The association Rhodothamno-Laricetum Willner & Zukrigl 1999 comprises natural larch stands in the (alti)montane and subalpine belt (from 520 to 1900 m a.s.l.) in the Julian Alps, the Karavanke and the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. They populate very steep to perpendicular, shady rocky slopes in the belt of beech and firbeech forests, as well as prominences and ledges in rock walls above the upper beech forest line. Frequently, they are a longterm pioneer stage on former, high mountain pastures, where beech or spruce forest used to form potential natural vegetation. Basic characteristics of this community are an open tree layer, dominating larch in all stand layers and its solid natural regeneration, abundant shrub and herb layer which features numerous species characteristic of the subalpine belt. Larch forests on remote ledges and prominences that are difficult to access are among the best preserved, the most primary forest stands in the Slovenian Alps, and are comparable to virgin forest remnants in the northern part of the Dinaric mountains. This is also a habitat type of Community interest (HT 9420) and a site of some rare and (or) protected fungi, lichens and vascular plants of European conservation concern: Laricifomes officinalis, Laetiporus huroniensis = L. montanus, Letharia vulpina, Linnaea borealis, Cypripedium calceolus and Listera cordata, as well as a habitat of forest grouses Tetrao urogallus, T. tetrix.
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 263083264Among noble hardwoods (valuable broad-leaved trees), whose name is due mainly to the high value of their timber, sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), Norway maple (A. platanoides), wych elm (Ulmus glabra), European ash (Fraxinus excelsior), broad-leaved lime (Tilia platyphyllos) and small-leaved lime (T. cordata) can form independent forest stands and plant communities. Broad-leaved ravine forests were classified also as an EU priority habitat type 9180 *Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines, for which special conservation measures are envisaged. As potentially natural vegetation noble hardwood communities in Slovenia commonly occur on small areas, mainly in stony or rocky gullies, in sinkholes, depressions and ravines, on torrential fans, gravelly bases of slopes, in places also on moist rocks on ridges and in rock faces. The soil types in these forests are colluvial-deluvial soils, rarely rendzinas and brown calcareous soils, sometimes also dystric brown soils and ranker or eutric brown soils. Usually, they are biologically very active and nitrogen-rich. Decomposition of litter is relatively fast. The stands of these communities occur on fresh to moist sites that can be quite extreme for the growth of forests (very rocky and steep). These are intrazonal forests that grow mainly in the zone of beech communities from the colline to the altimontane belt. Floristically, they are very similar to the beech communities in the vicinity, but comprise a greater abundance of hygrophilous and nitrophilous species. Due to this similarity and syndynamic relationship – they frequently form pioneer stages on potential beech sites – the noble hardwood communities can be classified into the Illyrian alliance of beech forests Aremonio-Fagion as a special suballiance Polysticho setiferi-Acerenion. In the last few years phytosociologists have prioritised classification into the Central-European alliance Tilio-Acerion, whose diagnostic species are Acer pseudoplatanus, A. platanoides, Tilia platyphyllos, T.cordata, Ulmus glabra, Fraxinus excelsior, Lunaria rediviva, Arum maculatum, Aruncus dioicus, Staphylea pinnata, Euonymus latifolia, Polystichum aculeatum, Phyllitis scolopendrium, Scrophularia vernalis and Polystichum braunii. In such synsystematic classification, noble hardwood communities in Slovenia are classified into three suballiances: Lunario-Acerenion, Lamio orvalae-Acerenion and Ostryo-Tilienion. In the Typology of Forest Sites we described the following types of sites based on ecology and altitudinal distribution: submontane-montane lime forests on carbonate and mixed bedrock, submontane European ash forests on slopes on carbonate and mixed bedrock, montane-altimontane sycamore maple forests with wych elm on calcareous and mixed bedrock and submontane-montane sycamore maple forests with ferns on silicate bedrock. In general the stands with a larger proportion of large-leaved lime and small-leaved lime grow in a slightly warmer climate than the stands with predominant sycamore maple and wych elm. Each of the four site types and its communities were presented separately.
