Fruska Gora

Fruska Gora is proclaimed a National Park in 1960 in order to provide its permanent protection and to improve its natural resources and beauty. The area of active protection is 25.525 ha.

Fruska Gora is an isolated, narrow, island mountain in Pannonia plain. It is intended by river courses extending to the south and north, with some side ranges with steep slopes, spreading from the main narrow range. Its location, specific geological history and different microclimatic conditions make it very interesting and important to science. Thanks to unique and very rich deposits of fossil fauna and flora, Fruska Gora is called the 'mirror of geological past'.

The main characteristic of this region is the existence of numerous protected, rare and endangered species.

Fruska Gora's valleys are covered with pastures and fertile fields, numerous vineyards and orchards which decorate its lower slopes while higher ground, above 300 meters, is covered with dense deciduous forests.

Fruska Gora hides 16 orthodox monasteries famous for their specific architecture, treasuries, libraries and frescoes and numerous archeological sites from prehistoric and historic times as well.

Due to its outstanding natural resources, wonderful landscapes, exceptional charm and beauty, that will bring you closer to nature, Fruska Gora is ideal place for rest and recreation.

Activities    Main activities

Protection, preservation and bio-geographical characteristics of the area, different ecosystems and authentic flora, fauna and fungi diversity improving, prevention of activities that could perturb main and other characteristics of the National Park Scientific research Activities related to culture and education of the people Presentation and popularization of National Park values Planning and disposing of the National Park area, augmentation and revitalization of endangered areas  Other activities Tree breeding, forest protection and exploitation, game breeding, hunting and fishing tourism, different alimentary (game, fish, fungi, medical herbs and other forest products), and non-alimentary (wood for different purposes) goods selling, etc. Natural values

Fruska gora is located between 45° 0’ and 45° 15’ of latitude, and 16° 37’ and 18° 01’ of longitude, in the direction of parallel between rivers Danube and Sava. This mountain chain is about 80 km long; the widest part of the chain has the width of 15 km. The highest pick of the mountain is Crveni cot (549 m), but the chain looks massive because it surmounts ambient which is lowland.

Geological structure

The geological structure of Fruska Gora is, compared to some other regions, relatively complex. The oldest segments are serpentinites. According to some authors, they are products of changed gabbro peridotites, the age of which is Paleozoic. Besides serpentinites, there are other Paleozoic rocks such as philitites, mica. chlorite, amphibolic and other shales.
The distribution direction of shales is, generally, West - East, declining to the South.

On the surface, they appear in the central parts of the mountain. On the north side. The main belt of the Paleozoic products is mostly limited to the sediments of the upper Cretaceous. In the westernmost part it is bordered by the Miocene sediments, and in the south by the Quartar sediments. The contact of serpentinites with Paleozoic shales are, as a rule, tectonic in character.
In the framework of the Mesozoic, there are three rocks: of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous ages. The Triassic age rocks had for a long time been classified as Paleozoic. Only after fossil remains had been found, was their Triassic origin confirmed. The oldest are conglomerates, and then follows a series of purple and yellow sandstones, purple, gray and yellow clays and clay-sandstones; limestones. According to some researchers, the so called slate-phyllite series (mudstones, clay shales, slates, slate-phyllites, quartz shales and partially metamorphic limestones) also belong to the upper Triass.
In the Fruska Gora, lower, medium and upper Pliocene are developed. In lithological terms, the lower Pliocene sediments are represented by sands, sandy clays, less frequently by grovels and lignite. The deeper facies are made of marls and marl clays.
A part of the flysch series is of the Jurassic age. It has been confirmed by some recent research works, although the well known scientist Koch thought that there were no Jurassic sediments in the Fruska Gora and that lower Cretaceous sediments were nonexistent.

In a thick series of upper Cretarrous sediments there are:

• basal conglomerates and large grain brecca changing upward to small grain conglomerates and large grain sandstones;
• gray mudstones, sandstones and alternating conglomerates;
• reddish marl limestones, lime marls and gray marl; reef-like firm sandy gray limestones: gray, brown and black mica marls, clays and clayey, sandstones and arlcvrolites, with a very rich fauna.

