Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
Distribution of forests by tree species and bonities
The spread and relative distribution of tree species within the territory of RMNP is
determined both by vertical (altitudinal) changes in climatic and soil conditions and
by factors such as exposure, incline, terrain and the ecological peculiarities and
requirements of individual species. Of potential commercial interest are 24 tree
species growing in the Park, of which 9 coniferous and 15 deciduous.
However, to complete the picture of arboreal diversity in RMNP, one must also
include 11 species represented in small clusters or single specimens throughout the
Rila Monastery forests. These are: Ostrya carpinifolia, Acer monspeculanum, Sorbus
torminalis, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, wild cherry, Prunus avium, Salix sp, Rila
oak (Quercus protoroburoides), wild pear (Pyrus sylvestris), yew (Taxus bacata), and
King Boris’s fir (Abies borissi-regis). The total number of tree species encountered
within the Park, therefore, is 35.
Bearing in mind that there are 109 tree species recorded in all of Bulgaria, this means
that 32% of the country’s arboreal diversity is represented in Rila Monastery Nature
Park.
With some approximation, the percentages of individual species represented in
RMNP are as follows: 21.6% beech, 16.7% spruce, 14.6% Scots pine, 12.7%
common fir, 6.9% Macedonian pine, 17.4% dwarf pine, 4.6% winter oak, 1.5% birch,
1.3% aspen, 1.1% alder, and 1.6% for all the rest. There is a clear predominance of
coniferous tree species, with 68.3 percent over 31.7 percent for the broad-leafs.
The estimated percentage of tree species within the Forest Reserve is as follows:
20.59% beech; 20.33% Macedonian pine; 17.04% common fir; 12.77% winter oak
(including locations of Rila oak); 7.64% Scots pine; 2.95% aspen; 1.91% birch; and
1.92% other deciduous trees (hornbeam, alder, elm, sycamore, ash, and willow).
Again, coniferous trees have a clear predominance with 60.36% of all three stocks.
Several types of foreign coniferous trees have been introduced into the Park as
cultivated forest: Douglas fir, sequoia, larch, Weymouth pine. Together, these
account for less than 1% of all forests in the Park.
Typically, tree species in Rila Monastery Nature Park cohabitate in mixed forests,
which bears evidence of their naturalness. Thus, of all forests in the Park’s territory,
5,730.2 ha are mixed, and 2,107.5 ha are homogeneous, of which 887.5 are pure
Macedonian pine forests. It must be noted that the above proportional analysis
excludes 1,736.1 ha of dwarf-pine communities because of their specific nature.
The productivity of individual tree species is in direct correlation of the place of
habitation. Average bonities are estimated as follows: for beech, 3.0; spruce, 3.2;
common fir, 3.0; Scots pine, 3.7; Macedonian pine, 3.5. The average bonity for the
forest as a whole is estimated at 3.4, which is a clear indication of favorable growth
conditions.
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Management Plan -Draft
2004 - 2013
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