25E4

E. Herbaceous communities and communities of lichens and mosses

Alpine and sub-alpine open calcareous grasslands

Relationships with habitat classifications. EUNIS: E4.43822 Rhodopide Sesleria klasterskyi grasslands, E4.4383 Balkan Range calciphile stripped grasslands; PAL. CLASS.: 36.43822 Rhodopide Sesleria klasterskyi grasslands, 36.4383 Balkan Range calciphile stripped grasslands; HD 92/43: 6170 Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands; Bondev (1991): 2 Calciphilous cryphytous grass (Kobresieta myosuroides, Cariceta kitaibelianae, Seslerieta korabensis etc.) and shrub (Dryeta octopetalae, Saliceta reticulatae etc.) communities; 9 Calciphilous shrub, dwarf shrub and grass communities (Festuceta penzesii, Sesleria korabensis, Astragaleta angustifoliae, Dryeta octopetalae, Chamaecytiseta absinthioides, Junipereta sibiricae, Junipereta pygmaei etc.).

Conservation status. BDA, HD.

Category. Endangered [EN – A1, 2 B2 C3 D2 E2 H2 I J].

General characteristics. This habitat is of limited distribution in the Bulgarian mountains. The high altitude, from about (1600) 2000 m up to 2900 m and the calcalerous bedrocks – calcareous schists and marbles - are the main characteristics of the habitats. The soils are mostly poorly developed, from 10 to 30 cm thick, rarely thicker, often very skeletal and dry throughout the vegetation period. They are from slightly to moderately alkaline. The habitat localities occur on the ridges and slopes of the high peaks in Bulgaria. The slopes can be slanting but more often are steep, up to 45°. The exposure is also important for the composition of the vegetation cover. Most often the exposure is southern or with a southern component; more rarely the slopes face East or West and very rarely the northern component dominates. The coenoses which have developed in such environmental conditions are most often open, and their projective cover is very small – about 20–30%, rarely reaching 60%. The habitat type under consideration occurs mainly in Pirin Mts. and the Balkan Range, and more rarely in Slavyanka Mts. The vegetation in each of the mountains has its own specific characteristics.

On the slopes of Vihren and Sinanitsa peaks in Pirin Mts., where the slope is 30–45° and the altitude is at and above 2500 m, the phytocoenoses are dominated by Sesleria korabensis. In some coenoses, the rare and relic species Carex rupestris occurs as a co-dominant or with lower abundance. In some phytocoenoses the abundance of Carex kitaibeliana is high, while in others, Sesleria coerulans is common. In some places these species are edificators (not only in Pirin Mts.). The local endemic to Pirin Mts., Oxytropis urumovii, is a rare species. It dominates a limited number of phytocoenoses occurring at approx 2500 m alt. Another endemic from Pirin Mts., Festuca pirinica, also rarely predominates in the phytocoenoses in the high parts of the mountain. The phytocoenoses of the Balkan endemic and rare species Viola grisebachiana are small and very rare, and occur both in the subalpine and alpine belt. Very rare are the local and endemic phytocoenoses with Poa pirirnica or the Balkan endemic Achillea ageratifolia as edificators. The coenoses of the Pirin endemic and also rare species Thymus perinicus are relatively widely distributed and occur in many places in the high mountain, on the marbles northern Pirin Mts. Phytocoenoses with edificators Aubrieta columnae subsp. pirinica (Bulgarian endemic), and Anthyllis aurea, Centaurea parilica, Onobrychis pindicola subsp. urumovii, Sideritis scardica (Balkan endemics) occur in the subalpine sub-belt of South Pirin Mts. and Slavyanka Mts. In some cases the floristic composition is not rich. The abundance of the species is low but in all coenoses rare and endemic (sometimes local endemics) species occur. Additionally Achillea ageratifolia, Alyssum cuneifolium subsp. pirinicum, A. tortuosum, Armeria alpina, Asperula cynanchica, Aster alpinus, Campanula rotundifolia, Dianthus cruentus, D. microlepis, Draba athoa, Euphrasia salisburgensis, Galium anisophyllon, Gentiana verna, Linum capitatum, Minuartia verna, Poa macedonica, Rhodax canus, Saxifraga ferdinandi-coburgi, S. luteoviridis, S. oppositifolia, S. stribrnyi, Scutellaria alpina, Sideritis scardica, Silene acaulis, Teucrium montanum, Thymus perinicus, and Viola grisebachiana also occur. Some species that are more typical in silicate areas also occur, such as Centaurea napulifera, Cerastium lanatum, Festuca picta, Festuca riloensis, Pedicularis orthantha etc. Short plants prevail: these are some of the phytocoenoses in the country richest in local, Bulgarian and more rarely Balkan endemics . So far two associations have been published: Carici-Seslerietum klasterskyi and Achilleo-Seslerietum klasterskyi from class Elyno-Seslerietea. The phytocoenoses of Bromus lacmonicus occur very rarely on dry, calcareous slopes in Pirin, Slavyanka and Rhodopi (western) mountains. In some places the participation of Onobrychis pindicola subsp. urumovii is significant.

