DRY GRASSLAND VEGETATION ON GALIČICA MOUNTAIN ( SW MACEDONIA )

This paper presents the dry grassland vegetation (Festuco-Brometea) on the Galičica Mountain. The research underlying this study was carried out in the period of 2009–2010 at several localities, on carbonate substrate from Ohrid and Prespa sides. Registered community of this type is subordinate to xerophilous vegetation of the Festuco-Brometea the order Astragalo-Potentilletalia Micevski [1] and alliance Saturejo-Thymion Micevski [2]. From the floristic composition and the detailed phytocoenological analysis of the investigated vegetation it was concluded that it is represented by ass. Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae ass. nova subass. erodietosum guicciardii subass. nova.


INTRODUCTION
This study deals with the syntaxonomic position and the ecological characteristics of the dry grasslands on the territory of the National Park Galičica.Dry grasslands have an important role in sustaining the biodiversity of the National Park Galičica by harboring many rare and endangered plant species (Erodium guiciardii, [3], Minuartia glomerata subsp.macedonica, Centaurea grisebachii, Verbascum longifolium subsp.pannosum, etc.)In the lowland belt to 1000 (1200) above sea level, in the belt of oak forests (Fraxino orni-Quercetum petraeae, Ostryo carpinifoliae-Quercetum cerris and Fraxino orni-Quercetum cerris), and some in the lower belt of beech forest, on the altitude of 700-1200 m [4], [5], with their degradation (uprooting, burning or prolonged use of forests for firewood or other uses), these habitats are gradually transformed into dry grasslands which are secondary phytocenoses maintained through grazing and other anthropogenic activities.The communities of this vegetation type from the central and southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula be-long to the class Festuco-Brometea, order Astragalo-Potentilletalia Micevski [1] Matevski [6].
Festuco-Brometea class is represented by thermophilic communities that develop mainly in the belt of hilly pastures, rocks and pastures with deeper soil layer.The communities of this class are prevalent in the area of Atlantic, Central Europe and in the sub-Mediterranean region [7].Xerophilous vegetation of the class Festuco-Brometea covers large areas of the Balkan Peninsula from the sub-Mediterranean zone to subalpine belt, at an altitude between 200 and 1550-1600 m.The communities in this class find optimal conditions for their development on warmer habitats, secondary habitats that represent the final stages of degradation of forest vegetation communities of the following orders: Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae Klika [8] and Fagetalia sylvaticae [9].In the composition of the communities that have developed in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula the species of Balkan, Illyrian, south Balkan, southeast-European floral elements, as well as local endemic species, are of particular significance.
At that time Micevski could not have an overview of the vegetation of Europe, and integrated all dry grasslands into one order that is nowadays divided into several classes.According to the latest concept of Mucina et al. [12], the alliance Trifolion cherleri, which includes the communities of the belt of hilly pastures that develop on silicate surfaces in the altitude belt of 100-900 m, is transferred to the class Helianthemetea guttati, while the communities of the alliance Armerio-Potentillion, which develop also on silicate substrate on the territory of Macedonia and inhabit the area between 1000-1400 m, are transferred to the class Stipo giganteae-Agrostietea castellanae Rivas-Mart.et al. [13], Romeo di Petro et al. [14].In accordance with the latest sintaxonomic solutions, Matevski et al. [12] the order Astragalo-Potentilletalia is associated only with the communities of the belt of hilly pastures on the territory of Macedonia and northern Greece, which develop on carbonate substrate and belong to the alliance Saturejo-Thymion.
The order Astragalo-Potentilletalia, which is especially important for the southern Balkans or eastern sub-Mediterranean, unites communities from the hilly pastures that develop under the impact of the Mediterranean or modified Mediterranean climate, on carbonate geological surface [1].As a result of the ecological conditions, the dry calcareous grassland communities on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia can be divided into two subgroups: steppe that develop on a flat surfaces with fragmented bedrock, and rocky grasslands.
This order, according to the concept of Matevski et al. [6], is represented by the alliance Saturejo-Thymion Micevski [2].It should be noted that the alliance Saturejo-Thymion and the order Astragalo -Potentilletalia, which were described by Micevski [1], were validated a year later because according to the "International code of phytosociological nomenclature" [15] if a union is to be validly described, it should also include at least one validly described association.Considering that, the first association described validly from the alliance Saturejo-Thymion was ass.Brachypodio-Onobrychetum pindicolae [2], therefore, 1971 is considered as the year when the alliance and the order were validly described.
Within the order Astragalo-Potentiletallia, from the Republics of Serbia and Kosovo the alliances Scabioso-Trifolion dalmatici [16] and Koelerio-Festucion dalmaticae [17] were described, while from the territory of Greece, the alliance Alyssion muralis [18] was described, but in the light of new research, according to the concept of Mucina et al, [12], they have been transferred to other orders within the class, or within other classes.
The study area was previously an object of floristic and vegetational investigations [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].The present study was thus aimed at gaining a more complete understanding of the vegetational characteristics of the dry grasslands of the investigated area, as a basis for synphytosociological studies.All this indicated the necessity of taking additional phytocoenological research, taking into account the progress in the floristic knowledge of the mountain, using modern phytocoenological methods and respecting the International code of phytosociological nomenclature.
The article is dedicated to Acad.Kiril Micevski, one of the pioneers of modern vegetation studies in Macedonia.Acad.Micevski specialized in the phytocoenological methodology according to Braun Blanquet under the mentorship of one of the well known phytocoenologists -Prof.Stjepan Horvatić.As a result of his research activities that lasted over 50 years he gave a general survey of the vegetation of Macedonia by elaborating many vegetation types.He made an outstanding contribution to the investigation of the water, marsh and halophytic vegetation, as well as of lowland meadows.His contribution to the study of dry grassland vegetation is also remarkable as he established the research principles and described an order and three alliances (Astragalo-Potentilletalia, Trifolion cherleri, Saturejo-Thymion and Armerio-Potenillion) on the basis of which numerous communities have been described.

