Clay minerals and selected ecological aspects of soils on the island Veliki Brijun, Croatia

The archipelago Brijuni is located southwest of Pula, parallel to the peninsula of Istria. Veliki Brijun is the largest and most important island, where the major part of the cultural heritage and the most important new objects are situated. A well equipped arboretum with a costly infrastructure was established in 1987. The basic idea was to give a floristic overview on the Mediterranean flora as well as on trees and shrubs from completely different floristic areas from various countries as examples to document the lively diplomatic activities of the former Yugoslavian President Tito. Due to the war and abandoned care the arboretum is in a bad condition. An ecological survey was carried out by a diploma student to proof the hypothesis whether the general idea of the initiators of the arboretum is sustainable or whether an improved concept should be developed under the present ecological conditions with less maintenance efforts. Scientific soil research seemed to be a fundamental tool to answer these ecological hypotheses and was meant to support a new concept.