FLORA AND VEGETATION IN POKLJUKA GORGE (JULIAN
ALPS, NW SLOVENIA)
FLORA IN VEGETACIJA POKLJUŠKE SOTESKE (JULIJSKE ALPE,
SZ SLOVENIJA)
Mitja ZUPANČIČ1 & Jože SKUMAVEC2
ABSTRACT
Flora and vegetation in Pokljuka Gorge (Julian Alps, NW Slovenia)
The vascular flora and vegetation of Pokljuka Gorge are described. Five forest and one shrub community and 262 taxons of vascular flora were identified. Central European flora predominate, with 158 (60,3%), there are 11 (4,2%) species of Illyrian flora, 14 (5,3%) protected species and the sub-endemic species Saxífraga burseriana is also present. We classified the forest and shrub associations into Central European phytocenoses, although more widespread southeast European-Illyrian species are present in some.
Key words: flora, vegetation, Alpine region of Slovenia, Triglav National Park, Pokljuka Gorge.
IZVLEČEK
Flora in vegetacija Pokljuške soteske (Julijske Alpe, SZ Slovenija)
Opisana je vaskularna flora in vegetacija Pokljuške soteske. Določili smo 5 gozdnih in 1 grmiščno združbo ter 262 taksonov vaskularne flore. Prevladuje srednjeevropska flora s 158 taksoni (60,3 %), ilirske flore je 11 (4,2 %) vrst, zavarovanih vrst je 14 (5,3 %), prisoten je še subendemit Saxífraga burseriana. Gozdne in grmiščno združbo uvrščamo v srednjeevropske fitocenoze, vendar so v nekaterih prisotne širše razširjene jugovzhodnoevropsko-ilirske vrste.
Ključne besede: flora, vegetacija, alpsko območje Slovenije, Triglavski narodni park, Pokljuška soteska.
1	SAZU, Novi trg 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija.
2	Zgornje Laze 21, SI-4247 Zgornje Gorje, Slovenija, email: skumavec@siol.net
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MITJA ZUPANČIČ & JOŽE SKUMAVEC: FLORA AND VEGETATION IN POKLJUKA GORGE (JULIAN ALPS, NW SLOVENIA)
INTRODUCTION
Pokljuka Gorge is among the most interesting natural features of Triglav National Park. It is cut into the steep northeast edge of Pokljuka plateau at an altitude of 670 to 800 m. It is the largest fossil gorge in Slovenia, created many millions of years ago by the waters of Triglav glacier. The gorge is for the most part dry today, only during heavy rain and the spring snow melt does water flow in the lower part of the gorge in Ribscica stream, which flows into the Rodovna (Smolej 1982, Ramovs 1986, Skumavec 1995, Skumavec & Skobr-ne 1995). The retreat of Bohinj glacier during the last glaciation in the Würm was important for the today's form of the area in question. The Radovna river with tributaries had a large amount of water, which had
flowed from beneath Radovna glacier and the icebound Pokljuka plateau and had great erosive power (SIfrer 1983). Flowing along tectonic cracks it also created Pokljuka Gorge, with many interesting natural phenomena, such as Pokljuka Cave, a natural bridge and »vrtci« (garden plots) with flat bottoms in the form of sinkholes.
Pokljuka Gorge is traversable from Jela in the northeast of the gorge to the cliff above Srednji vrtec. There is no natural passage between the cliffs; this is only possible in the final, upper part in the fissure between the cliffs. Passage is possible via bridges and steps, called the Galleries. The Galleries were built in 1930 and at that time were known as the Galleries of
Figure 1: Location of the research area 126 FOLIA BIOLOGICA ET GEOLOGICA 56/1 - 2015
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Prince Andrew (Karadžordževic). The bridges collapsed during the Second World War and were renovated in 1982.
After the renovation of the Galleries, my colleague and friend Jože Skumavec took me to Pokljuka Gorge. We have visited the gorge many times since the nineteen eighties, where, more in an amateur than professional manner, we observed the nature of the gorge, above all the flora and vegetation. In the second half of the nineteen eighties, I began planned research of the vegetation of Pokljuka. M. Wraber, Tregubov and Pisk-ernik had researched Pokljuka prior to me. Their studies were published in local scientific reports of Bled Forest Management and in two informative publications, M. Wraber (1960) and Tregubov (1957). At the time of my Pokljuka research, my colleague Skumavec had the idea of a planned study of the flora and vegeta-
tion of Pokljuka Gorge. We began the research, which with major breaks, lasted until today.
