Fine-scale plant species richness varies across habitats, climatic and biogeographic regions, but the large-scale context of this variation is insufficiently explored. The patterns at the borders ...between biomes harbouring rich but different floras are of special interest. Dry grasslands of the eastern Balkan Peninsula, situated in the Eurasian forest-steppe zone and developed under Mediterranean influence, are a specific case of such biome transition. However, there are no studies assessing the patterns of fine-scale species richness and their underlying factors across the eastern Balkans. To explore these patterns, we sampled dry and semi-dry grasslands (phytosociological class Festuco-Brometea) across Bulgaria and SE Romania. In total, 172 vegetation plots of 10 × 10 m2 were sampled, in which all vascular plant species were recorded, soil depth was measured, and soil samples were collected and analysed in a laboratory for pH and plant-available nutrients. Geographic coordinates were used to extract selected climatic variables. Regression trees and linear regressions were used to quantify the relationships between species richness and environmental variables. Climatic factors were identified as the main drivers of species richness: (1) Species richness was strongly positively correlated with the mean temperature of the coldest month: sub-Mediterranean areas of S and E Bulgaria, characterized by warmer winters, were more species-rich. (2) Outside the sub-Mediterranean areas, species richness strongly increased with annual precipitation, which was primarily controlled by altitude. (3) Bedrock type and soil pH also significantly affected dry grassland richness outside the sub-Mediterranean areas. These results suggest that fine-scale species richness of dry grasslands over large areas is driven by processes at the regional level, especially by the difference in the species pools of large regions, in our case the Continental and Mediterranean biogeographic regions. Local environmental factors are of secondary importance over broad extents, but their effect on fine-scale species richness increases within climatically and biogeographically homogeneous regions.
•Patterns of fine-scale plant species richness in dry grasslands across the Balkan Peninsula have been unknown to date.•We explore the effect of potential drivers of plant species richness such as climate, soil properties, and management.•Fine-scale species richness has a strong geographical pattern, with climate being the most important underlying factor.•Dry grasslands are species-richer in sub-Mediterranean areas of S and E Bulgaria and poorer in subcontinental areas.•Local environmental factors (e.g. soil properties and management) are important mainly within climatically uniform regions.
The paper discusses the phytosociological and syntaxonomical position of the dry subalpine grasslands in the Slavianka (Alibutoush, Orvilos) Mts. (South-Western Bulgaria, Northern Greece). A new ...association Saxifrago ferdinandi-coburgi-Seslerietum actarovii ass. nova has been established as a result of the phytosociological study. It is considered as an endemic vegetation unit from the calcareous subalpine terrains in the Central Balkan Peninsula high mountains (Southwestern Bulgaria, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Northern Greece). The new syntaxon belongs to the alliance Edrajantho-Seslerion Horvat 1949. A comparison with related syntaxa from other calcareous mountains from Northern Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is discussed.
V članku avtorji obravnavajo fitosociološki in sintaksonomski položaj suhih subalpinskih travnikov v gorovju Slavjanka (Alibutoush, Orvilos) (jugozahodna Bolgarija, severna Grčija). Kot rezultat fitocenoloških raziskav so opisali novo asociacijo Saxifrago ferdinandi-coburgi-Seslerietum actarovii ass. nova. Obravnavajo jo kot endemično vegetacijsko enoto iz subalpinskega pasu visokih gora v srednjem delu Balkanskega polotoka (jugozahodna Bolgarija, Makedonija, severna Grčija). Novoopisani sintakson uvrščajo v zvezo Edrajantho-Seslerion Horvat 1949. Sintakson so primerjali s sorodnimi sintaksoni iz drugih apneniških gora iz severne Grčije in Makedonije.
The Balkan Vegetation Database (BVD; GIVD ID: EU-00-019) is a regional database, which was established in 2014. It comprises phytosociological relevés covering various vegetation types from nine ...countries of the Balkan Peninsula (Albania – 153 relevés, Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1715, Bulgaria – 12,282, Greece – 465, Croatia – 69, Kosovo – 493, Montenegro – 440, North Macedonia – 13 and Serbia – 2677). Currently, it contains 18,306 relevés (compared to 9.580 in 2016), and most of them (82.8%) are geo-referenced. The database includes both digitized relevés from the literature (65.6%) and unpublished data (34.5%). Plot size is available for 84.7% of all relevés. During the last four years some “header data information” was improved e.g. elevation (now available for 83.4% of all relevés), aspect (67.7%), slope (66%), total cover of vegetation (54.3%), cover of tree, shrub, herb, bryophyte and lichen layers (27.1%, 20.1%, 40.2%, 11.5% and 2.1%), respectively. Data access is either semi-restricted (65.6%) or restricted (34.4%). Most relevés (84.6%) are classified to syntaxa of different levels. The database has been used for numerous studies with various objectives from floristic, vegetation and habitat-related topics, to macroecological studies at the local, regional, national, continental and global levels. During the last four years, BVD data were requested from 111 different projects via the EVA and sPlot databases.
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