High-altitude vegetation of the Western Carpathians — a syntaxonomical review (original) (raw)
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Biologia, 2006
We present a syntaxonomic account of the communities of the alliances of Oxytropido-Elynion Br.-Bl. 1949 and Festucion versicoloris Krajina 1933 from Western Carpathians. Both alliances comprise naked-rush, cushion form and dwarf-shrub heath communities typical of wind-exposed habitats occurring at the highest altitudes of the Tatra Mts. They represent a relic vegetation of the cold stages of the Pleistocene (probably Late Glacial Maximum) and they can be classified within the class of Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii Ohba 1974. A set of relevés was subject to numerical-classification analysis. Floristics and ecology of the communities were characterised and the relationships to similar syntaxa were discussed. The Oxytropido-Elynion is restricted to the extreme ridge positions in the highest altitudes of the Belianske Tatry Mts. Five associations were distinguished, such as the Pyrolo carpaticae-Salicetum reticulatae, the Festuco versicoloris-Oreochloetum distichae, the Festucetum versicoloris, the Oxytropido carpaticae-Elynetum myosuroides and the Drabo siliquosae-Festucetum versicoloris. The Festucion versicoloris is limited to the mylonite zone of the alpine and subnival belt of the Vysoké Tatry and Západné Tatry Mts (and found as rare in the Nízke Tatry Mts). The stands of these communities prefer terraces of steep rocky faces and cliffs and stabilised small-grained screes below the cliffs. Within this alliance, three associations were described, including the Agrostio alpinae-Festucetum versicoloris, the Silenetum acaulis and the Salicetum kitaibelianae.
2013
Mountain grasslands in the Eastern Carpathians within Ukraine are of high scientific and nature conservation value as well as of cultural and historical importance. They are home to a rich biodiversity, including many rare, endemic and relic plant species and plant communities, as well as those that are found at the periphery of their ranges. This paper analyses data from mountain grasslands that contain significant concentrations of biodiversity in the region. We propose syntaxonomical revision of our previously-published classification of grassland communities, which contains some corrections and improvements. This study provides an assessment of 14 grassland communities, including their syntaxonomy, characterization, distribution, habitat, ecology, red-listed plants, dynamic trends, protection status, and conservation value. Phytogeographical analysis demonstrates that most plant associations have different levels of endemism, from local and regional to supra-regional. This paper...
Altitudinal ranges of forest and shrub communities in the Babia Góra massif (West Carpathians)
For many years, the massif of Babia Góra has been considered one of the best representatives of vertical arrangement of plant communities in the whole range of the West Beskids, being the northernmost part of the West Carpathians. Th e whole set of plant communities, including forests, has been preserved in this massif much better than over the remaining area of this extensive forested mountain range spanning about four hundred kilometers in Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Phytosociological studies have been conducted several times in the massif and detailed phytosociological map was prepared in 1960s. All these investigations resulted in pure descriptions of communities giving only rough information about their altitudinal distribution. New possibility did arise with the implementation of geomatic methods in the analyses of vegetation maps. Using these methods in particular we attempted to express in quantitative terms the diff erences between the vegetation on northern and so...