The research path led us along the gorge, from Jela, Kobalove rovte, Stranska soteska, Pokljuka cave, Srednji vrtec, Galerije, Veliki vrtec, below the path towards Zatrnik above the gorge, across the transitional or circular path towards Stara Pokljuka or below Pustovo polje, through Pokljuka cave and back to Jela. The area covers almost 2 km of the length of the gorge. We wanted to include and inventory the flora as completely as possible, although we probably did not fully succeed in this and we expect that it is or will be possible to find some species that we overlooked or that were not there at the time of our surveys due to growth or other natural reasons. The forest-shrub vegetation is represented by 5 phytocenological relevés and a phyto-cenological table with three relevés.
METHODS
The floristic research took place according to established standard methods, in which we used Mala flora Slovenia (Martincic et al. 2007), Flora alpina (Ae-schimann et al. 2004), Register flore Slovenije (Trpin & Vres 1995) and the database FloVegSi (T. Seliskar, Vres & A. Seliskar 2003) for identifying species. We treated the vegetation according to the standard Cen-
tral European (Zurich-Montpellie) method (Braun-Blanquet 1964). We inventoried the flora and vegetation along the mountaineering-tourist path right up to the cliffs that confine the gorge, and in the area above the gorge, which geographically sensibly belongs to it. We visited the research area a number of times from spring to autumn.
ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESEARCH AREA
Climatic conditions in Pokljuka Gorge are more or less similar to those that prevail in the Alps. Pokljuka Gorge is a frost area, in which temperature inversions appear in spring and autumn, and the area is in general colder than the surroundings throughout the year. A humid climate prevails in the gorge, with fresh summers and cold winters. Average annual precipitation is from 1500 to 2000 mm and more. The majority of rainfall, around 60% and perhaps even more, falls during the vegetation period. On the floor of the gorge, in sheltered positions and rough ground, snow lies late into spring. We estimate average annual air temperature to be as in the Alps, between 3° and 6° C, depending on the configuration of the terrain.
Pokljuka Gorge has a uniform geological composition, with Upper Triassic limestone predominating. There is some dolomite of the same age at the start of the path into the gorge. Lithologically, there are several variants of limestone, from massive grey limestone,
siliconised or almost solid limestone to dense grey limestone, which often contains 'bulbs' of greyer or black chert. (Ramovš 1986). The gorge was gauged out to a depth of 50m by glacial outflows along tectonic cracks. Traces of the action of the glacial water are visible on the overhanging cliffs, natural bridges, in smaller tunnels, Pokljuka cave and on the rubbly, collapse ground, from which the disappearing stream Ribščica originates, which flows out into the Radovna. (Ramovš 1986, Skumavec & Skobrne 1995).
The soils on this carbonate base are basic eutric brown carbonate soils (calcocambisols), shallow to medium deep, in places there are rendzinas. In soils in depressions there are mosaic soils between rendzinas, which are scattered with flint-chert, and lithosols on rocks and boulders. The soils scattered with chert are more or less acidic. There is also greater acidity beneath the lithosols on limestone rocks and blocks, where a thin layer of raw humus accumulates. In the
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»garden plots« are distric brown soils with an abundant admixture of sandy flint created from the cherts, which are moderately acid to neutral.
The mezo- and microclimatic, geological-litholog-ical and soil conditions enable the varied flora and vegetation in Pokljuka Gorge.
FLORA
The flora and vegetation of the research area are defined by their phytogeographic position. The majority of Slovenia belongs to the Euro-Siberian-North American floral region. A particularity here is the Illyrian floral province, in which Pokljuka Gorge is classified. There are some southeast European-Illyrian species with narrower or wider distribution in this area. These are: Anemone x pitonii, A. trifolia, Aposeris foetida, Cardamine ennaphyllos, C. trifolia, Galium laevigatum, Helleborus niger, Homogyne sylvestris, Knautia drymeia ssp. drymeia in Lamium orvala. Additional southeast European species are more frequent and more widespread in large numbers than elsewhere in Europe, some of which are in Pokljuka Gorge: Cardamine pen-taphyllos, Chaerophyllum hirsutum, Peucedanum au-striacum, Primula vulgaris in Stellaria montana. Irrespective of POLDINI's (1991) phytogeographic division of flora, it is more or less justified to classify as southeast European species, with a hint of Illyrian, the species Aruncus dioicus, Fraxinus ornus, Helleborus odorus, Ostrya carpinifolia and Saxifraga rotundifolia, which also denote the Illyrian floral province. Pokljuka Gorge is located on the edge of the Julian Alps, which are the eastern part of the southeast limestone Alps, so it is placed in the southeast Alpine floral sector and, because it lies below the Alps, in the subalpine floral subsector and in the Julian Alps-West Kara-vanke-Kamnik Alps district (Zupančič et al. 1987). The already mentioned species Anemone trifolia, Hel-leborus niger and Larix decidua are characteristic of this district. We did not find the characteristic-endemic species Pedicularis elongata ssp. julica in Pokljuka Gorge. The sub-endemic species Saxifraga burseria-na is important in Pokljuka Gorge for the mentioned district, which is widespread in the southeast Alpine region. The large settlement of the species Saxifraga burseriana in the cliffs below the entrance to Pokljuka cave is interesting. Even recently we thought (Skuma-vec & Zupančič 2014) that it is almost the only preserved site. The most recent data according to the FloVegSi database of the Biological Institute ZRC SAZU (T. Seliskar et al. 2003) state a number of locations in the Julian and Savinja Alps and Karavanke.
