Title
North Central European-Sarmatian pine-pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur, Pinus sylvestris) with Tilia cordata, partly with Picea abies, with Euonymus verrucosa, Potentilla alba, Chamaecytisus ruthenicus
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
Lithuania: southern and western part of the country; northeast Poland: Masuria; Belarus: central part; north Ukraine: northeast corner; west Russia: central and south Russian lowland west of the Volga; (south Finland: not mapped)
area frequency
69 polygons.
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
Serratulo tinctoriae-Quercetum roboris J.M. Matuszkiewicz ex Pallas 2002 ass. nov. hoc loco; Serratulo-Pinetum J.M. Matuszkiewicz 1988, (especially its subboreal race); synonym: Pino-Quercetum serratuletosum W. Matuszkiewicz & Polakowska 1955.
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
Species-rich mixed forest community with a four-layered construction: Tree layer (60-90 %), mixed stand of pine, pedunculate oak and spruce, usually stratified, and up to 26-35 m in height; Shrub layer (deciduous and coniferous species) moderately developed (10-30 % coverage); Herb layer 20-70 %, with numerous species of dwarf shrubs, herbs and grasses, including many thermophilous species. The coverage of the moss layer varies considerably between 5 and 100 %.
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
Pinus sylvestris, Quercus robur, Picea abies, admixed Tilia cordata, Betula pendula, Populus tremula, also Carpinus betulus in the western part
Shrub layer
Young growth of trees; Frangula alnus, Sorbus aucuparia, Juniperus communis, Euonymus verrucosa, Corylus avellana, Malus sylvestris, Pyrus pyraster
Herb layer
Pteridium aquilinum, Melampyrum pratense subsp. commutatum, Solidago virgaurea, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Viola riviniana, Calluna vulgaris, Veronica officinalis, Potentilla erecta, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Luzula pilosa, Festuca ovina, Dryopteris carthusiana, Maianthemum bifolium, Trientalis europaea, Rubus saxatilis, Pyrola rotundifolia, Orthilia secunda, Hieracium lachenalii, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Trifolium lupinaster, Hepatica nobilis, Melampyrum nemorosum, Galium schultesii, Hierochloe australis, Koeleria grandis, Thymus serpyllum, Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis, Pulmonaria angustifolia, Laserpitium prutenicum, Pulsatilla patens, Melica nutans, Carex digitata, Trifolium medium, Pimpinella saxifraga, Hieracium umbellatum, Oxalis acetosella, Dryopteris filix-mas, Fragaria vesca, Vicia sepium, Stellaria holostea, Convallaria majalis, Anemone nemorosa, Viola reichenbachiana, Stachys officinalis, Hieracium murorum, Veronica chamaedrys, Genista germanica; Scorzonera humilis, Chimaphila umbellata, Galium boreal, Goodyera repens, Moneses uniflora, Serratula tinctoria, Campanula persicifolia, Carex montana, Peucedanum oeroselinum, Digitalis grandiflora, Chamaecytisus ruthenicus, Potentilla alba, Silene nutans, Polygonatum odoratum, Clinopodium vulgare, Hypericum montanum, Melittis melissophyllum, Geranium sanguineum, Anthericum ramosum, Genista tinctoria, Cytisus nigricans, Prunella grandiflora, Trifolium alpestre
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Dicranum polysetum, Rhodobryum roseum, Eurhynchium angustirete, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, Plagiomnium affine, Polytrichum formosum
Diagnostically important species
The combination of mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forest species with subthermophilous and mostly tribes in need of light (Quercetalia pubescentis and Trifolio-Geranietea elements) is characteristic; also some indicators of periodical moisture are always present. Marking species are Pinus sylvestris, Quercus robur; Frangula alnus; Pteridium aquilinum, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Pulmonaria angustifolia, Potentilla erecta, Maianthemum bifolium, Convallaria majalis, Festuca ovina, Veronica officinalis, Solidago virgaurea, Hieracium lachenalii, Hieracium umbellatum, Veronica chamaedrys, Viola riviniana, Melica nutans, Carex digitata, in combination with Vaccinio-Piceetea species: Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Melampyrum pratense, Pyrola species, Trientalis europaea, Dicranum polysetum, Picea abies, Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens. " thermophilous species in need of light: Potentilla alba, Polygonatum odoratum, Peucedanum oreoselinum, Scorzonera humilis, Carex montana, Serratula tinctoria, Campanula persicifolia, Stachys officinalis, Geranium sanguineum, Clematis recta, Genista tinctoria, Genista nigricans, Melittis melissophyllum, Anthericum ramosum
Ecological variants
No details
Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)
This mapping unit reveals a west-east and a north-south gradient: In the west (northeast Poland, southern Lithuania) sometimes with hornbeam, in the north with spruce, and in the south steppe elements as well as thermophilous species are represented more strongly (Digitalis grandiflora, Galium verum, Genista germanica, Cytisus tinctoria, Hypericum montanum, Cytisus nigricans).
Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)
Pine forests of drier to moist sites; on nutrient-richer soils in the western part of the range there are also oak-hornbeam forests, in the eastern part there are small-leaved lime-pedunculate oak forests.
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
hemi-boreal mixed broad-leaved-spruce forests (D19), pine and (mixed) oak-pine forests (D55, D57), mixed acidophilous oak forests (F12), pedunculate oak-hornbeam forests (F40, F41), lime-pedunculate oak forests (F70, F71), Sphagnum magellanicum-raised bogs (S9), alder carrs (T1), alluvial and moist forests (U10, U11, U12, U24).
Land use, substitute communities
Primarily arable land, but the forest still plays an important role in the landscape.
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
In Poland mostly managed as pine or spruce (rarely oak) forest. Usually with pine (spruce) as the main tree species in the upper tree layer with about a 100 year rotation time and pedunculate oak in the lower tree layer in the form of a middle forest usage form. In Byelorussia, Ukraine and Russia pine, aspen and birch forestry.
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
In Poland there is hardly any lush green grassland because of the mainly dry sites, but otherwise there are infertile meadows and pastures with Agrostis capillaris, Festuca rubra as well as siliceous dry grasslands.
arable land (characteristic weed communities)
Primarily rye and potato fields, rarely wheat fields or fodder plant cultivation. In cereal fields there are mostly poorer forms of the Aphanion or marginal forms of the Arnoseridion. In certain areas, particularly in northeast Poland, the Papaveretum argemones is a characteristic substitute community of the cereal fields. Root crops are usually accompanied by the poor form of the Echinochloo-Setarietum. In manured fields near to villages the Setario-Galinsogetum predominates. Until recently specific wild herb communities of flax fields could be encountered in the region; however, their characterising-species have disappeared without any trace over the last decades.
settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
In Poland ruderal and trampled vegetation communities are frequently encountered, e.g.: Sisymbrietum sophiae, Urtico-Malvetum neglectae, Atriplicetum nitentis, Centaureo-Berteroetum, Echio-Melilotetum, Lolio-Plantaginetum. In northeast Poland the Potentillo-Artemisietum absinthii Falinski 1965 occurs in the region of the Serratulo-Pinetum as a characteristic substitute community.
Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
Shallow to gently undulating periglacial plains; early glacial terminal moraine hills; primeval river valleys with fluvioglacial deposits and floodplain terraces
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
lowland (-colline)
Geology (bedrock)
glacial (Pleistocene above Tertiary), eolian (Pleistocene above Cretaceous) and fluviatile (Pleistocene above Tertiary, Cretaceous) sediments
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
base-poor, partly podzolized and cryptopodzolized brown soils, base-poor pseudogleys; (dystric cambisols; leptic podzols; arenosols; planosols)
soil texture
sand to loamy sand, partly gravely
soil moisture, water balance
fresh to moderately dry, locally periodically moist
soil reaction
strong to moderately acidic
soil fertility
oligo-mesotrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
VI1, VI(VII)1, VI(VIII), VIII1
average annual temperature
6-7 EC
average annual precipitation
600-800 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
July 17-23 EC
average temperature of the coldest month
-12 EC (west) to -7 EC (east)
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
No details
Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
In Poland well preserved, semi-natural stands are not yet rare; they are endangered increasingly by the forestry industry; they play a major role in soil formation and protection against erosion.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
---
causes of endangerment
Clearing, transformation into agricultural land, conversion into plantations of coniferous and soft-wooded deciduous trees.
required measures for protection and restitution
Preservation of the semi-natural stands and establishment of appropriate protected areas particularly in Russia.
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Poland: nature reserve in the Puszcza Borecka and Puszcza Augustowska; Belarus: Bjarezinski zapovednik; Russia: Okskij, Mordovkij zapovedniki.
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
No details
Most important references (author, year)
Alechin 1936; Czerwiński 1978; Faliński 1986; Gribova, Isačenko & Lavrenko (Red.) 1980; Matuszkiewicz 1988; Matuszkiewicz 1984; Wójcik 1965
Compiled by
W. Matuszkiewicz; Z. Neuhäuslová based on documents by Ju.R. Šeljag-Sosonko, completed and revised by J. Pallas, U. Bohn
