Title
Central European Luzula luzuloides-(sessile oak-)beech forests (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea) with Carex umbrosa, Calamagrostis arundinacea, on moist habitats with Carex brizoides
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
Germany: southern Lower Saxony, east Hessen, south Germany (variated sandstone and Keuper hilly country, foreland of the Alps), Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony; Austria: foreland of the Alps (Upper Austria, Salzburg); Czech Republic: Bohemia, Moravia
area frequency
47 polygons .
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
Luzulo-Fagetum, lowland form; Melampyro-Fagetum Oberdorfer 1957, central European race.
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
moderate to well-growing cathedral forests in which shrubs (apart from beech upgrowths) are absent to a large extent. Apart from the dominant beech moderately growing oaks are scattered, particularly Quercus petraea, and in moist forms also Quercus robur. The herb layer is mostly sparse and very interspersed, consisting primarily of acidophytes, and the moss layer is sparse.
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
Fagus sylvatica predominating, Quercus petraea often stem- to group-wise admixed, isolated Quercus robur
Shrub layer
Sorbus aucuparia, locally Rubus fruticosus agg.
Herb layer
Acidophytes: Luzula albida, Deschampsia flexuosa, Carex pilulifera, Agrostis tenuis, Holcus mollis, Veronica officinalis, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Carex umbrosa; in moist formations: Deschampsia cespitosa, Carex remota, Carex brizoides, Athyrium filix-femina, isolated Agrostis canina, Juncus effusus, Festuca gigantea, Equisetum sylvaticum; in rich formations: Milium effusum, Carex sylvatica, Poa nemoralis, Stellaria holostea, Dryopteris filix-mas; further in different portions: Oxalis acetosella, Luzula pilosa, Dryopteris carthusiana, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Melampyrum pratense, Hieracium murorum, Hieracium laevigatum, Hieracium sabaudum, Vaccinium myrtillus, Lathyrus linifolius
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
Polytrichum formosum, Dicranella heteromalla, Dicranum scoparium, Hypnum cupressiforme (at stem feet)
Diagnostically important species
Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea; Luzula luzuloides, Carex pilulifera, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Hieracium laevigatum, Poytrichum formosum, Dicranum scoparium; in moist formations: Carex bizoides, Carex umbrosa
Ecological variants
Fern-rich, moist, rich and thermophilous forms.
Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)
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Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)
Pino-Quercetum, Luzulo-Fagetum milietosum, Milio-Fagetum, Asperulo-Fagetum, Luzulo-Abieti-Fagetum, Luzulo-Quercetum, Stellario-Carpinetum, Pruno-Fraxinetum, Carici remotae-Fraxinetum.
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
soil-acidic oak forests (F19), mixed oak-hornbeam forests (F35, F38, F50, F51, F55), species-poor beech and mixed beech forests (F83, F86, F90, F96), species-rich beech forests (F107, F110, F113, F114, F115, F128, F129a, F133), dry alluvial pine forests (K3), brown mires (S24), alder carrs (T1), alluvial and moist forests (U9, U24, U27).
Land use, substitute communities
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
Dicranum and Deschampsia flexuosa spruce plantations, oak-beech-pine mixed forestry; where the land is not used: Calamagrostis epigejos, Deschampsia cespitosa and Juncus effusus-rich forest clearing vegetation.
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
Matgrass communities (sometimes with juniper), red fescue-shortgrass meadows, shortgrass-meadows.
arable land (characteristic weed communities)
Root crop and cereal fields (rye, potato): Aperion. Mentha arvensis variants of the Aphano-Matricarietum and the Scleranthus annuus community.
settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
In settlements Galio-Urticetea, Sambucus nigra scrub.
Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
Hilly and lower mountainous country
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
colline-submontane; 150-700 m
Geology (bedrock)
fluviatile and glacial sediments with end moraines of the Riß ice-age, valley chad, -sands (Pleistocene); sandstone, clay slate, grauwacke, granites (Tertiary, Palaeozoic)
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
acidic, base-poor brown soils, podzole-brown soils, parabrown soils to podzole-parabrown soils, podzole, ranker, pseudogley; ((stony) dystric cambisols; dystric luvisols; dystric podzoluvisols)
soil texture
sandy to loamy, often grouany and stony
soil moisture, water balance
fresh to moderately dry, locally stagnating moist
soil reaction
strongly to moderately acidic
soil fertility
oligotrophic, oligo-mesotrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
VI6b, VI8b, VI8c, VI9b, VI9c
average annual temperature
6-9 EC
average annual precipitation
Germany: 580-1200 mm; Austria: 700-950 mm; Czech Republic: 700-800 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
15-19 EC
average temperature of the coldest month
-3 to 1 EC
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
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Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
In general only a few forest stands remain preserved, greatly endangered to endangered.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
Natural forest communities.
causes of endangerment
Clear cutting, clearing and stripping of forests, transformation into spruce and pine forestry, liming of the stands.
required measures for protection and restitution
Semi-natural silviculture, establishment of representative nature reserves.
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Germany: nature reserve "Beechnberg" (Saxony-Anhalt), Schönbeech, Ferrumberg (Hessen), nature reserve "Wartburg-Hohe Sonne", northwestern nature park "Thüringer Wald", nature reserve "Hembachwald" (Thuringia), BW Ferrumbachhain (Baden-Württemberg), primeval forest reserve Krämmersbrunn, primeval forest reserve Holzkreuz, primeval forest reserve Halde, primeval forest reserve Spitzelsgräben, primeval forest reserve Weiherbeecht (Bavaria); Austria: Salzburger foreland of the Alps.
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
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Most important references (author, year)
Bohn 1996; Grüneberg & Schlüter 1957; Marstaller 1980; Mayer 1974; Meusel 1937; Neuhäusl 1982a; Schlüter 1959a; Schlüter 1959b; Schretzenmayr 1957; Seibert 1968; Stöcker 1964; Stöcker 1965; Wallnöfer, Mucina & Grass 1993
Compiled by
U. Bohn; H. Schlüter; H. Wagner, completed by K. Zukrigl; Z. Neuhäuslová based on documents by R. Neuhäusl
