The $F_2$ slope and shadowing corrections in DIS

Recent HERA low $Q^2$ data show that the logarithmic slope of the protonstructure function ($\frac{\partial F_2}{\partial \ln Q^2}$) is significantly different from perturbative QCD expectations for smallvalues of $Q^2$ at exeedingly small values of $x$. We show that shadowing (screening) corrections provide a natural explanation for this experimental observation.