The Cretaceous sediments are clearly stratified, except for brecca. The Cretaceous sediments have a broad range. They have been discovered in the east and north-east part of the Fruska Gora, in several smaller or larger profiles, in the terrains of Strazilovo, Sremski Karlovci, Paragovo. In places, taking the form of shoots, they appear in several locations eastward, all the way to the Danube.
The research in the tertiary sediments in the Fruska Gora have shown that the previously separated "socanski" layers of the Oligocene actually belong to the Miocene. Sediments of this age have particularly been interesting in the study of the Vrdnik coal basin, because the coal and the sediments surrounding it are of the Miocene age. Lower, medium and upper Miocene are developed.
At the beginning of the Quartar there were two large paleo-geographic units: land and water. The land consisted of the mountain slopes and the water unit consisted of the remains of the water basins that had existed earlier. In such conditions, the Quartar sediments were deposited both on the land and in the water.
Loess appears in the form of a relatively thin cover. The highest elevations on which it is found are about 400 m, and from there it covers the surface part of the terrain all the way to the alluvial plains of the Danube and Sava.
As a rule, loess can be found in saddle areas between waterways flowing to the north or south, or builds plateaus such as Miseluk, Rovine, Banstol, and many others. Loess comprises several horizons, separated by fossil soils.
It has been generally accepted that loess represents the products of eolian accumulation of fine dust and sand brought by the winds during the cold and dry climate.

Alluvial sediments are found on the northern side of the mountain; they were created as a product of the accumulation of the silt brought by the Danube. The most extensively researched areas of the alluvion are in the sources of water supply in Novi Sad (Adice, Ribarsko ostrvo, Ratno ostrvo, Petrovaradinska ada, etc.). The bottom of the alluvion is mostly composed of gravel and sand. The medium part consists mostly of sands, with thin lens of dust sediments, rarely mud. The surface part mostly consists of dusty sediments, smaller amounts of dust, sandy and muddy sediments.
Magmatic rocks are also elements of the composition. There are the following varieties: trachites, latites, altered peridotites, volcanic tuffs, dacio-andesites, melaphyres, diabases, gabbro. They appear in the form of intrusive penetrations, veins, concordant penetrations, volcanic outspills; they can be of Paleozoic, Triassic, Cretaceous and tertiary age.

Neotectonic activity of the region

In the neo-tectonic terms, the Fruska Gora is a typical horst. Its shape and height have for the most part been formed by a relative descent along the system of longitudinal E-W slits and northward or southward slopes. This basic structural form became separated in the younger tectonic stage, by lateral and diagonal slits, into smaller blocks of different shapes and sizes.
The direction of the main rupture shapes is W-E. Much shorter are the N-S slits, with occasional deviations towards NNE-SSW direction. These are only several kilometers long slits.

