Slovakia

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Slovakia is the most mountainous country in central Europe: the Carpathians take up much of its territory and culminate in the High Tatras, the smallest alpine range in the world, with glacial cirques, high-altitude lakes and rock faces above 2,600 metres. Its forests, covering close to forty per cent of the country, include primeval beech woods recognised as World Heritage and support one of the highest brown bear densities in Europe, along with wolves, lynx and wildcats. To the east, the Slovak Paradise is a maze of limestone gorges crossed by walkways and waterfalls, and the Slovak karst, shared with Hungary, holds hundreds of caves, among them cavities with permanent ice formations. The Danube lowlands, in the southwest, add riverside woodland, side channels and a waterbird fauna quite unlike that of the mountains.

The nature of Slovakia

National animal: The brown bear is the national emblematic animal; the double cross is the state's heraldic symbol

Did you know?

The Tatra chamois is a subspecies left isolated in those mountains as the glaciers withdrew and exists nowhere else in the world. In the late 1990s its population crashed below two hundred animals through poaching and tourist pressure. Restrictions on access to the high ground and permanent surveillance have allowed it to pass a thousand animals today, split between Slovakia and Poland.

Biodiversity profile

Europa Central/del Este (Carpatos)Cobertura de areas protegidas de Eslovaquia por encima de la media de la UE (26,4%), con 54,1% de las especies protegidas bajo ley europea correspondientes a aves

Climate

•Continental humedo (Dfb) en la mayor parte del pais
•Clima de alta montaña en los Tatras (Gerlachovsky stit, 2.655 m, pico mas alto de los Carpatos)
•Clima mas suave en las tierras bajas del sur (valle del Danubio)

Main biomes

•Bosque de montaña de los Carpatos (bioma dominante, cubre gran parte del territorio montañoso)
•Bosque caducifolio de tierras bajas (sur, valle del Danubio)
•Alta montaña alpina
•Hayedo primario
•Garganta caliza
•Cueva de hielo
•Bosque de ribera danubiano
•Pastizal de altitud
•Turbera

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral)

Flagship wildlife

•Oso pardo (una de las poblaciones mas importantes de Europa Central en los Carpatos)
•Lince euroasiatico
•Lobo gris
•Marmota de los Tatras (compartida con Polonia)
•Lince boreal
•Rebeco de los Tatras
•Marmota alpina
•Águila real
•Urogallo
•Bisonte europeo
•Nutria paleártica
•Cigüeña negra

Notable endemic species

•Los Carpatos, que cubren gran parte de Eslovaquia, albergan aprox. 30% de la flora europea y las mayores poblaciones de oso pardo, lobo, lince y bisonte europeo del continente
•Rebeco de los Tatras
•Marmota de los Tatras

Notable threatened species

•Aguila imperial (globalmente amenazada, presente en el paisaje carpatico)
•Especies de montaña vulnerables al abandono de practicas agricolas tradicionales y a la fragmentacion de habitat

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional de los Altos Tatras
•Areas protegidas de los Carpatos, con aprox. 18% de cobertura regional total en toda la cordillera
•Parque Nacional del Paraíso Eslovaco
•Parque Nacional de Poloniny
•Parque Nacional del Karst Eslovaco
•Parque Nacional de Muránska planina
•Parque Nacional Bajos Tatras

Main conservation threats

•Abandono de tierras y conversion de habitat, fragmentacion, deforestacion insostenible y practicas agricolas no sostenibles en el conjunto de los Carpatos
•Contaminacion, agravada por la ubicacion transfronteriza de muchos ecosistemas

Notable natural phenomena

•Los Carpatos sirven de puente cultural y ecologico entre el norte y el suroeste de Europa, uniendo tres grandes cuencas hidrograficas: el Danubio, el Dniester y el Vistula

Conservation

The primeval beech forests of the Slovak Carpathians form part of the World Heritage property that groups the ancient beech woods of eighteen countries. Coexisting with a high brown bear population in tourist areas is the main management challenge.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The High Tatras between June and September for chamois and marmots. Poloniny in autumn for European bison and the deer rut. Mountain skies in spring for golden eagles displaying.

Sources: biodiversity.europa.eu - Slovakia country profile | Climate-ADAPT - Adaptation Carpathian Mountains | WorldAtlas - Biodiversity of the Carpathians

Temperate forest Mountain