engleski

PHYTOGEOGRAPHY OF GREY ALDER(ALNUS INCANA) PHYTOCENOSES IN THE DINARIDES

Grey alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench) is an European species distributed across central, northern and eastern Europe up to the Caucasus. Contrary to its more widespread congener, the typical lowland common alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.), grey alder is more common in higher elevations, up to 1400 m, where it mostly forms stands alongside alpine rivers, brooks and other humid habitats. Its communities were recently studied on the European level from the point of phytosociology, but questions about phytosociological diversity, biogeography and relationships to other parts of Europe remained open, since the whole Balkan area was underrepresented in this study. Namely, most of previously published data were written in national languages and published in hardly accessible local journals, representing “grey information”, oft en neglected in modern studies. Th erefore, the aim of our study was to use our recent fi eld researches and investigate the published data more thoroughly, to fi ll this gap. Stands from the south-eastern Dinarides were analysed and compared with the ones from the north-western Dinarides. Th e comparison revealed signifi cant diff erences in the fl oristic composition and the degree of diff erentiation, particularly regarding the presence of the Illyrian fl oristic geoelement. In total 198 relevés were analysed based on fl oristic composition and grouped in four main clusters, out of which three are confi ned to the north-western Dinarides, showing that this is the centre of diversity of Dinaric grey alder phytocenoses. For each cluster, characteristic and diff erential species were estimated, clearly defi ning the ecological and phytogeographical diff erentiation of these phytocenoses. However, further research is inevitable in order to gain a more detailed picture of the characteristics, diversity and relationships between Dinaric stands of grey alder.

fl oristic geoelements, forests, phytosociology, vegetation ecology

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