There are 13 protected species. These are: Cephalanthe-ra damasonium, C. rubra, Convallaria majalis, Cyclamen purpurascens, Dactylorchiza maculata ssp. fuchsii, Dianthus hyssopifolius, Epipactis helleborine, Helleborus niger, H. odorus, Huperzia selago, Lycopodium an-notinum, Neottia nidus avis in Primula auricula. Forest and shrub communities supplement or confirm the designation of southeast Alpine phytogeographic position of Pokljuka Gorge in the context of the Illyrian floral province.
If we add to the above diagnostically important analysis for the phytogeographic determination of the research area also an analysis of other species according to Poldini (1991), it can be seen that psychro-philic Circumboreal, Mediterranean-Montane, Euro-siberian, Paleotemperate, Arctic-Alpine and Eastern Alpine geoelements are present in Pokljuka Gorge, with more than two fifths participation. We conceive Poldini's definition of Mediterranean-Montane elements as mountain elements under specific Mediterranean climatic influences, to which the Julian Alps are subject. These are a quarter of all those recorded. The presence of the enumerated geoelements confirms the cold climatic conditions. The other major group, with slightly over a third share, are European and Euroasian geoelements, which are generally widespread in the European temperate zone. A more detailed analysis of geoelements in Pokljuka Gorge is shown in Table 1.
The biological form of plants according to Raunki-aer indicates how a plant adapts to the environment in which it lives (thrives) or what sort of life capacity it has to survive the most unfavourable seasons (e.g., winter cold or summer drought). The biological spectrum, which is the relation between the biological forms, shows the ecological conditions in the area in question (habitat) (M. Wraber 1946). The biological spectrum of Pokljuka Gorge confirms that ecological conditions predominate here that are normal in the temperate belt. (Table 2). Below are stated a list of plants of Pokljuka Gorge based on their affiliation to families. The 262 plant taxons belong to 61 families.
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Lycopodiaceae Huperzia selago (L.) Mart. Lycopodium annotinum L.
Equisetaceae Equisetum sylvaticum L.
Hypolepidaceae Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn
Thelypteridaceae Phegopteris connectilis (Michx.) Watt Thelypteris limbosperma (AU.) H. P. Fuchs
Aspleniaceae Asplenium ruta-muraria L. Asplenium trichomanes L. ssp. quadrivalens (?) Asplenium trichomanes L. s. lat. Asplenium viride Huds. Phyllitis scolopendrium (L.) Newman
Athyriaceae Athyrium filix-femina (L.) Roth Cystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh. Matteucia struthiopteris (L.) Tod.
Aspidiaceae Dryopteris affinis (Löve) Fraser-Jenkis Dryopteris expansa (Presl.) Fraser-Jenkis & Jermy Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott Gymnocarpium dryopteris (L.) Newman Polystichum aculeatum (L.) Roth Polystichum braunii (Spenn.) Fee Polystichum lonchitis (L.) Roth
Blechnaceae Blechnum spicant (L.) Roth
Polypodiaceae Polypodium vulgare L.
Pinaceae Alies alba Miller Larix decidua Miller Picea abies (L.) Karsten Pinus sylvestris L.
Aristolochiaceae Asarum europaeum L. ssp. caucasicum (Ducharte) Soó Asarum europaeum L. ssp. europaeum
Ranunculaceae Aconitum degenii Gayer ssp. paniculatum (Archang.) Mucher
Aconitum lycoctonum L. em. Koelle ssp. ranunculifo-
lium (Rchb.) Schinz & Keller Actaea spicata L. Anemone nemorosa L. Anemone trifolia L. Caltha palustris L. Clematis alpina (L.) Mill. Clematis vitalba L. Helleborus niger L. Helleborus odorus Waldst. & Kit. Hepatica nobilis Mill. Ranunculus acris L. ssp. acris Ranunculus lanuginosus L. Thalictrum aquilegiifolium L. Trollius europaeus L.
