Ecology and vegetation types of oak-hornbeam and ravine forests of the Eastern Greater Caucasus, Georgia
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Pavel Novák [1] ; Dominik Zukal [1] ; Martin Harásek [1] ; Pavla Vlčková ; Otar Abdaladze [3] ; Wolfgang Willner [2]
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[1] Masaryk University
Masaryk University
Chequia
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[2] University of Vienna
University of Vienna
Innere Stadt, Austria
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[3] Institute of Ecology, School of Natural Science and Medicine, Ilia State University, K. Cholokashvili Avenue 5, GE-0162, Tbilisi, Georgia
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- Localización: Folia geobotánica: A journal of plant ecology and systematics, ISSN-e 1874-9348, ISSN 1211-9520, Vol. 55, Nº 4, 2020, págs. 333-349
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
The Caucasus harbours unique forest vegetation so far only little studied using the Braun-Blanquet approach. This study is mostly based on a dataset (N = 110) of original phytosociological relevés of oak-hornbeam and ravine forests in the Eastern Greater Caucasus, Georgia. Their unsupervised classification produced seven communities. Five belong to oak-hornbeam forests (order Lathyro-Carpinetalia caucasicae). Of the zonal Caucasian alliance Crataego-Carpinion, the association Corno australis-Carpinetum inhabits valleys of the Greater Caucasus, and Clinopodio umbrosi-Carpinetum is confined to the warm Eastern Greater Caucasus promontories. The association Astrantio maximae-Carpinetum of the alliance Astrantio-Carpinion represents distinctive Caucasian montaneoak-hornbeam forests. The other two communities, documented by a few relevés, were described at the community level only. Within ravine forests (order Aceretalia pseudoplatani), we introduce a new Caucasian alliance Pachyphragmo macrophyllae-Tilion begoniifoliae with two associations. Valeriano tiliifoliae-Ulmetum glabrae comprises Caucasian montane ravine forests whereas Hedero pastuchovii-Aceretum velutini inhabits the foothills of the Eastern Greater Caucasian. To provide a broader context of the recognized communities, an expanded dataset (N = 231) of original relevés and previously published relevés of Georgian deciduous forests was analysed. It indicated a major turnover in species composition following biogeographical patterns presumably driven by macroclimate and vegetation history.
