Abstract
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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barkman, J. J., Doing, H. & Segal, S. 1964. Kritische Bemerkungen und Vorschläge zur quantitativen Vegetationsanalyse. Acta Bot. Neerl. 13: 394–419.
Beldie, A. 1967. Flora şj vegetaţia Munţilor Buşegi. Ed. Acad. Rep. Soc. Romãnia, Bucureşti, 578 pp.
Braun-Blanquet, J. 1964. Pflanzensoziologie. Grundzüge der Vegetationskunde. 3. Aufl. Springer Verlag, Wien, 865 pp.
Coldea, Gh. 1984. L’étude des pâturages basiphiles sousalpines des Monts Rodnei (Les Carpathes Orienthales). Contr. Bot., Cluj-Napoca, pp. 137–154.
Coldea, Gh. 1997. Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii Ohba 1974, pp. 202–207. In: Coldea, Gh., Sanda, V., Popescu, A. & Ştefan, N. (eds), Les associations végtales de Roumanie. 1. Les associations herbacées naturelles, Presses Universitaires de Cluj, Cluj-Napoca.
Domin, K. 1925. Květena horského kotle mezi Žd’árskou Vidlou a Havranem v Bielských Tatrách. Spisy Přír. Fak. Karlovy Univ., Praha, 1925/45: 1–30.
Domin, K. 1927. Tofieldia palustris Huds., nová rostlina československé květeny. Věda Přír., Praha, 8: 214–216.
Domin, K. 1929. Příspěvek k poznání vegetačních poměrů a květeny Malého Havranu v Bělských Tatrách. Spisy Přír. Fak. Karlovy Univ., Praha, 1929/101: 3–18.
Domin, K. 1933. Die Vegetationsverhältnisse des Bucegi in den rumänischen Südkarpathen. Veröff. Geobot. Inst. Rübel 10: 1–48. [Sep.]
Dúbravcová, Z., Jarolímek, I., Kliment, J., Petrík, A., Šibík, J. & Valachovič, M. 2005. Alpine heaths in the Western Carpathians — a new approach to the classification. Ann. Bot. N. S., Roma, 5: 153–160.
Grabherr, G. 1993. Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii, pp. 373–381. In: Grabherr, G. & Mucina, L. (eds), Die Pflanzengesellschaften Österreichs. Teil 2. Natürliche Waldfreie Vegetation, Gustav Fischer, Jena.
Hadač, E. 1956. Rostlinná společenstva Temnosmrečinové doliny ve Vysokých Tatrách. Biol. Práce Slov. Akad. Vied, Bratislava, 2(1): 1–78.
Jarolímek, I. & Schlosser, G. 1977. FYTOPACK — a system of programs to process phytocoenological tables. Biologia, Bratislava, 52: 53–59.
Kliment, J., Bělohlávková, R., Bernátová, D., Jarolímek, I., Petrík, A., Šibík, J., Uhlířová, J. & Valachovič, M. 2005. Syntaxonomy and nomenclature of the communities of the alliances Astero alpini-Seslerion calcariae and Seslerion tatrae in Slovakia. Hacquetia 4(2): 121–149.
Kliment, J., Jarolímek, I., Šibík, J. & Valachovič, M. 2004. Syntaxonomy and nomenclature of the communities of the orders Calamagrostietalia villosae and Adenostyletalia in Slovakia. Thaiszia-J. Bot. 14(2): 93–157.
Kliment, J. & Valachovič, M. (eds) 2006. Rastlinné spoločenstvá Slovenska. 4. Vysokohorská vegetácia. Veda, Bratislava, (in prep.).
Krajina, V. 1933. Die Pflanzengesellschaften des Mlynica-Tales in den Vysoké Tatry (Hohe Tatra). 2. Teil. Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 51: 1–224.
Malynovski, K. & Kricsfalusy, V. 2002. Plant communities of the Ukrainian Carpathian highlands. Uzhgorod, 244 pp.
Marhold, K. & Hindák, F. (eds) 1998. Zoznam nižších a vyšších rastlín Slovenska. Veda, Bratislava, 687 pp.