Papaveraceae Chelidonium majus L.
Fumariaceae Corydalis cava (L.) Schweiger & Koerte Corydalis solida (L.) Clairv.
Caryophyllaceae Dianthus hyssopifolius L. Moehringia muscosa L. Silene dioica (L. em. Mill.) Clairv. Silene nutans (L.) Wibel. s. lat. Stellaria montana Perrat Stellaria nemorum L.
Polygonaceae Rumex acetosa L. Rumex alpestris Jacq.
Fagaceae Fagus sylvatica L. Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. Quercus robur L.
Betulaceae Betula pendula Roth
Corylaceae Corylus avellana L.
Carpinaceae Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.
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Juglandaceae Juglans regia L.
Ulmaceae
Ulmus glabra Huds.
Urticaceae Parietaria officinalis L. Urtica dioica L.
Grossulariaceae Ribes alpinum L.
Ribes uva-crispa L. ssp. laciocarpum Gaud. ex. Monn.
Crassulaceae Sedum album L.
Saxifragaceae Chrysosplenium alternifolium L. Saxifraga burseriana L. Saxifraga cuneifolia L. Saxifraga rotundifolia L.
Rosaceae Alchemilla sp. (?) Aremonia agrimonioides (L.) DC. Aruncus dioicus (Walter) Fernald Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. s. lat. Fragaria vesca L. Geum urbanum L. Potentilla caulescens L. Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch. Rosa pendulia L. Rubus idaeus L. Rubus plicatus Weiche & Nees Rubus saxatilis L. Sorbus aria (L.) Crantz. Sorbus aucuparia L. ssp. aucuparia
Fabaceae Genista tinctoria L. Laburnum alpinum (Mill.) Presl. Lathyrus vernus (L.) Bernh. ssp. vernus Lotus corniculatus L. s. lat. Trifolium campestre Schreb Vicia cracca L. Vicia oroboides Wulfen
Onagraceae Circaea alpina L. Circea x intermedia Ehrh. Circaea lutetiana L. Epilobium montanum L.
Aceraceae Acer campestre L. Acer platanoides L. Acer pseudoplatanus L.
Oxalidaceae Oxalis acetosella L.
Geraniaceae Geranium phaeum L. s. lat. Geranium robertianum L.
Balsaminaceae Impatiens noli-tangere. L.
Polygalaceae Polygala chamaebuxus L.
Rhamnaceae Rhamnus catharticus L. Rhamnus pumilus Turra
Santalaceae
Thesium bavarum Schrank
Euphorbiaceae Euphorbia amygdaloides L. Euphorbia cyparissias L.
Euphorbia dulcis L. ssp. incompta (Cesati) Nyman Mercurialis perennis L.
Thymeleaceae Daphne mezereum L.
Apiaceae Aegopodium podagraria L. Angelica sylvestris L. Astrantia major L. s. lat. Chaerophyllum aureum L. Chaerophyllum hirsutum L. Laserpitium siler L. Myrrhis odorata (L.) Scop.
Peucedanum austriacum (Jacq.) Koch ssp. rablense
(Wulfen) Schrank Peucedanum schottii Bess. Peucedanum verticillare (L.) Koch Pimpinella saxifraga L. Sanicula europaea L.
Hypericaceae Hypericum montanum L.
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Violaceae
Viola biflora L.
Viola reichenbachiana Jord. ex. Bureau Cistaceae
Helianthemum nummularium (L.) Mill. ssp. grandi-florum (Scop.) Schinz & Thell
Brassicaceae Arabis turrita L. Cardamine bulbifera (L.) Crantz Cardamine enneaphyllos (L.) Crantz Cardamine impatiens L. Cardamine pentaphyllos (L.). Crantz Cardamine trifolia L. Kernera saxatilis (L.) Rchb. Lunaria rediviva L.
Salicaceae Popolus tremula L. Salix appendiculata L. Salix caprea L.
Tiliaceae Tilia cordata Mill.
Primulaceae
Cyclamen purpurascens Miller Lysimachia vulgaris L. Primula auricula L. Primula vulgaris Hudson
Ericaceae
Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull Erica carnea L. Vaccinium myrtillus L. Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.
Pyrolaceae [Moneses uniflora (L.) A. Gray/ Orthylia secunda (L.) House
Monotropaceae Montropa hypophagea Walls.
Adoxaceae Adoxa moschatellina L.
Sambucaceae Sambucus ebulus L. Sambucus nigra L. Sambucus racemosa L.
Caprifoliacae Lonicera alpigena L. Lonicera xylosteum L. Lonicera nigra L.
Valerianaceae Valeriana tripteris L.
