ANNALES 11/'97
DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN D RU ŠTEV/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 279-284
Tadej Slabe
THE FIFTH KARSTOLOGICAL SCHOO L "THE 
CLASSICAL KARST": CAVE SYSTEMS. Postojna, June 30 
-Ju ly 3, 1997
For a long time karstologists have been well aware 
that knowledge about karst must be deepened and wid­
ened. This is why we organise, every year, the kar- 
stological school, destined for karstologists, students, all 
those that plan life on karst and obviously for all those 
living on the karst. The lectures held during the school 
promote new knowledge about karst genesis and the 
impacts of human activity on this sensitive landscape.
The school of this year was dedicated to cave sys­
tems, that is to the origin and development of caves and 
to the cavernosity of aquifers.
The mornings lectures given by Slovene and foreign 
experts dealt with types of caves in the karst of Slovakia 
and Slovenia, with cave development in a part of the 
Czech karst, with flowstone formations, with origin and 
development of selected caves in Slovenia, Croatia and 
Italy, with the influence of bedding-planes and faults on 
the development of Postojnska jama, with cave sedi­
ments, with caves discovered during the motorway 
construction on karst, with caves that developed at the 
contact with impermeable rocks, and with the relation 
between caves and dolines. The discussion was open to 
everybody. The papers w ill be published in Acta Car- 
sologica.
Afternoons and the entire last day were dedicated to 
field work. In the first afternoon we visited the non­
tourist parts of Škocjanske Jame and had a look at some 
typical features in the Reka river-bed and in the higher 
level old passages. The origin and development of caves 
were presented. In Postojnska Jama special attention 
was paid to the features showing traces of the cave's de­
velopment and that of its flowstones. A profile from 
Kraški Rob, from the higher old caves to the present 
springs at the contact with flysch, revealed the main pe­
riods of the development of this border aquifer. We vis­
ited a part of the aquifer, through which the waters from 
Cerkniško Polje flow into Planinska Jama; this is a part 
of the underground Ljubljanica flow. In Rakov Škocjan, 
caves are located between collapse dolines, and the 
Zelške Jame caves are a good example of periodically 
flooded passages with a typical rock surface relief.
Since the beginning of 1993 the Karstological School 
has been highly valued in Slovenia and abroad. In spite 
of some financial problems we believe that the external 
support w ill assure its successful promotion also in fu­
ture.
The number of participants is growing from year to 
year. This time there were 67 participants from 8  coun­
tries.
We may conclude that the aim of such a school, i.e.
to widen the understanding of this unique karst land­
scape, in this case particularly underground, was com­
pletely fulfilled and that the school was successful.
Staša Tome
3. SVETOVNI HERPETOLOŠKI KONGRES
Praga, Češka republika, 2 .-10 ..avgust 1997
Poleti 1997 je prestolnica Češke republike gostila 
številne strokovnjake in amaterje, ki se znanstveno ali 
ljubiteljsko ukvarjajo z dvoživkami in plazilci. Prijav­
ljenih je bilo 512 predavanj in 278 posterjev, sodelovalo 
je 1121 avtorjev z vsega sveta. Predavanja so bila orga­
nizirana kot zasedanja in simpoziji, razdeljena pa so 
bila v več sklopov, ki pokrivajo vse vidike preučevanja 
dvoživk in plazilcev. Prispevki o ogroženosti herpeto- 
favne so bili združeni v sklope: Herpetofavna in one­
snaževalci okolja, Upadanje populacij dvoživk: geogra­
fija in možni vzroki, Vpliv človekove aktivnosti na 
populacije dvoživk, Upadanje populacij plazilcev in 
strategija njihove zaščite ter Strategija zaščite dvoživk in 
plazilcev. Paleontološko so bili obarvani naslednji sklo­
pi: Dvoživke paleozoika, Zgodnji plazilci in Dvoživke 
in plazilci mezozoika. Z evolucijo so se ukvarjali sklopi: 
Evolucija kač, Evolucija in sistematika kač, Evolucija in 
sistematika plazilcev, Evolucija repatih krkonov ter Evo­
lucija in sistematika brezrepcev. Fiziološki procesi, rast 
in razvoj so bili obravnavani v sklopih: Fiziologija dvo­
živk in plazilcev, Temperatura in določanje spola pri 
plazilcih, Razvoj pri dvoživkah, Rast in razvoj pri pla­
zilcih , Neonatologija plazilcev. Obsežne celodnevne 
sklope so oblikovale vedno aktualne teme, s katerimi se' 
ukvarja veliko število strokovnjakov: Ekologija dvoživk, 
Ekologija plazilcev, Zoogeografija dvoživk in plazilcev, 
Morfologija dvoživk, Morfologija plazilcev, Filogenija in 
sistematika družine gadov, Razmnoževanje dvoživk, 
Razmnoževanje plazilcev, Vedenje dvoživk, Vedenje 
plazilcev, Populacijska ekologija dvoživk, Populacijska 
biologija plazilcev in Biologija in biodiverziteta afriške 
herpetofavne. Manjši sklopi pa so bili: Zgodovina her- 
petologije: herpetološke ekspedicije in potovanja, Strupi 
dvoživk in plazilcev, Spreminjanje podnebja in njegov 
vpliv na herpetofavno, Razmnoževanje v ujetništvu, 
Oglašanje dvoživk, Kromosomske študije dvoživk in 
plazilcev, Parazitologija in Morske želve: biologija, 
ekologija, gospodarjenje.
Zaradi velikega števila prispevkov je bil čas posa­
meznih predavanj omejen na 15 minut, 5 minut pa je 
bilo namenjenih diskusiji. Predavanja so potekala hkrati 
v šestih dvoranah praškega Kongresnega centra, tako da 
se je bilo večkrat težko odločiti med več zanimivimi
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