The species composition of Estonian klint forests, their classification and their correlation with the main soil parameters
2001
Vellak, K. | Ingerpuu, N. (Estonian Agricultural Univ., Tartu (Estonia). Inst. of Zoology and Botany) | Paal, J. (University of Tartu , Tartu (Estonia). Inst. of Botany and Ecology)
The species and community diversity in Estonian klint forests is remarkably high. Of bryophytes, 14 percent belong to the Estonian Red List species. The bryophyte layer data were classified into 5 statistically distinct clusters, the field layer data into 8 clusters and the entire undergrowth data into 7 clusters. On the scale of synusia, the field layer can be classified into 7 societies. The klint forest layer represents 5 forest types. Considering the data for all layers, 6 statistically reliable vegetation types were established. These types also differ significantly with respect to the soil nitrogen, carbon and humus content and the soil special surface area. The talus walls, the lower and the upper talus slope, in the same locality are often divided into different vegetation units. This is due to the changing soil and moisture conditions in different parts of the klint. The clasification of each layer of the klint forest vegetation is rather independent from the others. For all the layers the most important soil parameters are special surface area, the C/N ratio and the content of carbonates; for the bryophyte layer, the pH is also essential. In the geographical distribution of several klint forest field and tree layer species, as well as communites, there exists a certain eastern-western gradient. The klint forests are presumably the very few primordial forest stands survived in Estonia. Therefore, their protection is an urgent task, all the more because the bryophyte diversity has decrease twise due to pollution with waste in several localities
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