Dipsacaceae Knautia drymeia Heufel ssp. drymeia Scabiosa lucida Vill. s. lat.
Oleaceae Fraxinus excelsior L. Fraxinus ornus L.
Gentianaceae Gentiana asclepiadea L.
Ascplepidiaceae Vincetoxicum hirundinaria Medic.
Rubiaceae Galim laevigatum L. Galium mollugo L. Galium odoratum (L.) Scop. Galium L. sp. (?)
Solanaceae Atropa bella-donna L. Solanum dulcamara L.
Boraginaceae Myosotis sylvatica (Ehrh.) Hoffm. Pulmonaria officinalis L. Symphytum tuberosum L. ssp. tuberosum
Scrophulariaceae Digitalis grandiflora Miller Lathraea squamaria L.
Melampyrum pratense L. ssp. vulgatum (Pers.) Ronninger
Melampyrum sylvaticum L. ssp. sylvaticum
Scrophularia nodosa L.
Veronica montana L.
Veronica officinalis L.
Veronica urticifolia Jacq.
Plantaginaceae Plantago major L.
Lamiaceae Ajuga reptans L. Calamintha menthifolia Host.
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Galeobdolon flavidum (F. Herrn.) Holub
Galeopsis speciosa Mill.
Galeopsis pubescens Besser
Lamium orvala L.
Lamium maculatum L.
Prunella vulgaris L.
Salvia glutinosa L.
Thymus praecox Opiz ssp. polytrichus (Berb.) Jalas
Campanulaceae Campanula cochlaeriifolia Lam. Campanula patula L. Campanula rapunculoides L. Campanula scheuchzeri Vill. Campanula trachelium L. Phyteuma ovatum Honck Phyteuma spicatum L. s. lat.
Asteraceae Adenostyles glabra (Miller) DC Arctium lappa L. Aster bellidiastrum (L.) Scop. Buphthalmum salicifolium L. Carduus personata (L.) Jacq. Cirsium Miller s. lat. Cirsium erisithales (Jacq.) Scop. Cirsium oleraceum (L.) Scop. Cirsium vulgare (Savi)Tenore Doronicum austriacum Jacq. Erigeron annus (L.) Pers. Eupatorium cannabinum L. Hieracium murorum L. Homogyne sylvestris Cass. Petasites albus (L.) Gaertner Petasites paradoxus (Retz.) Baumg. Senecio ovatus (Gaertn., Mey. & Scherb.) Willd. Solidago virgaurea L. ssp. virgaurea Tussilago farfara L.
Cichoriaceae Aposeris foetida (L.). Less. Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort Prenanthes purpurea L. Taraxacum officinale agg.
Trilliaceae Paris qudrifolia L.
Convallariaceae Convallaria majalis L. Majanthemum bifolium L. Polygonatum verticillatum (L.) All.
Melanthiaceae Veratrum album L. s. lat.
Orhidaceae Cephalanthera damasonium (Mill.) Druce Cephalanthera rubra (L.) L. C. Rich. Dactylorhiza maculata (L.) Soó ssp. fuchsii (Druce) Hyl.
Epipactis atrorubens (Hoffm.ex Bernk.) Besser Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz s. lat. Neottia nidus-avis (L.) Rich.
Juncaceae
Luzula luzuloides (Lam.) Dandy & Wilmott s. lat. Luzula pilosa (L.) Wild.
Cyperaceae Carex alba Scop.
Carex branchystashys Schrank & Moll. Carex digitata L. Carex sylvatica Huds.
Poaceae
Brachypodium rupestre (Host.) Roem & Schult.
Brachypodium sylvaticum (Huds.) PB.
Calamagrostis arundinacea (L.) Roth
Calamagrostis varia (Schrad.) Host
Calamagrostis villosa (Chaixex ex VilL.) J. F. Gmel.
Dactylis glomerata L.
Deschampsia flexuosa (L.) Trin.
Deschampsia caespitosa (L.) P. Beauv.
Festuca altissima All.
Festuca gigantea (L.) Vill.
Melica nutans L.
Milium effusum L.
