Beech forest communities in Bulgaria

Abstract

Beech forests occupy considerable areas in the Bulgarian mountains. They are represented by communities of Fagus sylvatica (incl. F. moesiaca) and F. orientalis, and also by mixed stands of beech with Abies alba, Carpinus betulus, Quercus cerris, Q. dalechampii and Q. polycarpa. 494 relevés sampled across the country were analysed by numerical methods. They were classified into 12 groups of Fagus sylvatica forests and 3 groups of Fagus orientalis forests. The analysis of Bulgarian Fagus sylvatica communities did not show a distinct pattern of geographic differentiation and did not support the concept of the alliance Fagion moesiacum, as accepted by many earlier authors. The differentiation patterns in the Bulgarian Fagus sylvatica forests mainly follow the gradients in soils and climate, and are similar to those in the Central European beech forests. Therefore we accept a syntaxonomical scheme, which emphasizes variation due to edaphic and local topoclimatic factors rather than due to large-scale geographical differentiation. This scheme is very close to that proposed by Willner (2002) for the southern Central European beech forests, and includes the alliances Luzulo-Fagion (acidophilous beech forests), Asperulo-Fagion (nutrient-rich beech forests), and Cephalanthero-Fagion (thermophilous beech forests). The communities of Fagus orientalis are markedly different from the communities of Fagus sylvatica, have a distinct floristic composition, and belong to the Euxinian alliance Fagion orientalis.

Classification and phytogeographical differentiation of oriental beech forests in Turkey and Bulgaria

“…OBFs show ecological and geographical differentiation, similar to Fagus sylvatica forests in Southeastern Europe (Dzwonko et al 1999;Dzwonko & Loster 2000;Bergmeier & Dimopoulos 2001;Tzonev et al 2006;Tsiripidis et al 2007) and Central Europe (Willner 2002).…”

“…equi-trojana, Picea orientalis, Pinus nigra, P. sylvestris, Carpinus betulus, Castanea sativa, Tilia argentea and various oak species such as Quercus petraea, Q. frainetto and Q. cerris (Mayer & Aksoy 1986). Fagus orientalis dominated forests can be found also in Europe: in the most southeastern part of Bulgaria (Tzonev et al , 2009 and northwestern part of Turkey, in Thrace (Kavgacı et al 2010b). Its appearance in Greece is difficult to define, since the distribution limit between Fagus sylvatica and Fagus orientalis is rather unclear in NE Greece (Tsiripidis et al 2007, Papageorgiou et al 2008.…”

Dry Grasslands of Southern Europe: Syntaxonomy, Management and Conservation

“…rivas-Martínez et al 2002 for Spain and Portugal, Bardat et al 2004 for France, Biondi et al 1995b andBracco et al 2007 for Italy, Šilc & Čarni 2012 for Slovenia, Kojić et al 1998 for Serbia, Tzonev et al 2009 for Bulgaria and Dimopoulos et al 1995 for Greece), the syntaxonomic viewpoints in these countries are still largely idiosyncratic. one reason for this is that the syntaxonomic overviews of Southern Europe are so far not based on comprehensive plot databases for delimitation of vegetation units and statistical determination of diagnostic species, unlike the situation in Central and Western Europe (e.g.…”

Šumska Vegetacija Trešnjika Kod Banje Luke

“…Pored toga što su sintaksonomija i nomenklatura šumske vegetacije nesređene u okviru BiH, sličan problem se javlja na regionalnom pa i na evropskom nivou. Na primjer, sintaksonomija bukovih šuma južne i jugoistočne Evrope još je daleko od riješene (Bergmeier & Dimopoulos, 2001;Di Pietro et al, 2004;Tzonev et al, 2006;Tsiripidis et al, 2007;Marinšek et al, 2013). Slična situacija je i sa tzv.…”