Climate zoning and position of the upper forest limit on the Mt. Stara Planina [Serbia] | Климатско рејонирање и положај горње шумске границе на Старој Планини [Србија]

In the distinctive mountsinod area of the Mt. Stara Planina, mesoclimate zoning was performed with certain generalization level in climate zone separation. Furthermore, due to lack of available data base, the aforementioned altitude zoning must not be considered strictly within presented altitude volumes. Outstanding terrain dissection, different level of vegetation covering and enhanced impact of secondary, i.e. tertiary climate modificators in certain parts of the Mt. Stara Planina, may create microclimate or topoclimate conditions which essentially differ from the present quantitative values of climatic elements in sub-mountainous, mountainous or high-mountainous areas. This fact is particularly apparent if we have in mind that the climate is one of the essential factors for creation of the relief periglacial forms; their inventory and systematization as well as complex population analysis could indirectly offer data on climate conditions in huge areas which are not covered by meteorological monitoring. However, quantification of climate elements in this region is a methodological problem which requires qualitatively different access and a different data base. Substantial lack of appropriate climatologic data has been substituted by particularly detailed study on vegetation of this mountain area with data on climatogene communities and communities for which there are good climatic indicators (particularly communities with detailed measurements in other mountainous areas); as far as the areas above the upper forest limit are concerned, detailed research has been performed regarding the recent periglacial processes and their relief forms as direct climatic-geomorphologic indicators of the high mountains (periglacial) climate. We believe that this attempt of climate zoning of the Mt. Stara Planina, as distinctive mountainous area, by comparison of detailed vegetation and periglacial-geomorphologic research as well as research of the upper forest limit, is the only proper way of performing this task due to lack of instrumental measurements at high altitudes.