Hemixerophilic forests in the caucasus

Abstract

Hemixerophilic vegetation of the lower mountain belt belongs to the class Quercetea pubescenti-petraeae Jakucs (1960) 1961, order Orno-Cotinetalia Jakucs (1960) 1961. Hemixerophilic forests in the Caucasus are represented by two types: Oak hemixerophylic forests from Quercus pubescens Wiild. and forest from Carpinus orientalis Mill. The forests of Quercus pubescens are confined to the Sub-Mediterranean, where they are known under the name “shiblyak.” The northern boundary of the species spreads across Northern France, southern Belgium and Germany, where it grows in the forests of the Atlantic Europe on carbonate soils. Further, the border goes along the southern Carpathians (Romania) and Podillia to the Crimea and the Caucasus in the east. Fluffy forests are a link between evergreen Mediterranean forests and Central European deciduous deciduous forests. Quercus pubescens is a derivative of the tertiary flora that developed in the drier and warmer climate of low mountains in the Mediterranean region bordering on Central Europe..