AREA OF RESEARCH
The heterogeneity of vegetation cover of the Mountain Galičica, is undoubtedly a result of spatial and environmental uniqueness of the massif, its geological history and climate specifics.Mountain Galičica is a horst which was elevated by the tec-tonic movements in the past and which relatively clearly stands out from the surrounding mountains as a separate geo-morphostructural whole.To the east and west the mountain is clearly limited by two major natural lakes -Ohrid and Prespa (Figure 1), to the south by the valley of Korča in Albania, while to the north it is connected with Plakenska and Ilinska mountains through Preval of Bukovo [27].Ohrid and Prespa Lakes, between which Mountain Galičica is located, are a kind of thermal regulator which regulates the climate on the broader space, not permitting extremely high or low temperatures, so that this region is under the influence of mild continental or modified (sub) Mediterranean climate.Favorable climatic circumstances and dominant limestone geological substrate, create good environmental conditions and ambient for development of a number of plant species and plant communities typical of Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean flora and vegetation.It can be seen in all parts of the mountain, as in the valleys and in its highest parts.The geographic position, limestone relief and mild pleasant climate, allow Galičica to function during the glacial period as a part of the grid of refugial areas of the territory of Macedonia [28].Phytosociological investigations were conducted according to the standard method of vegetation surveys of Zurich-Montpellier school [29], whereby for the chosen homogeneous, representative areas lists of plant species with estimated cover values, named as relevés, were made; so, in our case, 50 vegetation relevés were prepared for this purpose.
For the preparation of the vegetation relevés representative minimal areas were selected up to 100 m².For each vegetation relevés, besides the data for the floristic composition and their quantitative participation, there were also registered the basic data for the locality and the abiogenic and physiognomical features of the habitats: the name of the investigated locality, date, altitude (m), the area of the relevé (m²), inclination (°), exposure, total cover, geological substrate, geo-coordinates anthropogenic influence, etc.
For determination of the taxa of taxonomic complicated genera there were used the latest monographs and other floristic and taxonomic notes that refer to the flora of the Republic of Macedonia, the Balkan Peninsula and Europe.For comparison, there was also used the herbarium material deposited in the herbarium of the Institute of Biology (MKNH) at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje.
The list of our own vegetation relevés and those that are described in the literature has been entered into the Turboveg database [49].Vegetation relevés were exported in computer software JUICE [50] for further analysis, where for defining of plant communities, firstly, an agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis has been made in program PC-ORD [51] with Jaccard index of similarity, using Flexible Beta method for connections within a groups with β = -0.25, and transforming the data with b = log (Xi, j + 1).For an objective selection of the cluster method and the optimal number of clusters with maximum number of "faithful" species we used the method OptimClass [52].
Additionally, the diagnostic species of the communities were identified by a fidelity measure in the JUICE program [50].The threshold of the phi value was subjectively selected at 0.50 for species to be considered as diagnostic [53].The species having more than 50% occurrence frequency for a given community were defined as constant species, while species attaining a cover higher than 50% in more than 30% of the relevés were accepted as dominant species.
The results obtained from numerous numerical analyses helped us in processing of analytic and later of synthetic tables.By using the appropriate literature, and the knowledge that we possess, each of the taxa listed in the table was determined by its syntaxonomic affiliation to the appropriate syntaxonomic category.
In the last column of the analytical tables there are data of the calculated and entered percentages of occurrence of the species in the total number of relevés of vegetation community -the socalled degree of constancy.
The names of registered syntaxa and their authors are given according to the International code for phytosociological nomenclature [15].
During chorological analyses the floral elements given by Gajič [55], Pignatti [56] and other authors were used.A total of 233 taxa of vascular plants were identified during our research, characterized by high phytogeographic diversity which were arranged in 9 chorological groups: I -Balkan and sub-Balkan floral elements, II -Steno Mediterranean floral elements, III -Eurimediterranean floral elements, IV -Mediterranean mountainous floral elements, V -Eurasian floral elements, VI -Atlantic floral element, VII -Orophil-South European floral element, VIII -Boreal floral elements, and IXfloral elements with wider distribution.Through their percentile representation in the community the chorological composition of the registered phytocenoses was determined.
To determine the syntaxonomic position of the 50 vegetation relevés from the ivestigated area a base of vegetation relevés was created for the associations from the alliance Saturejo-Thymion, registered on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.This database contains 278 vegetation relevés and 580 taxa which were exported to a computer program Juice, for further analysis.
The optimal level of the clustering was determined by the Optimclass 1 method [52].Corre-spondingly, relevés were grouped using Jaccard index of similarity and the Flexible Beta method, as cut levels, percentage cover values of 0, 5, and 25 were defined and dendrogram was cut at the fourteen-cluster level (Figure 2).According to hierarchical classification (Figure 2) the researched dry grasslands on Mountain Galičica are subordinated to the clusters 8 and 9.When the synoptic table with program package Juice was prepared, we received three groups of taxa -diagnostic, constant and dominant.According to them, our vegetation relevés from Galičica Mountain are separated from the vegetation relevés from other parts of Macedonia covered by the remaining twelve clusters.Below, the diagnostic, constant and dominant taxa are presented which were obtained by the analysis.

