Carpinus orientalis forests in Georgian Colchis: First insights
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Tuexenia |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://doi.org/10.14471/2021.41.012 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.14471/2021.41.012 |
| Keywords | biogeography; Carpinus orientalis; Caucasus; Colchis; ecology; Euxinia; forest vegetation; Georgia; phytosociology |
| Description | Colchis (Caucasus Ecoregion, Euxinian Province) is a region with unique Tertiary relict biota and high species and vegetation diversity. However, its vegetation has been only little studied by Braun-Blanquet methods so far. Based on original field data (20 phytosociological releves), we describe a novel vegetation type of calciphilous and thennophilous Carpinus orientalis forests in western Georgia (Campanulo alliariifoliae-Carpinehan orientalis ass. nova). This species-rich community inhabits sunny limestone slopes and is developed under a humid wann-temperate climate. We present the community in the context of releves from the literature (n= 105 in total) of Carpinus orientalis dominated or co-dominated forests across the whole Euxinian Province (southern Black Sea coast). Ordination and unsupervised classification analyses revealed the main pattern in their species composition closely linked to biogeography backed up by macroclimatic gradients and vegetation history. Eastwards, Balkan and Mediterranean species decrease gradually, while Euxinian and Euxino-Caucasian species are more frequent. Although the analysed forest communities were highly variable in species composition, they all shared a subset of submediterninean and Euxinian species. Numerous Eastern Euxinian and Euxino-Caucasian endemics (e.g. Campanula alliariifolia, Klasea quinquefolia) are characteristic of the community recorded in Georgia. These are accompanied by evergreen species (e.g. Smilax excelsa, Vinca major subsp. hirsuta) and common forest mesophytes (e.g. Campanula rapunculoides, Carex &Maki) both indicating a relatively mild and precipitation-rich climate. The association EricoCarpinetum described in NE Turkey was identified as the most similar unit to the new community. As it is the type association of the alliance Castanet sativae-Carpinion orientalis, we adopted this assignment for the new association from Georgia. |
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