Oak forests of the class Quercetea pubescentis in Central-Eastern Ukraine

Igor Goncharenko,Oleksii Kovalenko

doi:10.33542/tjb2019-2-05

Abstract

The article is devoted to the phytosociological study and vegetation classification of the dry-mesic oak forests in the central and eastern regions of Ukraine. We showed that oak forests of the Quercetea pubescentis class have specific northern features in the region and their syntaxonomic position at the level of alliances was not assigned. Syntaxa formed three distinct geographical groups eastward from the Dnieper lowland to the Middle Russian Upland. Ordination, phytoindication, and comparative floristic analysis with other syntaxa from adjacent regions were performed. New associations (Digitali grandiflorae-Quercetum roboris ass. nova and Carici praecocis-Quercetum roboris ass. nova) were reported. Two edaphic subtypes of dry-mesic oak forests (terrace and ravine oak forests) were distinguished and their floristic features were discussed.

Highlights

Thermophilous oak forests attracted attention of botanists due to the high level of biodiversity and a number of rare species
Syntaxonomic position of thermophilous oak forest remains controversial in cool temperate regions, where there are significant floristic differences from the core sub-Mediterranean type
In Ukrainian publications, data on dry-mesic oak forests are incomplete, and need to be synthesized. They are scattered over 5 alliances (Aceri tatarici-Quercion Zólyomi 1957, Quercion petraeae, Pino-Quercion Medwecka-Kornaś et al in Szafer 1959, Genisto germanicae-Quercion Neuhäusl et Neuhäuslová-Novotná 1967, Convallario majalis-Quercion roboris Shevchyk et Solomakha 1996) and within three classes of vegetation – Carpino-Fagetea, Quercetea pubescentis, Quercetea robori-petraeae

Summary

Introduction

Thermophilous oak forests attracted attention of botanists due to the high level of biodiversity and a number of rare species. The centre of diversity of the Quercetea pubescentis class is located in southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Asia Minor (Mucina et al 2016) The origin of these forests is associated with the postglacial climatic optimum, and the current reduction of their area is considered to be a consequence of a human impact (Faliński & Falińska 1986). In Ukrainian publications, data on dry-mesic oak forests are incomplete, and need to be synthesized They are scattered over 5 alliances (Aceri tatarici-Quercion Zólyomi 1957, Quercion petraeae, Pino-Quercion Medwecka-Kornaś et al in Szafer 1959, Genisto germanicae-Quercion Neuhäusl et Neuhäuslová-Novotná 1967, Convallario majalis-Quercion roboris Shevchyk et Solomakha 1996) and within three classes of vegetation – Carpino-Fagetea, Quercetea pubescentis, Quercetea robori-petraeae. The issue is even more complicated, given that until the 80s of the last century, forests of this type were overlooked due to the use of the dominant classification approach in the Soviet geobotanical school for a long time

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion