We investigated whether we can distinguish biogeographical units in Slovenia using data on the distribution of selected subterranean taxa. We divided the country into various-sized units represented by grid cells of 5x5 km, 10x10 km, 20x20 km, and 40x40 km, as well as hydrographic areas at the first three different size levels. The studied group comprised subterranean amphipods from the family Niphargidae. Our analyses included a total of 52 species from the Niphargidae family across 513 localities in Slovenia. For the analyses of clustering grid cells and hydrographic areas, we employed two methods: hierarchical clustering of units and clustering based on the similarity of ranges, using non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS). In both approaches, we identified some larger biogeographical regions, such as central Slovenia, Istra, and western Slovenija, as well as smaller regions like northwestern Slovenia, northeastern Slovenia, southwestern Slovenija, southeastern Slovenia, which also includes a smaller region of Bela Krajina. We compared these biogeographical regions with Natura 2000 areas to determine whether these areas belong to one or more regions. We found that most Natura 2000 areas, due to their size, encompass two or more regions, with only a few Natura 2000 areas including just one region. Some regions were so large that they contained several Natura 2000 areas.
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