TILIA-DOMINATED CALCICOLOUS FORESTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC FROM A CENTRAL EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The Seslerio albicantis-Tilietum cordatae is described as a new association of the calcicolous forests in the Czech Republic. It includes species-rich Tilia cordata or T. platyphyllos dominated forests with a mixture of mesophilous forest species and thermophilous oak-forest species in the field layer, confined to shallow soils of the upper slopes. During the postglacial period, these forests probably developed from Sesleria albicans-grassland and Corylus avellana-scrub and preserved a number of relict species. Comparative analysis of selected literature data on Central European calcicolous forests dominated by Tilia species yielded 6 major floristically defined groups and a few communities of local importance. These groups include: (1) Asperulo taurinae-Tilietum of Swiss föhn valleys, (2) Aceri-Tilietum of central and southern Germany and NW Switzerland, (3) Aceri-Carpinetum aconitetosum vulpariae of the Czech Republic (nutrient-rich habitats), (4) Seslerio albicantis-Tilietum cordatae of the Czech Republic (nutrient-poor habitats), (5) Mercuriali-Tilietum of the Hungarian Central Range, (6) Tilio- Fraxinetum excelsioris of the Carpathian fringes in Hungary and Romania.