Floristic characteristics of beech and fir forests on granodiorite and serpentinite in Serbia

Abstract

Forest of beech and fir represents a climate regional vegetation belt, widely present in the Balkans. In Serbia, this community has the widest span on Mt. Goc, but occasionally occurs on different parent rocks as well as on many lower mountains. This paper compares the beech and fir forest on the granodiorite parent rock of Mt. Jastrebac against the same type of forest on the serpentinite parent rock of Mt. Suvobor, in order to determine whether and how the parent rock influences the floristic composition of the studied stands. The analysis included 29 phytocoenological releves, 20 of them from Mt. Suvobor and 9 from Mt. Jastrebac. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in floristic composition of studied sites. The beech and fir forest of Mt. Jastrebac has richer floristic composition and a larger number of species of the Central European areal type, which emphasizes a highly mesophilic character of the studied stands. The beech and fir forest of Mt. Suvobor has poorer floristic composition, a larger number of xerophilic species belonging to the sub-Mediterranean areal type, as well as an increased share of chamaephytes and therophytes, which is an indicator of Mt. Suvobor's deficient site conditions. Increased xerophilia of the beech and fir forests on Mt. Suvobor can be explained with the warmth of serpentinite parent rock, as well as with very steep slopes on which the observed stands are located.