engleski

Floristic composition of wet meadows dominated by Alopecurus pratensis in the NW Balkan Peninsula

Floristic composition and phytosociological classification of meadows in NW Balkan Peninsula have been intensively studied, but classification and ecological characterization of wet meadows dominated by Alopecurus pratensis is not entirely clear and needs further consideration. Alopecurus pratensis dominated communities are classified differently in different countries and we tried to establish if this different classification reflects also different floristic composition, ecological conditions and geographical position. Our research took place in the northern part of the NW Balkan (NE Slovenia, N Croatia and N Serbia), where are mountains gradually passes to the Pannonian plain. In this area, we can find a strong macroclimatic gradient from wet (sub)Atlanic climate in the west to dry (continetal) climate in the east. The analysis is based on own and literature data. The ordination diagram with passively projected with ecological indicator values and climate data show the influence of climate and site conditions on species composition. The Alopecurus pratensis dominated communities in the west part are linked to mesic, eutrophic grasslands, but the east these communities appear in various habitats. They show a typical Central European feature in the western part, but changes their floristic composition and ecological conditions towards the eastern part. Our analysis show also that it is sometimes difficult to unify different phytosociological classification systems in different countries, as communities dominated by a certain species can appear in different ecological conditions in different regions that reflect their different sinsystematic affiliation.

Meadows ; Alopecurus pratensis ; Slovenia ; Croatia ; Serbia ; Habitats

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