Dominant species: Anthyllis vulneraria subsp. polyphyllа
After the prepration of the synoptic table and the comparative analysis made between our own records and the literature data relating to known communities of the alliance Saturejo-Thymion, we concluded that the vegetation relevés of Mountain Galičica are characterized by a sufficient number of diagnostic species which is the basis for the separation of a new association -Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae ass.nova (Table 1).
The association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae (Holotypus hoc loco: Tab.1/21) is named after the two characteristic species -Sideritis montana subsp.remota, which is a representative of the south Balkan-Asia Minor floral element and has limited distribution on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, in the vicinity of Dojran and Mount Galičica, and the Balkan endemic species Trifolium dalmaticum.
It is a secondary community which develops at the clearings on Galičica Mountainin degraded stands in the belt of oak forests (ass.Quercetum frainettocerris, ass.Quercetum trojanae, ass.Ostryo carpinifoliae-Quercetum cerris), as well as in the lower belt of beech forest on an altitude of 700-1200 m.
The association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae is registered at several sites in the Ohrid part of Galičica Mountain: Mal Osoj, Elšani, Trpejca, over the road to Vršec, Velestovo, Pogled, also to Margarine and over the curve M from the Prespa side (Figure 3).
The biological spectrum illustrates best the environmental conditions, especially the climatic characteristics of the reaserched area.It is a therophytic-hemicryptophytic community in whose composition therophytes (49%) and hemicryptophytes (36%) dominate (Figure 4).Through a detailed analysis of area-spectrum, we got a rather complete phytogeographic structure of the dry grasslands of Galičica (Figures 5 and 6).
The impact of the modified Mediterranean climate which is particularly intense in the altitudinal belt where this community develops is reflected in its floristic composition, as is evident by the largest presence of taxa from the Eurimediterranean floral element (35%).Taxa belonging to Eurasian floral element are represented by 28%, while the Balkan floral element comprises 17% (Figure 5).
From the group of Balkan floral elements (Figure 6), the most dominant are the Balkan floral elements (sensu stricto) (40%).The vegetation relevés of cluster 9 (Figure2), registered on several localities of Galičicaabove Glajšo, Margarine, above the curve Mfrom Prespa side (Figure7), are separated from other vegetation relevés because of their floristic composition obtained at the sites where the typical form of the association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae develops.In the floristic composition of these relevés several taxa are appearing, such as: Convolvulus althaeoides subsp.tenuissimus, Erodium guicciardii, Alyssum repens subsp.trychostachyum, Cynoglottis barrelieri subsp.serpentinicola, Scandix australis, Erysimum comatum and Thesium divaricatum, which are registered in this combination on Mountain Galičica only at these sites, and are taken as diagnostic species of a new subassociation -subass.erodietosum guicciardii subass.nova (Holotypus hoc loco: Tab.1/44) (Table 1).Special diagnostic species for this subassociation are two differential thermophilic species Erodium guicciardii (Figure 8) and Convolvulus althaeoides subsp.tenuissimus, which mainly develop in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean.The most representative populations of these two species on the territory of Macedonia are found on Mountain Galičica.Erodium guicciardii was discovered for the first time for the territory of Macedonia by Micevski [3] on the Mountain Galičica, vicinity of Demir Hisar and Kičevo (Baba Sač, Ilinica, Suvo Pole), while Convolvulus althaeoides subsp.tenuissimus for the vicinity of Gevgelija and Galičica ( [58], [44]).Other diagnostic species of the subassociation are: Alyssum repens subsp.trychostachyum, Cynoglottis barrelieri subsp.serpentinicola, Scandix australis, Erysimum comatum and Thesium divaricatum.From the biological spectrum (Figure 9) of the subassociation erodietosum guicciardii, it can be noticed that the percentages of hemicryptophytes and terrophytes are equal (41%), while the representation of the hemicryptophytes in the subassociation is higher than in the typical form of the association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae.
The spectrum of floral elements is shown for the subassociation erodietosum guicciardii (Figures 10 and 11).

