VOLUM OMAGIAL - Facultatea de Ştiinţe ale Naturii şi Ştiinţe Agricole

Ovidius University Annals of Natural Sciences, Biology – Ecology Series Volume 14, 2010
THE PLANTS WITH PROTECTION STATUTE, ENDEMITES AND RELICTS
OF THE SHUMENSKO PLATEAU
Dimcho ZAHARIEV, Elka RADOSLAVOVA
University of Shumen Bishop Konstantin Preslavski, Faculty of Nature Sciences,
115 Universitetska Str., 9712, Shumen, Bulgaria
dimtchoz@yahoo.com
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: As a result of our investigations of the Shoumen Plateau in the period 1998-2009, 786 species were
identified, of which the number of species with conservation status is 80 (10.18%). 2 of those species are
included in Appendix II of Directive 92/43/ЕЕС. 24 of the species are included in CITES. 32 species are
included in the IUCN Red List for Bulgaria under the following categories: threatened – 13, vulnerable – 9,
nearly threatened – 5 and least concern – 5 species. In the Red book for Bulgaria, there are 7 endangered species
and 14 are rare plants. In the Biological Diversity Act, 23 species are included in Appendix 3 and further 28
species – in Appendix 4. The collecting of herbs from their natural habitats is prohibited for 12 species, and 6
species are under a restriction. 29 species (3.69%) are endemites. These are 17 Balkan subendemites, 9 Balkan
endemites and 3 Bulgarian endemites. The flora of the plateau includes a significant number of relict species –
42. (5.34%). The majority of them, 39 species, are Tertiary relicts, 2 are quaternary relicts and 1 is a postglacial
steppe relict.
Keywords: Shumensko Plateau, plants with protection statute, endemites, relicts.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
Shumensko Plateau refers to an area in the hills
east of the Danube plain, which was declared
protected by Natura 2000. This was determined by the
hills’ role in support of the biodiversity among large
territories of scattered forests. The majority of the
Shumensko Plateau area – 3929.9 ha (53%), was
declared for National Park in 1980. In 2003, the park
was recognized as Nature Park. The regime of use
and management of the park is determined by the
Protected Areas Act [1] and the Management Plan for
the Nature Park [2].
In the park is located the Bukaka Preserve. This
is a forest area of 63.04 ha, declared protected due to
the indigenous forest that has existed there for several
centuries and is comprised of Fagus sylvatica subsp.
moesiaca. On the territory of the preserve, all human
activity is prohibited, except for people passing on
specifically marked paths.
Shumensko Plateau has been declared protected
by Natura 2000 and its estimated area is 4490.62 hа.
This territory is also protected under the Council
Directive 92/43/EEC of the European Community
for protecting natural habitats of wild fauna and flora
[3].
The unique combination of conditions in terms
of topography, water resources, climate and soil,
determine the diversity of the plant species in the
area. In the past, Velenovsky and his collaborators
Hermengild Shkorpil and Anani Iavashev began the
study of the plateau’s flora. In the 1980s, they
collected the first botanical data in Northeast
Bulgaria, including the area of the Shumen vicinity
[4]. Their research is presented in the first volume on
the Bulgarian flora [5] and its supplement [6].
Davidov [7] conducted his own research on the flora
of Shumen and the territory around the town. Further
information about individual species, distributed on
the plateau, can be found in Stoyanov and Stefanov
[8, 9, 10], Stoyanov, Stefanov and Kitanov [11] and
in Flora of PR Bulgaria, Vol. І – Х [12]. The
diversity of species of the Orchidaceae family has
been studied by Radoslavova [13]. In the
Management Plan for the National Park Shumensko
Plateau [2]: there are 550 species of vascular plants
ISSN-1453-1267 © 2010 Ovidius University Press