Floristic characteristics of greek maple forest ( acer heldreichii orph.) In the area of the great Jastrebac (Serbia)

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the floristic compositions of two communities of Greek maple (Acer heldreichii Orph.), which are endemic to the Balkan and a tertiary relict. The analysis consists of nine phytocoenological releves made in the forest of beech and Greek maple (Acer heldreichii-Fagetum Jov.1957) and four phytocoenological releves made in a high mountainous beech forest (Fagetum altimontanum moesiacum Jov.1985) on Mount. Jastrebac, Serbia. CA floristic analysis of the data collected showed that the forest of beech and Greek maple is characterized by floristic poverty, where edificators are dominant (Acer heldreichiii, Fagus moesiaca (Fagus sylvatica L. (incl. F. moesiaca)) and also Rubus hirtus, Athyriumfilix-femina, Anemone nemorosa. The high- mountainous beech forest is a lot richer in terms of floristic composition and contains species that are characteristic of the Fagion moesiacae alliance, which can be found at lower altitudes: Asperula odorata, Sambucus racemosa, Mercurialis perennis, Polygonatum verticillatum, Fraxinus excelsior. The diversity index (Shannon Wiener index) shows a higher value in the high mountainous beech forest than in the forest of beech and Greek maple, which was to be expected since the forest of beech and Greek maple has a greater number of species per phytocoenological releve. The evenness index (Evenness index) also shows a higher value in the forest of beech and Greek maple. There is a nearly proper spatial distribution of plant species in this community. In both researched communities, blackberry (Rubus hirtus) prevents the natural regeneration of forests, thus special attention must be paid to the preservation of the gene pool, as well as forest floristic diversity of this important endemic and rare species.