Title
South Greek Abies cephalonica-forests with Anemone blanda, Geocaryum parnassicum
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
south Greece: high mountains of the Peloponnesus and north of the Gulf of Corinth
area frequency
22 polygons.
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
Helictotricho-Abietetum cephalonicae Barbéro & Quézel 1976, Lilio heldreichii-Abietetum cephalonicae Barbéro & Quézel 1976, Lonicero graecae-Abietetum cephalonicae Barbéro & Quézel 1976.
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
Dense, up to 20m tall coniferous forests consisting of dominating Abies cephalonica, sometimes with Pinus nigra and Abies borisii-regis. The shrub layer is poorly developed to absent, usually consisting only of Abies upgrowth. The herb layer is usually weakly developed, being better developed only in gullies.
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
Abies cephalonica, Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana, Abies borisii-regis, partly Juniperus drupacea
Shrub layer
Erica arborea, Lonicera hellenica, Juniperus oxycedrus, Crataegus heldreichii, Quercus coccifera, Phillyrea latifolia
Herb layer
Geocaryum parnassicum, Anemone blanda, Lilium heldreichii, Cardamine graeca, Neotinea maculata, Helictotrichon convolutum, further Doronicum orientale, Lathyrus grandiflorus, Brachypodium sylvaticum, Galium rotundifolium, Luzula nodulosa, Iris unguicularis, Carex macrolepis
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
No details
Diagnostically important species
Abies cephalonica; Geocaryum parnassicum, Anemone blanda, Lilium heldreichii, Cardamine graeca, Neotinea maculata, Helictotrichon convolutum, Luzula nodulosa, Iris unguicularis, Carex macrolepis
Ecological variants
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Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)
In the north (Pindus, contact zone to Abies borisii-regis) pure Abies cephalonica gradually becomes rarer and Abies borisii-regis increases.
Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)
Black pine forests (K18), altimontane thorn-cushion vegetation (N4).
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
alpine grasslands (B55), species-rich beech and fir-beech forests (F155), Balkan oak forests (G26, G27), Oriental hornbeam-mixed downy oak forests (G57), holm oak forests (J22), kermes oak forests and scrubs (J33), black pine forests (K18), thorn-cushion vegetation (N4).
Land use, substitute communities
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
Selective timbering (Pinus nigra forestry), forest grazing; secondary pasture-scrub consisting of Quercus coccifera, Juniperus oxycedrus, Berberis cretica, Prunus cocomilia.
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
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arable land (characteristic weed communities)
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settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
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Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
mountain slopes, peak locations
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
montane-supramontane; 900-1800 m
Geology (bedrock)
limestone, partly metamorphic (Cretaceous, Triassic)
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
raw soils, humus carbonate soils, ranker; (rendzic, calcaric and lithic leptosols; calcaric regosols)
soil moisture, water balance
dry
soil fertility
mesotrophic, meso-eutrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
IV2, IV3a, IV3b, IV4
average annual temperature
10-14 °C
average annual precipitation
550-850 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
21-25 °C
average temperature of the coldest month
2-6 °C
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
Mediterranean mountain climate, snow-rich, summer-dry.
Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
Severely receded; semi-natural stands are worthy of protection.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
all natural forest communities.
causes of endangerment
Grazing, clearing of forests.
required measures for protection and restitution
Cessation of use and grazing.
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Greece: The main massifs of the Peloponnesus (Parnon, Chelmos, Killini, Taygetos, Melanon); Parnass; Ionian islands: Kephallinia (Mt. Aenos).
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
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Most important references (author, year)
Barbéro & Quézel 1976; Dimopoulos, Georgiadis & Sykora 1996; Knapp 1964
Compiled by
Th. Raus and E. Bergmeier
