Ecology and vegetation types of oak-hornbeam and ravine forests of the Eastern Greater Caucasus, Georgia

• Published in: Folia geobotanica Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 333 - 349
• Main Authors: Novák, Pavel, Zukal, Dominik, Harásek, Martin, Vlčková, Pavla, Abdaladze, Otar, Willner, Wolfgang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Science + Business Media 01.12.2020; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Datasets; Deciduous forests; Foothills; Forests; Life Sciences; Oak; Plant Ecology; Plant Sciences; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Species composition; Vegetation; United States > US; Georgia; Caucasus; Biogeography; Phytosociology; Transcaucasia; Classification; Syntaxonomy
• ISSN: 1211-9520; 1874-9348
• DOI: 10.1007/s12224-020-09386-0

The Caucasus harbours unique forest vegetation so far only little studied using the Braun-Blanquet approach. This study is mostly based on a dataset (N = 110) of original phytosociological relevés of oakhornbeam and ravine forests in the Eastern Greater Caucasus, Georgia. Their unsupervised classification produced seven communities. Five belong to oakhornbeam forests (order Lathyro-Carpinetalia caucasicae). Of the zonal Caucasian alliance Crataego-Carpinion, the association Corno australis-Carpinetum inhabits valleys of the Greater Caucasus, and Clinopodio umbrosi-Carpinetum is confined to the warm Eastern Greater Caucasus promontories. The association Astrantio maximae-Carpinetum of the alliance Astrantio-Carpinion represents distinctive Caucasian montaneoak-hornbeam forests. The other two communities, documented by a few relevés, were described at the community level only. Within ravine forests (order Aceretalia pseudoplatani), we introduce a new Caucasian alliance Pachyphragmo macrophyllae-Tilion egoniifoliae with two associations. Valeriano tiliifoliae-Ulmetum glabrae comprises Caucasian montane ravine forests whereas Hedero pastuchovii-Aceretum velutini inhabits the foothills of the Eastern Greater Caucasian. To provide a broader context of the recognized communities, an expanded dataset (N = 231) of original relevés and previously published relevés of Georgian deciduous forests was analysed. It indicated a major turnover in species composition following biogeographical patterns presumably driven by macroclimate and vegetation history.