Sesleria caerulea (L.) Ard. ssp. calcaria (Opiz) Celak ex Hegi
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VEGETATION
MITJA ZUPANČIČ & JOŽE SKUMAVEC: FLORA AND VEGETATION IN POKLJUKA GORGE (JULIAN ALPS, NW SLOVENIA)
Table 1: Geoelements according to Poldini (1991)
Geoelement	Number	%
European	59	22,5
Circumboreal	38	14,5
Euroasian	38	14,5
Mediterranean-montane	34	13,0
Eurosiberian	22	8,4
Paleotemperate	15	5,7
Cosmopolitan	11	4,2
Northern Illyrian	7	2,7
Arctic-Alpine	5	1,9
Southern Illyrian	4	1,5
Southeast European	9	3,4
European-Mediterranean	4	1,5
Pontic	5	1,9
Mediterranean-Pontic	3	1,1
Endemic	2	0,8
Eastern Alpine	2	0,8
Mediterranean-Atlantic	2	0,8
Adventitious species	2	0,8
TOTAL	262	100,0
Table 2: Biological forms according to Raunkiaer (M. Wraber 1946)
Biological form	Number	%
Phanerophytes	42	16,0
Chamaephytes	19	7,3
Hemicryptophytes	132	50,4
Geophytes	61	23,2
Therophytes	8	3,1
TOTAL	262	100,0
Despite the small area of Pokljuka Gorge, 5 forest and 1 shrub association thrive in it. The largest area is occupied by the associations Anemono trifoliae-Fagetum var. geogr. Helleborus niger; all other associations Ho-mogyno sylvestris-Fagetum, Mastigobryo-Piceetum var. geogr. Anemone trifolia, Corydalido cavae-Aceretum var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos and Fraxino orni--Ostryetum carpinifoliae grow on smaller areas. The
association Rhytidiadelpho lorei-Piceetum is only frag-mentarily developed. The association Anemono-Fage-tum var. geogr. Helleborus niger, Homogyno-Fagetum, Corydalido-Aceretum var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos and Fraxino-Ostryetum are placed into the class of mesophilous deciduous forests on eutric soils of the class Querco-Fagetea. We classify them variously into orders and alliances, the first three phytocenoses into
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the order of mesophilous beech forests Fagetalia sylva-ticae and the last Fraxino-Ostryetum into the order of thermophilous oak forests Quercetalia pubescentis. Classification into alliances is more complicated. We classify the associations Anemono-Fagetum var. geogr. Helleborus niger, Homogyno-Fagetum and Corydalido--Aceretum var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos in the Il-lyrian alliance of beech forests Aremonio-Fagion. Southeast European-Illyrian, southeast European and southeast Alpine species are classified into them.
ŠiLC & Čarni (2012), on the example of some European associations, classify the phytocenosis Coryda-lido-Aceretum into the alliance Tilio-Acerion and order Aceretalia pseudoplatani. We are of the opinion that the mentioned alliance and order are not supported by diagnostically important species for them but only with generally widespread Central European species of beech forests from the order Fagetalia sylvaticae s. lat. (Zupančič 1996). We classify the shrub community Fraxino-Ostryetum into the Illyrian-Balkan alliance of thermophilous continental thermophilous forests of oak and hop hornbeam Fraxino orni-Ostryion carpini-foliae. We classify the spruce associations Rhytidiade-lpho lorei-Piceeetum and Mastigobryo-Piceeetum into the class of Holarctic coniferous forests of the Eurosi-berian-North American region, Vaccinio-Piceetea, the order of Euroasian boreo-montane coniferous forests Vaccinio-Piceetalia (Piceetalia excelsae) and the alliance of European boreo-montane coniferous forests Vaccinio-Piceion (Piceion excelsae).
ANEMONO TRIFOLIAE-FAGETUM Tregu-bov 1962 var. geogr. HELLEBORUS NIGER Marinček, Poldini & Zupančič 1989
The association Anemono trifoliae-Fagetum was first mentioned in print in 1957, without the publication of a phytocenological table (Tregubov 1957 a, b). It was reasoned with a phytocenological table in 1962 (Tregubov 1962). In both publications, Tregubov envisaged the following characteristic species for the association Anemono-Fagetum: Anemone trifolia, Cyclamen purpu-rascens, Hepatica nobilis and Helleborus niger. M. Wra-ber (1959) was of similar thinking about the association, but additionally articulated the phytocenosis into lower sinsystematic units - sub-associations. In a paper on the vegetation of Triglav National Park, the authors (Marinček et al. 1983) doubted the correctness of Tregubov's (1957 a, b, 1962) choice of characteristic species and designated them relative characteristic species. Marinček (1983), in his book Bukovi gozdovi na Slovenskem (Beech Forests in Slovenia), speaks in ge-
neral about the phytocenosis Anemono-Fagetum but does not mention its possible characteristic or differential species. The findings of the phytocenologists Poldini from Italy and Zukrigle from Austria that the association Anemono-Fagetum or its similar in southern Austria probably thrives in northern Italy, dictated joint research, the result of which was published in Marinček et al. (1989). Comparisons showed that Trebu-gov's chosen characteristic species do not correspond. We have proposed the species Anemone trifolia as a relative characteristic species of the wider phytogeo-graphic region and added the distinguishing species Picea abies, Larix decidua, Vaccinium myrtillus, V vitis--idaea and Carex alba and, as further relative characteristic species, Saxifraga rotundifolia, Ranunculus platani-folius, Adenostyles glabra and Polygonatum verticilla-tum, which are constants in altimontane and subalpine beech forests. In a paper (Marinček et al. 1989), we divided the association Anemono-Fagetum into two geographic variants. In the east of the area of distribution of the association is the geographic variant with the species Helleborus niger, and in the southwest that with the species Luzula nivea. Synthesis of altimontane beech forests of the alliance Aremonio-Fagion (Zupančič 2012) showed that the species Polygala chamae-buxus and Orthilia secunda and the distinguishing species Picea abies and Larix decidua must be considered as characteristics of the association Anemono-Fagetum.
