engleski

FLORISTIC-VEGETATION FEATURES OF PEDUNCULATE OAK (QUERCUS ROBUR L.) FORESTS IN THE DINARIC REGION OF CROATIA

The remains of floodplain and wet pedunculate oak forests in the Dinaric region of Croatia are very rare. The river valleys in which they once grew in the past were meliorated and turned into agricultural land. What is left are only smaller localities, out of which we researched Hrastov Lug near Drežnica, Premužno Jezero and Crno Jezero near Otočac and a few fragments in Ličko Polje in the vicinity of Gospić. The research was carried out by the classical method of Central European Phytosociological School (Braun Blanquet 1964), 28 relevés were recorded. Studies have shown heterogeneity within the pedunculate oak forests and deviations in the floristic composition in relation to already known syntaxa. They are conditioned by the specific water regime and biogeographic position of the Dinaric area. Some research sites are completely isolated from similar hygrophilous forests and show a refugial character. Stands from Ličko Polje show great resemblance to the well known forests of pedunculate oak and common hornbeam in northern Croatia, while stands from Hrastov Lug are significantly different. They include species Spiraea salicifolia, Prunus padus, Carex cespitosa, Pseudolysimachion longifolium, Euphorbia villosa and some others, which are absent or are exceptionally rare in the planar pedunculate oak forests of Southeast and Central Europe. Another special feature is the presence of mesophilic flora from surraunding zonal beech and beech-fir forests. An important result of this research is the protection proposal of locality Hrastov Lug, in area of 52 ha, as a special reserve of forest vegetation.

floodplain forest, phytosociology, refugial, the Dinarides

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