CONCLUSION
This paper represents an oveview of the distribution and syntaxonomic position of the dry grasslands that develop on carbonate geological substrate on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.They are covered by the alliances Saturejo-Thymion Micevski [2], which is an additional information of the occurrence of this type of vegetation on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.Furthermore, with numerical analyses it has also been shown that dry grasslands from Mountain Galičica significantly differ from the rest of the communities representing Saturejo-Thymion.The fact that species Sideritis montana subsp.remota, and Trifolium dalmaticum were significantly represented in the reaserched stands led us to distinguish a new association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmaticae ass.nova which was confirmed with additional ecological analyses.Within this association the subassociation erodietosum guicciardii subass.nova, was also a separate one that floristically, physiognomically and structurally differed from the typical form of the association.
This study complements the picture of dry grasslands in the Republic of Macedonia, but there are still areas that are not sufficietly researched.

Figure
Figure 1a and b.Map of the investigated area and localities on Galičica Mountain

From
the spectrum of floral elements (Figures 10 and 11) of the subassociation erodietosum guicciardii, it can be noticed that the percentage of Balkan and sub-Balkan elements is higher (23%), and thereby the percentages of Balkan (sensu stricto) and South Balkan elements are higher too, than in the typical form of the association Siderito montanae-Trifolietum dalmatica.