Abstract Karst terrains have varied abiotic and biotic values. However, due to their unfavourable conditions for human settling, they are relatively sparsely populated areas. Thus, karst terrains merit and are suitable for nature protection. In this paper, partly or mostly karstic European national parks (NP) and geoparks (GP) are studied. We compiled a dataset based on official information and internet sources, and analysed NPs and GPs by location, morphology and timeline. Nowadays, there are 106 partly or mostly karstic NPs in Europe, that means 23% of all NPs. Many of the karst terrains became protected before the terms of geotourism and geopark came into being. 49% of all GPs contain karst terrains, which means that karsts are key issues in the study of geoheritage and geotourism. Tourism into karstic NPs and GPs can be considered sensu lato geotourism, since tourists travelling to these locations generally visit caves, gorges, travertine lakes and other karst features. Adventure tourism is also significant in karstic NPs and GPs. The most popular NPs host several millions of visitors a year, that implies economic benefits, but also poses environmental problems, thus certain parks already reached their carrying capacity, while other parks plan to increase their visitor numbers.

中文翻译：

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喀斯特地区在欧洲国家公园和地质公园中的意义

摘要 喀斯特地形具有不同的非生物和生物价值。但由于其人居环境恶劣，人口相对稀少。因此，喀斯特地形值得并适合于自然保护。在本文中，部分或大部分岩溶欧洲国家公园 (NP) 和地质公园 (GP) 进行了研究。我们根据官方信息和互联网资源编制了一个数据集，并按位置、形态和时间线分析了 NP 和 GP。目前，欧洲有 106 个部分或大部分岩溶 NP，占所有 NP 的 23%。许多喀斯特地形在地质旅游和地质公园的条款出现之前就受到了保护。49% 的 GP 包含岩溶地形，这意味着岩溶是地质遗产和地质旅游研究的关键问题。进入岩溶 NP 和 GP 的旅游可以被视为 sensu lato geotourism，因为前往这些地点的游客通常会参观洞穴、峡谷、石灰华湖和其他喀斯特地貌。探险旅游在喀斯特 NP 和 GP 中也很重要。最受欢迎的NP每年接待数百万游客，这意味着经济效益，但也带来了环境问题，因此某些公园已经达到其承载能力，而其他公园则计划增加游客人数。