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 265170688Mires are areas where peat was formed in the past or is still forming due to special conditions (e.g. water retention, low temperature). Peat (turf) is an accumulation of partially decayed mire plants, mostly peat mosses (Sphagnum sp. div.) and other mosses, sedges, grasses and ligneous plants’ residues. Peat was formed in high humidity and mostly under anaerobic conditions (absence of oxygen). In a simple way, the mires could be divided into three types: raised (high) bog, transitional bog, and fen. This division is based on the configuration of mire surface and on the thickness (height) of peat layers. Consequently, the types of mires differ in water regime as well as in water and soil chemistry. Particularly Slovenian raised bogs characterized by thick layers of peat soil are considered in this publication. Peat soils in these bogs are very acidic (low pH) and nutrient-poor (ombro-oligotrophic). They are mostly covered with different peat-mosses (Sphagnum sp. div.). Dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and spruce (Picea abies), both forming characteristic mire communities, are often present among ligneous plants on raised bogs. In raised bogs in Slovenia, many different communities of peat-mosses with different non-ligneous plant species (Sphagnetum s. lat), various dwarf mountain pine communities (Pino mugi-Sphagnetum s. lat and Sphagno-Pinetum mugo) and the initial form of spruce mire forest (Piceo-Sphagnetum flexuosi) are found. Spruce is also the key species of spruce mire forests overgrowing the margins of raised bogs and transitional bogs. In Slovenia, a specific geographic variant of spruce mire forests was described (Sphagno girgensohnii-Piceetum var. geogr. Carex brizoides). Different vegetation types of raised bogs belong to the Oxycocco-Sphagnetea class and vegetation of spruce mire to the Vaccinio-Piceetea class. In Slovenia, the raised bogs vegetation and spruce mire forests are relatively rare and endangered. They are mostly found in the Alpine area (Julian Alps, Karavanke, Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Pohorje). Very small and degraded remnants of the raised bogs vegetation are still seen in area of Ljubljansko barje (Ljubljana basin). Due to their specificity, rarity, vulnerability and location on the edge of the distribution area, the raised bogs vegetation and spruce mire forests in Slovenia are of high nature conservation importance. Therefore, these bogs belong to the European priority habitat types 7110 *Active raised bogs and 91D0 *Bog woodland.
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 267206144The group of floodplain, swamp and riverine forests (collectively known as the riparian forest) primarily comprises lowland woods located within the scope of larger streams and bodies of standing water. These forests therefore directly depend on standing or flowing water. They develop on hydromorphic alluvial soils, gleysols and pseudogleys. Vegetation dynamics or successive replacement of communities, in places also zonation from the lowest (youngest) to higher (older) river terraces, takes place in the riparian area only in the absence of excessive human interventions and proceeds from very unstable pioneer stages dominated by grey, red and (or) white willow (Salix eleagnos, S. purpurea, S. alba) and black poplar (Populus nigra) through the stands of grey (Alnus incana) or black alder (A. glutinosa), European and narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus excelsior, F. angustifolia) and European white elm (Ulmus laevis = U. effusa) to already more developed, stable, established communities of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), which are still subject to the influence of groundwater or flood waters. Floodplain and swamp forests in Slovenia are distributed especially in the flood area of all major rivers (along the Dragonja, Reka, Vipava, Nadiža, Soča, Idrijca, Sava, Sora, Ljubljanica, Kamniška Bistrica, Savinja, Krka, Mirna, Kolpa, Sotla, Dravinja, Drava, Mura and their tributaries), as well as, at least in traces, along sinking streams on karst poljes (for example on Cerknica and Planina Poljes, along the Pivka). To a lesser extent, they are present also on the shores of lakes and other standing waters. Human impact on these forests is extensive as they have consistently been cut and converted to agricultural land for a very long time, and were destroyed also on account of hydroelectric power plants, river and stream regulation, drainage of wetlands; in addition, they have been affected also by gravel excavation, strengthening of river banks, groundwater extraction and similar. Especially commercially important are the swamp forest of black alder (carr) and the floodplain forest of pedunculate oak, in places admixed with common hornbeam and other deciduous trees (woodland). The protective role of riparian forests is invaluable as they represent an essential factor in the regulation of water balance and can serve as flood protection for human communities. In addition, they provide a habitat for some rare, protected and (or) notable species in Slovenia, such as Myricaria germanica, Pulmonaria dacica, Gagea spathacea, Omphalodes scorpiodes, Viola palustris, V. uliginosa, Pseudostellaria europaea, Fritillaria meleagris, Leucojum aestivum, Botrychium virginianum, Thelypteris palustris and Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus. Oak riparian floodplain forests, as well other floodplain, swamp and riverine forests are an important habitat to amphibians, cavity nesting birds, and other birds. In view of their enormous conservation capacity most of these forests are classified as European habitat types (Natura 2000), such as the priority habitat type 91E0* Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae), 91F0 Riparian mixed forests of Quercus robur, Ulmus laevis and Ulmus minor, Fraxinus excelsior or Fraxinus angustifolia, along major rivers (Ulmenion minoris), 3240 Alpine rivers and their ligneous vegetation with Salix eleagnos along their banks and 3230 Alpine rivers and their ligneous vegetation with Myricaria germanica along their banks. Among all our forest types, riverine and swamp forests and floodplain woods are the most exposed to the invasion and sub-spontaneous spreading of invasive alien species, such as Robinia pseudacacia, Acer negundo, Helianthus tuberosus, Impatiens glandulifera, I. parviflora, Solidago gigantea, S. canadensis, Echinocystis lobata, Rudbeckia laciniata, Fallopia japonica, F. × bohemica, Parthenocissus inserta, P. quinquefolia, Amorp
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 270705664In Slovenia, we classify as thermophilous deciduous forest sites those communities that overgrow relatively warm and dry sites where ecological factors (especially climatic and soil conditions) no longer allow the growth of beech or where the conditions for its growth are less favourable and where, for now, beech can no longer populate the sites where it used to grow. These are mainly primary sites of thermophilous pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens), black hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), sessile oak (Quercus petraea) and supposedly also of oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis). This group includes holm oak (Quercus ilex) forests, evergreen Mediterranean forest vegetation that is known only scattered on sunny limestone rocks in Istria, in the Vipava Valley and in the Central Soča Valley. This paper also discusses acidophilous oak forests that mainly grow on warmer sites on flysch, sandstone, marlstone or flint conglomerate, where soil types are ranker, dystric and (or) eutric brown soils. Apart from a few exceptions, these are secondary forests of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) on beech- and hornbeam forest sites, but are clearly different from beech forests; in addition, their succession stages are long and their short-term advancement towards primary vegetation is unfeasible. The largest areas of thermophilous deciduous forests are in the sub-Mediterranean part of Slovenia. These forests are characterised by the fact that they have changed considerably and their original composition has hardly been preserved anywhere. Due to centuries-long human impact they are now dominated by low coppice and different succession stages on abandoned farming areas (agricultural terraces, meadows and pastures), where pioneers such as hop hornbeam, manna ash, oriental hornbeam and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) tend to establish themselves. These forests thrive on a limestone and flysch geological bedrock, on lithosols, rendzinas, brown calcareous soil, lessived soils, chromic luvisols (terra rossa) and on eutric (exceptionally also on dystric) brown soils. In places, depending on the geological bedrock and relief, site conditions enable successful growth and cultivation of valuable forest assortments (sessile oak stands on flysch and terra rossa) despite the generally warm and dry climate, but for the main part, their composition is unfavourable from the economic viewpoint and the forests only serve for the production of firewood. They are mainly regenerated through coppicing. Their surface area is constantly increasing, especially in the Karst, where they are expanding due to the overgrowing of the Karstic pastureland, gradually replacing the aging black pine plantations in the area. Holm oak is especially important in terms of nature conservation as it is one of the habitat types of Community interest, i.e. habitat type 9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests. Especially oak forests on flysch play a significant protective role in combating erosion. The species composition of thermophilous deciduous forests in the Slovenian mainland is sometimes similar to that of the sub-Mediterranean forests, but their sites are very different. These are usually steep to very steep, rocky convex slopes, rock faces, ridges and jags on limestone and dolomite, rarely also on marlstone and sandstone with shallow soils (lithosol, rendzina, rarely ranker and exceptionally brown calcareous soil), where conditions for forest growth are extremely unfavourable. Low-growing coppice with open gaps in the canopy prevails. These are mainly protective forests that are not managed and where no major thinnings or fellings are carried out. They protect lower-lying settlements, combat erosion and mitigate the effects of torrents. Their physiognomy today is largely the result of the grazing of small ruminants and past coppice management, in places also of forest fires. Despite extreme sites their original physiognomy remains preserved only i
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 273564928