F138: Pyrenean beech and fir-beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba) with Scilla lilio-hyacinthus, Lathyrus grandiflorus, Cardamine heptaphylla, Isopyrum thalictroides in combination with acidophilous fir-beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba))

Title

Pyrenean beech and fir-beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba) with Scilla lilio-hyacinthus, Lathyrus grandiflorus, Cardamine heptaphylla, Isopyrum thalictroides in combination with acidophilous fir-beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba))

Geographical distribution

Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)

Scillo lilio-hyacinthi-Fagetum sylvaticae Braun-Blanquet ex O. Bolòs 1957 (= Fageto-Scilletum Braun-Blanquet 1952).

Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)

Three-layered forests in which tall-growing beeches prevail; in parts the shrub layer is well developed, and there is a species-rich herb layer with numerous geophytes.

Dominant and most frequent species in different layers

Diagnostically important species

Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba; Scilla lilio-hyacinthus, Cardamine heptaphylla, Festuca altissima, Lathyrus grandiflorus, Isopyrum thalictroides

Ecological variants

a) luzuletosum sylvaticae: altimontane sites and slightly acidified habitats with Luzula sylvatica;b) buxetosum sempervirentis: on dry, wind and sun-exposed sites on well drained soils lacking fine soil with Buxus sempervirens;c) dentarietosum pinnatae: southern and continental locations with Euphorbia dulcis, Rosa arvensis, Symphytum tuberosum and Cardamine heptaphylla;d) isopyretosum thalictroidis: well drained carbonate soils in very precipitation-rich locations with Isopyrum thalictroides;e) lathyretosum grandiflori: middle to lower montane locations in a very precipitation-rich climate on neutral to basic soils with Lathyrus ochraceus subsp. hispanicus, Asplenium scolopendrium and Saxifraga umbrosa;f) meconopsietosum cambricae: skeleton-rich soils in the vicinity of brooks and smaller river courses at very humid locations with Meconopsis cambrica and Ulmus glabra;g) prenanthetosum purpureae: altimontane, superficially acidified habitats with Abies alba and Prenanthes purpurea;h) saxifragetosum hirsutae: little drained, decalcified soils of the central Pyrenees in very humid locations with Saxifraga hirsuta.

Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)

No details

Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)

Ilici-Fagetum on slate or sandstone with Vaccinium myrtillus, Blechnum spicant, Pteridium aquilinum, Deschampsia flexuosa, Luzula sylvatica, Veronica officinalis, Oreopteris limbosperma, Saxifraga hirsuta, Cardamine hirsuta and Digitalisis purpurea; tall-forb vegetation with Adenostyles pyrenaica, Aconitum lycoctonum, Doronicum austriacum, Myrrhis odorata and Chaerophyllum hirsutum on wet slopes; rock vegetation and scree fan communities.

Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)

open Pinus uncinata woodlands (C23), fir forests (D30), mixed oak-ash forests (F33), species-poor beech forests (F81, F98), species-rich beech and mixed beech forests (F137), downy oak forests (G41), Quercus faginea-forests (G72), pine forests (K4, K5), alluvial and moist forests (U8).

Land use, substitute communities

Site conditions of the mapping unit

Importance for nature protection

Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection

Most important references (author, year)

Bolòs de 1957; Carreras & Raurell 1992; Carrillo & Ninot 1992; Dupias, Izard & Montserrat 1982; Folch I Guillèn 1981; Folch I Guillèn & Franquesa 1984; Gaussen 1948; Gaussen 1964; Gruber 1978; Izard, Dupont & Lascombes 1968; Jovet & Dupias 1969; Loidi Arregui, Biurrun Galarraga & Herrera Gallastegui 1997; Loidi Arregui, Díaz González & Herrera Gallastegui 1997; Peinado Lorca & Rivas-Martínez (Ed.) 1987; Rivas-Martínez 1987; Rivas-Martínez, Bascones, Díaz González, Fernández-González & Loidi Arregui 1991a; Rivas-Martínez, Bascones, Díaz González, Fernández-González & Loidi Arregui 1991b; Vanden Berghen 1968

Compiled by

V. Voggenreiter based on documents by S. Rivas-Martínez; A. Penas Merino and L. Herrero Cembranos; J. Loidi; A. Noirfalise; C. Hettwer based on documents by J.-C. Rameau