Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
with Picea abies or Pinus sylvestris. The health condition of tree specimens in these
communities is good to very good. Damages by pathogens are insignificant. Damage
by snowdrifts and avalanches have also been noted. The fallen trees are then attacked
by bugs, which, however, do not constitute a significant threat to healthy Macedonian
pine specimens. As the species defining the upper tree line, the Macedonian pine has
an exceptional ecological, anti-erosion and snow-holding effect.
7. Dwarf pine communities
Dwarf-pine communities form communities of exceptional ecological significance.
The communities surveyed in Mramorets (Mermera) locality evidence the very good
health, steady growth and sustainable development of these communities.
Territories affected by forest fires
In the year 2000, part of the territory of RMNP was affected by forest fires, notably in
the watershed of the Eleshnitsa and Djambevska Rivers, and in part along the upper
current of the Kalin River. Some 9,000 ha of forests and high-mountain pastures were
affected in all. The affected forests occupy area with altitude between 1000-1100 and
2000m asl. The forests that were partly damaged or completely destroyed as a result
of the forest fire were coniferous forests of Scots pine at lower altitudes, and mixed
forests of Scots pine, spruce and common fir at higher altitudes, in areas of southern
exposure, and those dry, rocky and inaccessible (Appendix 12).
3.3 Flora
3.3.1 Higher plants
The range and diversity of higher plant taxa
The total number of higher plant taxa established so far within RMNP is 1400, which
constitutes 38.88 percent of the higher flora in all of Bulgaria. For example, the Park
is home to 2 species of Lycopodiophyta, 5 species of Equisetophyta, 34 species of
Polypodiophyta, 10 of Pinophyta, and as many as 1,349 species of Magnoliophyta, of
which 250 of monocotyledonous and 1,099 species of dicotyledonous plants. Of the
separate plant families, best represented in the Park are the families Asteraceae (152
species); Poaceae (104 species); Rosaceae (103 species); Caryophyllaceae (94
species); Fabaceae (80 species), a.o. On the other hand, best studied are the
Pinophyta and Polypodiophyta. Also well studied are are the Pinophyta (including all
conifers) and the Polypodiophyta, as well as species of the families Liliaceae,
Primulacae, Saxifragaceae, and a few others. On the other hand, the families
Poaceae and, to a lesser extent, Asteraceae are as yet insufficiently studied in terms
of the full range of species represented in RMNP. The numbers of species of higher
plants in Rila and Central Balkan National parks and in Rila Monastery Nature
Park are shown in Fig. 9 below:
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Management Plan -Draft
2004 - 2013
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