Hydro - Geological Features

The hydro-geological features of the Fruska gora are directly conditioned by the complexity of its geological structure, the spatial distribution of the individual types of rock masses, and their interrelations, porosity of the rock masses and the rainfall that feeds the subterranean waters. According to the size of the pores, there are all of the three basic structural types of porosity: intergranular (in sands and related rocks), fissured (hard cracked rocks) and cavernous (limestones). In them, there are springs of the respective structural type, namely: compacted (free, artesian and sub artesian), broken up and combined. Springs of a broken structural type have been formed in all kinds of hard rock masses of the Fruska gora. The volume of accumulated water is small. It mostly depends on the degree and pattern of the cracked ness of the rock mass. These waters are important from the viewpoint of the appearance of a large number of springs, especially in the source parts of almost all springs and smaller brooks flowing into them (particularly in flysch-like sediments of the upper Cretaceous, shale of various types, etc.). Somewhat larger volumes of water can be expected in limestones, particularly of the Triass age. In limestones, it is possible to find a specific form of them, i.e. cavernous (karst) sources. In terms of the importance of the sources of the broken structural type related to the volumes of water and water supply of larger settlements, it should be emphasized that the volumes in this type are very limited. Groundwater The largest exploitable volumes of ground water appear in the alluvial sediments of the Danube. In the littoral zone of Novi Sad, water is pumped from these deposits for the supply of the city and the surrounding settlements. However, it should be pointed out that the reserves of water of this type are also limited, new sources must be sought and the reserves economically and prudently managed and exploited. Tertiary sands, on the edges of the mountain, appear in many places on the surface. They accumulate significant volumes of ground water that feed the water-bearing horizons of the tertiary series. Research and exploitation pumps have detected and confirmed ground water at several locations (Cerevic, Banostor, Novi Sad and a broader area of southern Backa). Three water-bearing horizons have been identified. The first one is 50m deep, hydraulically connected with the alluvial water-bearing environment; optimum debit of vertical wells is 5-10 lit/sec. The second one is up to 130m deep, with good filtration characteristics and debit of 20 lit/sec. The third horizon is 170 to 210m deep, with an optimum debit of 5-17 lit/sec. CLIMATE AND WEATHER By its location, the area of Fruska gora mountain should have continental climate, but cover of forests changes this type of climate into a climate with sub continental characteristics. Exception is the climate of the mountain's ridges, with cold winters and chilly summers. Summer Sunny mornings, possible afternoon thunderstorms and cool nights. Weather conditions may change quickly in mountainous area. Wear appropriate dress for each season - comfortable clothing, dress in layers, rain gear, sunglasses and sunscreen. Winter Unpredictability is the key word for mountain weather in the Fruska gora Mountain. As a result, Park visitors cannot be indifferent about the weather and should be prepared for sudden weather conditions. Cold fronts may down temperatures to -30 degrees C. All visitors should be equipped to handle these conditions, and particularly overnight frosts. Animals

Fauna of the Fruska gora is rich in species, but the populations of certain mammals and birds are considerably reduced. There are still quite large numbers of does, boars and other game species, while deer are bred in the hunting reserves in the National Park. The Fruska gora is rich in insect species, but they have been insufficiently researched. The most important species, protected as natural rarities are: stag-beetle (Lucanus cervus), hill ant (Formica rufa) and certain representatives of butterflies (Lepidoptera).

Till today, 110 bird species have been recorded. The most important among them are:

Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), booted eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus), woodpeckers (Dyobaes major and D. medtrs), black woodpecker (Dryocopus manius), raven (Corvus corax), song-birds: red-breasted flycatcher (Muscicapa parva), marsh titmouse (Parus palustris), garden-hammer (Embriza homrlana), etc. Some of the rare or declining mammal species are: wild cat (Felis sylvestris), badger (Meles meles), pine marten (Martes martes), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), edible dormouse (Glis glis) hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and several species of bats (Chiroptera).

In order to provide adequate protection of the habitats of the important representatives of ornithofauna, and in accordance with recognized values of the ornithofauna in the characteristic biocenoses of the Fruska Gora, the Papratski Do Strict Reserve, Zmajevac Research Reserve and 12 potential ornithological reserves, of total surface of 600 ha, have been protected or determined for protection.

Certain bird species - nature rarities have not been properly valued, and they are the largest birds, such as black stork, imperial eagle and the other birds of prey. The imperial eagle is the most endangered and the rarest bird in the Fruska gora and one of the rarest in Europe. At the moment there are 4 couples living in the Fruska Gora, and 10 couples of this rare species in Vojvodina. Because the imperial eagle is very sensitive to the human presence it builds its nests in the peaceful places where people rarely go. Due to that fact, it is necessary to provide adequate protection of this bird nesting areas, particularly prohibiting human presence. Very rare birds of prey need a wealth of prey, such as ground squirrel and other small mammals, and, in the case of food shortage, construction of artificial feeding places is necessary. So, from the ornithological point of view, extension of the National Park to the lower areas is also necessary, because the pastures of those areas are valuable feeding places for the important birds of prey of the Fruska gora.