COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

dIsTrIbuTIoN, ForesT commuNITIes aNd ecoLoGIcaL
coNdITIoNs
Total area under forests in Serbia is 2,412,940 ha. Beech is the dominant species (50.4% by volume)
with a wide range of vertical distribution, occurring in a great number of forest types, in different
structural forms, in pure or mixed stands, of different origin, on different sites.
Although the question of the ranges of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), Balkan beech (Fagus
moesiaca Domin, Maly/Czeczott.) and Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) in Serbia has not
been completely resolved, as they are often mixed and occur together in this area, all beech stands in
Serbia are treated as Balkan beech forests and are studied and described as such.
Beech forests in Serbia occur in the form of special altitudinal belts, at the altitudes between 40 m
in the Đerdap area and 2,100 m on Mt. Prokletije. The beech altitudinal zone is divided into four
beech altitudinal belts: submontane beech forests (Fagenion moesiacae submontanum), montane
beech forests (Fagenion moesiacae montanum), beech and fir forests (Abieti-Fagetum) and subalpine
beech forests (Fagenion moesiacae subalpinum). Submontane beech forests grow in oak altitudinal
belt, and above it beech forms a climate-regional vegetation belt. The characteristic of beech forest
belt (altitudinal range) in Serbia is the migration to the higher altitudes going from the north to the
south, both of the lower and the upper boundaries of distribution. The lower boundary in the north
part is at the altitude of about (40) 250 m (Northeast Serbia), and in the south, about 600 – 800 m
(Suva Planina, Kopaonik). The identical phenomenon also occurs on the upper boundary of this
belt, which is in Northeast Serbia about 1,100 m, and on Kopaonik and Suva Planina about (1,300)
1,800 m (Krstić 2005).
Syntaxonomically, beech forests in Serbia belong to the class of Eurosiberian deciduous forests
(Querco-Fagetea Br.-Bl. et Vlieg 19 3), order – beech forest (Fagetalia sylvaticae Pawl. 1928),
suborder – forest of Balkan beech (Fagenalia moesiacae B. Jov. 1986), and to the alliance of Balkan
beech forests (Fagion moesiacae Bleč. et Lak. 19 0). This alliance is divided into seven suballiances,
four of which are designated by altitudes, and three are based on the edaphic differences (Jovanović,
Cvjetićanin 2005).
The dominant soil types characterize not only the edaphically conditioned coenoses of beech forests,
but also the orographically conditioned coenoses. Based on the criteria of Soil Classification (Škorić,
Filipovski, Čirić 1985), the 10 main soil types in beech forests are divided into four classes:
undeveloped (diluvium), humus-accumulating (rendzina, black earth on limestone and ranker),
cambic (acid brown soil, eutric brown soil and brown soil on limestone) and eluvial-illuvial soils
(illimerized, brown podzolic, and podzol). The soils are formed on different parent rocks, such as
all types of eruptive and metamorphic rocks and several types of sedimentary rocks (Knežević,
Košanin 2005).
The range of beech forests in Serbia is characterized by two types of regional climate: the drier
continental climate and the colder, more humid mountainous climate. The elements of regional
climate are under a strong local impact. Regarding air temperature, beech belongs to the ecological
group of mesothermal plants, which grow best on the sites with moderate temperatures, and the
extreme temperatures can be harmful and can lead to tree damage or death. Regarding mean annual
relative humidity, Balkan beech has a wider ecological range (65 – 80%) than European beech ( 5
– 85%) and Oriental beech ( 0 – 80%) (Krstić 2005).
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