Title
Danubian herb-grass steppes (Stipa lessingiana, Festuca valesiaca) with Delphinium fissum, Campanula macrostachya and Chrysopogon gryllus alternating with grey oak and downy oak forests (Quercus pedunculiflora, Quercus pubescens)
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
relatively large-scaled in Romania: lower Danube Plain, Dobrudscha; Republic of Moldavia: margins to the Danube Plain; north-east Bulgaria: Dobrudscha
area frequency
19 polygons.
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
Stipo stenophyllae-Festucetum Cârtu 1972, Stipetum joannis Prodan 1939, Medicagini-Festucetum valesiacae Wagner 1941, Chrysopogonetum grylli Soó 1939; Quercetum pedunculiflorae Borza 1937, Quercetum pedunculiflorae-cerris Morariu 1944, Aceri tatarico-Quercetum pubescentis-pedunculiflorae Zólyomi 1957, Galio dasypodi-Quercetum pubescentis Doniţă 1970.
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
Mosaic of thermophilous forests and steppes primarily on loess sites. Species-rich steppes with dominant Festuca valesiaca and Stipa species. Pontic and sub-Mediterranean grasses (Chrysopogon gryllus, Cleistogenes serotina etc.) as well as dicotyledons are characteristic. Meadow plants are largely absent .In the forests the west Pontic-Anatolian grey oak (Quercus pedunculiflora), and locally also Quercus pubescens, dominates, while Acer tataricum, A. campestre and Ulmus procera etc. are admixtures. The shrub layer is well developed, the herb layer consists of xerothermic herbs and grasses.
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
in forests: Quercus pedunculiflora, partly with Quercus cerris, Quercus robur (in the east), Quercus pubescens (Dobrudscha), in the underwood Acer tataricum, Ulmus procera, Pyrus pyraster, Malus sylvestris, Acer campestre, Fraxinus ornus, Sorbus domestica (Dobrudscha)
Shrub layer
in forests: Crataegus monogyna, Ligustrum vulgare, Viburnum lantana, Euonymus verrucosa, Rhamnus cathartica, Prunus spinosa, Dobrudscha: Cotinus coggygria, Cornus mas; in steppes: locally Caragana frutex, Caragana mollis, Spiraea hypericifolia, Chamaecytisus blockianus, Cotinus coggygria
Herb layer
in steppes: Stipa lessingiana, Stipa ucrainica, Stipa pulcherrima, Stipa pennata, Stipa capillata, Stipa tirsa, Stipa dasyphylla, Festuca valesiaca, Festuca rupicola, Koeleria macrantha, Poa angustifolia, Bromus inermis, Chrysopogon gryllus, Cleistogenes serotina, Cleistogenes bulgarica, Agropyron cristatum subsp. pectinatum, Thymus kosteleckyanus, Campanula sibirica, Centaurea orientalis, Salvia nutans, Salvia nemorosa, Euphorbia nicaeensis subsp. stepposa, Onobrychis arenaria, Dianthus giganteus, Dianthus pallens, Achillea clypeolata, Achillea pannonica, Inula britannica, Knautia macedonica, Trinia kitaibelii, Allium flavum, Allium paniculatum;
in forests: Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum, Viola hirta, V. jordanii, Geum urbanum, Glechoma hirsuta, Carex michelii, C. tomentosa, Fragaria viridis, Vinca herbacea, Paeonia peregrina, Ornithogalum fimbriatum, Doronicum hungaricum, Veratrum nigrum; Vincetoxicum hirundinaria, Thalictrum minus, Asparagus verticillatus, Laser trilobum
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
No details
Diagnostically important species
in steppes: Stipa lessingiana, Stipa pennata, Stipa tirsa, Stipa ucrainica, Stipa pulcherrima, Stipa capillata, Festuca valesiaca, Delphinium fissum, Campanula macrostachya, Chrysopogon gryllus, Cleistogenes serotina, Dianthus giganteus, Dianthus pallens, Achillea clypeolata, Knautia macedonica, Trinia kitaibelii;in forests: Quercus pedunculiflora, Q. pubescens, Pyrus elaeagrifolia; Doronicum hungaricum, Paeonia peregrina, Asparagus verticillatus, Viola jordanii, Galium dasypodum
Ecological variants
Quercus pubescens shrub forest on slopes and plateaus with crystalline bedrock.
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)
Amygdaletum nanae Soó 1959; small area occurrences of west-Pontic Oriental hornbeam-downy oak forests (G60), and of tomillares and tomillares steppes (Satureja nepeta, Genista tetragona, Teucrium pannonicum, Jurinea tyraica) on limestone (in Moldavia).
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
mixed oak-hornbeam forests (F62, F63, F64), mixed oak forests (G34), Balkan oak-bitter oak forests (G21), Oriental hornbeam-downy oak forests (G60), forest steppes (L12), steppes (M5), salt vegetation (P33), freshwater tall reed swamps (R1), alluvial forests (U14, U16, U18, U20).
Land use, substitute communities
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
False acacia, pine, poplar forestry, scrub (Amygdaletum nanae, Pruno-Crataegetum).
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
Steppes degraded due to grazing with Bothriochloetum ischaemi (Krest 1937) I. Pop 1970 and Artemisio austriacae-Poetum bulbosae I. Pop 1970.
arable land (characteristic weed communities)
Usually converted into arable land.
settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
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Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
lowland plains and low plateaus cut by valleys
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
lowland, colline; 50-250 m
Geology (bedrock)
predominately bluff formation, locally limestone, volcanic rocks, crystal rocks
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
leached and degraded black soils, humus carbonate soils, ranker; (calcic and calcic petrocalcic chernozems; haplic kastanozems; leptosols)
soil texture
loam, loamy sand
soil moisture, water balance
moderately dry to dry
soil reaction
weakly acidic to neutral
soil fertility
mesotrophic to eutrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
VI(VII)
average annual temperature
9-11,5 °C
average annual precipitation
450-550 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
21-22 °C
average temperature of the coldest month
-2 to -1 °C
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
summer-warm, moderately dry climate.
Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
The steppe vegetation has been annihilated almost completely and only a few near-natural forest stands remain preserved.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
steppes, steppe forests.
causes of endangerment
Forest clearing, grazing, transformation into arable land.
required measures for protection and restitution
Preservation of all remaining near-natural remnants in protected areas (up to now only a few small reservations have existed).
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Romania: Dobrudscha (Podisul Babadaq: not protected), Ciornuleasa; Moldavia.
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
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Most important references (author, year)
Borza 1937; Dihoru & Doniţă 1970; Doltu, Popescu & Sanda 1980; Ivan, Doniţă, Coldea, Sanda, Popescu, Chifu, Boşcaiu, Mititelu & Paucă-Comănescu 1993; Popescu, Sanda, Doltu & Nedelcu 1984; Zólyomi 1957
Compiled by
N. Doniţă