A geographic variant Anemono trifoliae-Fagetum var. geogr. Helleborus niger is widespread in Pokljuka Gorge. In the associations are represented the relative characteristic species Anemone trifolia, the distinguishing species Picea abies and Larix decidua and the relative distinguishing species Saxifraga rotundifolia and Polygonatum verticillatum. The association grows over the majority of steep slopes of the gorge, where there are eutric shallow, skeletal carbonate brown soils or rendzinas on limestone or dolomite. The area on dolomite is more or less smooth, but on limestone broken, sometimes more rocky, so similar to ecological conditions that have already been described in previously mentioned papers (Tregubov 1957 a, b, 1962, M. Wraber 1960, Marinček et al. 1989). We add a phytocenological relevé »in situ«.
Relevé 1
Anemono-Fagetum var. geogr. Helleborus niger cephalantheretosum
Altitude: 660 m, exposure: N, inclination: 40 soil: brown carbonate soils, geological base: dolomite.
I: I = 80, II = 10, III = 50, IV = 10
I: Fagus sylvatica 4.3, Picea abies 3.2, Larix decidua +.
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II: Fagus sylvatica 2.3, Acer campestre +, A. plata-noides +, Acer pseudoplatanus +, Clematis vitalba +, Corylus avellana +, Fraxinus excelsior +, Lonicera nigra +, Rubus idaeus +, Sambucus nigra +, Ulmus glabra +.
III: Anemone trifolia 2.2, Oxalis acetosella 2.2, Stellaria montana 1.2, Acer pseudoplatanus 1.1, Cardamine trifolia 1.1, Galeobdolon flavidum 1.1, Homogyne sylve-stris 1.1, Prenanthes purpurea 1.1, Veronica urticifolia 1.1, Viola reichenbachiana 1.1, Actaea spicata +.2, Asa-rum europaeum +.2, Gymnocarpium dryopteris +.2, Hepatica nobilis +.2, Lunaria rediviva +.2, Mercurialis pe-rennis +.2, Saxifraga cuneifolia +.2, S. rotundifolia +.2, Adoxa moschatellina +, Ajuga reptans +, Aremonia agri-monioides +, Aruncus dioicus +, Athyrium filix-femina +, Asplenium trihomanes ssp. trichomanes +, A. viride +, Campanula trachelium +, Cardamine bulbifera +, C. enneaphyllos +, Cephalanthera rubra +, Chaerophyllum hirsutum +, Cyclamen purpurascens +, Cystopteris fra-gilis +, Dactylorhiza maculata ssp. fuchsii +, Dryopteris filix-mas +, Epilobium montanum +, Euphorbia amyg-daloides +, Euphorbia dulcis ssp. incompta +, Fagus syl-vatica +, Geranium robertianum +, Geum urbanum +, Helleborus niger +, Lamium orvala +, Maianthemum bifolium +, Milium effusum +, Myosotis sylvatica +, Paris quadrifolia +, Petasites albus +, Phegopteris con-nectilis +, Phyllitis scolopendrium +, Picea abies +, Polygonatum verticillatum +, Polypodium vulgare +, Polystichum aculeatum +, Primula vulgaris +, Pulmonaria officinalis +, Ranunculus lanuginosus +, Salvia glutinosa +, Senecio ovatus +, Scrophularia nodosa +, Ulmus scabra +, Valeriana tripteris +, Vicia oroboides +.
IV: Isothecium mysuroides 1.4, Euhrynchium zet-terstedtii 1.3, Neckera crispa +.4, Ctenidium molluscum +.2, Lobaria pulmonaria, Minum undulatum +.
The relevé is defined by the lowland thermophil-ous sub-association of cephalanthera of the northeastern geographic variant with black hellebore of alpine forest of beech and three-leaved anemone - Ane-mono-Fagetum Tregubov 1956 var. geogr. Helleborus niger Marinček, Poldini & Zupančič 1988 cephalanthe-retosum Marinček, Poldini & Zupančič 1988.