The phytocoenoses of Sesleria caerulea, S. rigida subsp. achtarovii etc. develop in habitats of this type: dry, rocky and stony with northern to southern exposure, some very steep, with shallow soil (“rendzinas”), on limestone or dolomites, on the ridges and slopes in the Balkan Range. Their distribution is limited and the fragments are very small. The coenoses are open and their floristic composition is rather rich. Apart from the monodominant phytocoenoses there are also polydominant ones with the participation of Carex kitaibeliana, and more rarely of Bellardiochloa variegata (= Bellardiochloa violacea), Festuca balcanica, Anthyllis vulneraria, Rhodax canus. Achillea ageratifolia, Bupleurum falcatum, Cleistogenes serotina, Cotoneaster integerrimus, Draba lasiocarpa, Saxifraga rocheliana, Viola dacica etc. also occur. The phytocoenoses in the Balkan Range include several species protected by law: Asperula capitata, Carum rigidulum subsp. bulgaricum, Daphne blagayana, Leontopodium alpinum etc.

Characteristic taxa.

Distribution in Bulgaria. West and Central Balkan Range, Pirin, Slavyanka, Rila, Vitosha, Rhodopi (western, central) Mts.; 1500–2900 m alt.

Conservation importance. Additionally to the fact that the phytocoenoses under consideration are very rare, they are endemic for the vegetation cover of Bulgaria. Some of them are local associations that include rare and endangered endemic and relic plant species: Achillea ageratifolia, Alyssum cuneifolium subsp. pirinicum, Arabis ferdinandi-coburgi, Asperula capitata, Carex parviflora, C. rupestris, Carum rigidulum subsp. bulgaricum, Daphne blagayana, D. oleoides, Draba athoa, Festuca pirinensis, F. pirinica, Kobresia myosuroides, Leontopodium alpinum subsp. nivale, Pedicularis oederi, Potentilla apennina subsp. stojanovii, Saxifraga ferdinandi-coburgi, S. rocheliana, Thymus perinicus, Viola grisebachiana etc. and the fungus Hygrocybe murinacea that is of conservation importance.

Threats. Intensive tourism – the tourist paths cross the localities of this habitat type. The increasing number of visitors directly threatens tha habitat. Future construction of tourism activities will destroy the habitat completely.

Conservation measures taken. The habitat is included in Annex № 1 of the BDA. Some of the coenoses are within Rila, Pirin and Central Balkan National Parks and in sites of the European Ecological Network NATURA 2000 in Bulgaria.

Conservation measures needed. Monitoring of the habitat state and strict implementation of the regulations in national parks.

References. Kochev 1967; Simon 1958; Velchev 1998.

Author: Veska Roussakova


Alpine and sub-alpine open calcareous grasslands (distribution map)