Editing Croatia (section)

=== Biodiversity ===

{{Main|Protected areas of Croatia}}
{{Further|Register of Protected Natural Values of Croatia|Natural and Cultural Heritage of Croatia}}

[[File:Waterfalls at Plitvica stream in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia (48607294088).jpg|thumb|right|[[Plitvice Lakes National Park]]]]
[[File:RRI-0036-1962 view to Motovun.jpg |thumb|right|Landscapes of [[Motovun]] in [[Istria County|Istrian peninsula]]]]
[[File:Galešnjak Island in Croatia (17114069092).jpg|thumb|right|[[Galešnjak]] island in a shape of a heart]]

Croatia can be subdivided into [[ecoregion]]s based on climate and geomorphology. The country is one of the richest in Europe in terms of biodiversity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Biodiversity-rich Croatia becomes 33rd full EEA member country — European Environment Agency|url=https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/biodiversity-rich-croatia-becomes-33rd|access-date=23 January 2021|newspaper=European Environment Agency|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=EU 2020 HR|url=https://eu2020.hr/Home/Custom?code=CroatiaEU|access-date=23 January 2021|website=eu2020.hr|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404233816/https://eu2020.hr/Home/Custom?code=CroatiaEU|url-status=dead}}</ref> Croatia has four types of biogeographical regions—the [[Mediterranean Biogeographic Region|Mediterranean]] along the coast and in its immediate hinterland, [[Alpine Biogeographic Region|Alpine]] in most of Lika and Gorski Kotar, [[Pannonian Biogeographic Region|Pannonian]] along Drava and Danube, and [[Continental Biogeographic Region|Continental]] in the remaining areas. The most significant are [[karst]] habitats which include submerged karst, such as [[Zrmanja]] and [[Krka (Croatia)|Krka]] canyons and tufa barriers, as well as underground habitats. The country contains three ecoregions: [[Dinaric Mountains mixed forests]], [[Pannonian mixed forests]], and [[Illyrian deciduous forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref>

The karst geology harbours approximately [[List of caves in Croatia|7,000 caves and pits]], some of which are the habitat of the only known aquatic cave [[vertebrate]]—the [[olm]]. Forests are abundant, covering {{convert|2490000|ha||abbr=off}} or 44% of Croatian land area. Other habitat types include wetlands, grasslands, bogs, fens, scrub habitats, coastal and marine habitats.<ref name="MCult-Biodiversity">{{cite book|publisher=State Institute for Nature Protection, [[Ministry of Culture (Croatia)]]|url=http://www.dzzp.hr/dokumenti_upload/20120515/dzzp201205151608230.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.dzzp.hr/dokumenti_upload/20120515/dzzp201205151608230.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Biodiversity of Croatia|year= 2006|editor-first=Jasminka|editor-last=Radović|editor-first2=Kristijan|editor-last2=Čivić|editor-first3= Ramona|editor-last3= Topić|isbn=953-7169-20-0|access-date=13 October 2011}}</ref>

In terms of [[phytogeography]], Croatia is a part of the [[Boreal Kingdom]] and is a part of Illyrian and Central European provinces of the [[Circumboreal Region]] and the Adriatic province of the [[Mediterranean Region]]. The [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] divides Croatia between three ecoregions—Pannonian mixed forests, [[Dinaric Mountains mixed forests]] and [[Illyrian deciduous forests]].<ref name="DU-Sustdev">{{cite web|publisher=6th Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems|url=http://www.dubrovnik2011.sdewes.org/venue.php|title=Venue|access-date=13 October 2011}}</ref>

Croatia hosts 37,000 known plant and animal species, but their actual number is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000.<ref name="MCult-Biodiversity"/> More than a thousand species are endemic, especially in Velebit and Biokovo mountains, Adriatic islands and karst rivers. Legislation protects 1,131 species.<ref name="MCult-Biodiversity"/> The most serious threat is habitat loss and degradation. A further problem is presented by invasive alien species, especially ''[[Caulerpa taxifolia]]'' algae.

Invasive algae are regularly monitored and removed to protect [[benthic habitat]]. Indigenous cultivated plant strains and domesticated animal breeds are numerous. They include five breeds of horses, five of cattle, eight of sheep, two of pigs, and one poultry. Indigenous breeds include nine that are endangered or critically endangered.<ref name="MCult-Biodiversity"/> Croatia has 444 [[protected areas of Croatia|protected areas]], encompassing 9% of the country. Those include eight [[List of national parks of Croatia|national parks]], two strict reserves, and ten [[nature park]]s. The most famous protected area and the oldest [[national park]] in Croatia is [[Plitvice Lakes National Park]], a [[World Heritage Sites in Croatia|UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO [[Man and the Biosphere Programme]]. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in the preparation of the EU accession and joining of the [[Natura 2000]] network.<ref name="MCult-Biodiversity"/>