Ohba T., 1974. Vergleichende Studien über die alpine Vegetation Japans. 1. Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii. Phytocoenologia, 1: 331–401.
Pawłowski, B. 1928. Guide des excursions en Pologne. 1. partie. Guide de l’excursion botanique dans les months Tatras. Cinquième excursion phytogéographique internationale 1928: 1–61.
Pawłowski B., 1935. Über die Klimaxassoziationen in der alpinen Stufe der Tatra. — Bull. Int. Acad. Polon. Sci., Cl. Sci. Math., Ser. B, Sci. Nath., pp. 115–146.
Pawłowski, B., Sokolowski, M. & Wallisch, K. 1928. Die Pflanzenassoziationen des Tatra-Gebirges. Teil 7. Die Pflanzenassoziationen und die Flora des Morskie Oko Tales. Bull. Int. Acad. Polon. Sci., Cl. Sci. Math., Ser. B., Suppl. 2: 205–272.
Pawłowski, B. & Stecki, K. 1927. Die Pflanzenassoziationen des Tatra-Gebirges. IV. Teil: Die Pflanzenassoziationen des MiŠtusia-Tales und des Hauptmassivs der Czerwone Wierchy. Bull. Int. Acad. Polon. Sci., Cl. Sci. Math., Ser. B., Suppl. 2: 79–121.
Petrík, A., Šibík, J. & Valachovič, M. 2005. The class Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii Ohba 1974 also in the Western Carpathians. Hacquetia 4(1): 33–51.
Podani, J. 2001. SYN-TAX 2000. Computer program for data analysis in ecology and systematics for Windows 95, 98 & NT. User’s manual. Scientia Publ., Budapest, 53 pp.
Rivas-Martínez, S., Díaz, E. T., Fernández-González, F., Izco, J., Loidi, J., Lousa, M. & Penas, Á. 2002. Vascular plant communities of Spain and Portugal. Addenda to the syntaxonomical checklist of 2001. Part 1, 2. Itinera Geobotanica, León, 15/1,2: 5–922.
Roussakova, V. 2000. Végétation alpine et sous alpine supérieure de la Montagne de Rila (Bulgarie). Braun-Blanquetia, Camerino, 25: 1–132.
Sekyra, J. 1954. Velehorský kras Bělských Tater. Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, Praha, 148 pp.
Sillinger, P. 1933. Monografická studie o vegetaci Nízkých Tater. Orbis, Praha, 339 pp.
Svoboda, J. et al. 1983. Encyklopedický slovník geologických věd. II. Svazek. Academia, Praha, 851 pp.
Šibík J., Kliment J., Jarolímek I., Dúbravcová A., Bělohlávková R. & Paclová L., 2006. Syntaxonomy and nomenclature of the alpine heaths (the class Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea) in the Western Carpathians. Hacquetia 5: 37–71.
Šibík, J., Petrík, A. & Kliment, J. 2004. Syntaxonomical revision of plant communities with Carex firma and Dryas octopetala (alliance Caricion firmae) in the Western Carpathians. Polish Bot. J. 49(2): 181–202.
Šoltés R., Hájek M. & Valachovič M. 2001. Oxycocco-Sphagnetea, pp. 275–296. In: Valachovič M. (ed.), Rastlinné spoločenstvá Slovenska. 3. Vegetácia mokradí. Veda, Bratislava.
van den Maarel, E. 1979. Transformation of cover-abundance values in phytosociology and its effect on community similarity. Vegetatio 39: 97–114.
Walas, J. 1933. Roślinność Babiej Góry (Vegetation des Babia Góra-Gebietes in den Karpaten). Państwowa rada ochrony przyrody 2: 1–68.
Weber, H. E., Moravec, J. & Theurillat, J.-P. 2000. International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. Ed. 3. J. Veget. Sci. 11: 739–768.
Westhoff, V. & van der Maarel, E. 1978. The Braun-Blanquet approach, pp. 287–399. In: Whittaker, R. H., Classification of plant communities. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petrík, A., Dúbravcová, Z., Jarolímek, I. et al. Syntaxonomy and ecology of plant communities of the Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii in the western carpathians. Biologia 61, 393–412 (2006). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-0070-4
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-0070-4