cooperation of a wide spectrum of scientists and engineers. A wealth of data on dam projects in karst has been collected and presented in this book. Since reservoirs in karst may fail to fill despite extensive investigations and remediation treatment the book includes a description of failures as well.

The authors in this volume make a case for LTSER’s potential in providing insights, knowledge and experience necessary for a sustainability transition. This expertly edited selection of contributions from Europe and North America reviews the development of LTSER since its inception and assesses its current state, which has evolved to recognize the value of formulating solutions to the host of ecological threats we face. Through many case studies, this book gives the reader a greater sense of where we are and what still needs to be done to engage in and make meaning from long-term, place-based and cross-disciplinary engagements with socio-ecological systems.

Ancient lakes are exceptional freshwater environments that have continued to exist for hundreds of thousands of years. They have long been recognized as centres of biodiversity and hotspots of evolution. During recent decades, speciation in ancient lakes has emerged as an important and exciting topic in evolutionary biology. The contributions in this volume deal with patterns and processes of biological diversification in three prominent ancient lake systems. Of these, the famous East African Great Lakes already have a strong tradition of evolutionary studies, but the two other systems have so far received much less attention. The exceptional biodiversity of the European sister lakes Ohrid and Prespa of the Balkans has long been known, but has largely been neglected in the international literature until recently. The rich biota and problems of its evolution in the two central lake systems on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in turn, have only lately started to draw scientific attention. This volume aims at deepening the awareness of the unusual biological diversity in ancient lakes in general, and of the role of these lakes as natural laboratories for the study of speciation and diversification in particular. It should stimulate further research that will lead to a better understanding of key evolutionary processes in these lakes, and to knowledge that might help in mitigating the deterioration of their diversity in the future.