HOMOGYNO SYLVESTRIS-FAGETUM Marinček et al. 1993
The Dinarid phytocenosis of fir and beech was first described in Slovenia as the association Abieti-Fagetum dinaricum (Tregubov 1957 c), derived from the association of I. Horvat (1938) Fagetum silvaticae croati-cum australe abietetosum. Tregubov (1957 a, b) later observed an individual smaller core of pre-alpine fir-
beech forest on limestone in the Karavanke and designated it the phytocenosis Abieti-Fagetum homogyneto-sum sylvestris. M. Wraber (1960) describes a southeastern Alpine forest of beech and fir - Abieti-Fagetum austroalpinum - in the pre-Alpine/Alpine region as a geographic variant of Central European fir-beech forest (J. & M. Bartsch 1940). Marincek (1987), in his monograph on beech forests, draws attention in the description of pre-Alpine forest of beech and fir - Abieti-Fage-tum praealpinum - to »a fairly numerous group of Illyr-ian plant species, which indicate an Illyrian character of pre-Alpine beech forests with fir«. A year later, Marincek & Dakskobler (1988) in a paper on acidophil-ous beech forests of the pre-Alpine world of Slovenia demonstrate with phytocenological tables a new acido-philous fir-beech association Luzulo-Abieti-Fagetum praealpinum with three sub-associations: typicum, gali-etosum rotundifolii and lamietosum orvalae. According to adopted Codices (Barkman et al. 1976, 1986, Weber et al. 2000) the name of the association was invalid. On the basis of phytocenological tables, the authors determined distinguishing species for the association, to wit: Abies alba, Adenostyles glabra, Anemone trifolia, Festuca altissima, Polygonatum verticillatum, Ranunculus platanifolius and Veronica urticifolia. In a synthesis paper by Marincek et al. (1992, published 1993), the authors proposed that the pre-Alpine fir-beech forest be called after the southeast European-Illyrian species Homogyne sylvestris, namely Homogyno-Fagetum; for the nomenclature type they took relevé number 16 from Table 3 in the paper by Marincek & Dakskobler (1988), which is in accordance with the aforementioned Codices. In research of fir-beech forests of north-western Slovenia in the region of the southern Julian Alps, Dakskobler (2002 a, 2002 b, 2009) determined more exactly characteristic and distinguishing species of the association Homogyno sylvestris-Fagetum, which in the previous paper he had only defined as distinguishing species, although only three of them, i.e., the species Abies alba, Adenostyles glabra and Veronica urticifolia. Instead of the other previous ones, he added the species Asplenium viride, Homogyne sylvestris and Saxifraga cuneifolia, which are more acceptable for recognising the association Homogyno-Fagetum.
There are smaller areas of pre-Alpine fir-beech forest Homogyne-Fagetum in the area of Pokljuka Gorge, on its upper western edge, from whence it spreads towards Zatrnik and Stara Pokljuka and onwards to the Pokljuka plateau. Ecological conditions are similar to those described in the publications of Tregubov (1957), M. Wraber (1960), Marincek (1987), Marincek & Dakskobler (1988) and Dakskobler (2002 a, 2002 b, 2009). Upper Triassic limestone predominates
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on the site of pre-Alpine fir-beech forest, where there are shallow to medium deep carbonate brown soils. The relief is broken, partially rocky, here and there level, where the humus horizon is slightly acidic because of the appearance of crumbled chert in the soils. Fir is rarer than in similar, more optimal conditions and a significant amount has been felled. Unfortunately, there is too much management in this part of the forest. In addition to fir, of other distinguishing species are also present Veronica urticifolia, Asplenium viride, Homogyne sylvestris and Saxifraga cuneifolia. On the mixed silicaceous-limestone geological base, where there are acidic brown soils on cherts, an acidophilous variant of the association appears, Homogyno-Fagetum var. Calamagrostis arundinacea var. nova. We envisage the following distinguishing species for the variant: Calamagrostis arundinacea, Lycopodium annotinum and Huperzia selago. The holotype of the variant is the submitted phytocenological relevé 3. The edge of Pokljuka Gorge is part of a natural monument, in which management is restricted or even undesired. For illustration of the association Homogyno-Fagetum in Pokljuka Gorge, we add phytocenological relevés 2 and 3.
Relevé 2
Homogyno sylvestris-Fagetum
Altitude: 860 m, eksposure: N, inclination: 30 soil: brown carbonate soils, geological base: limestone, stoniness: 40 %.
I = 80, II = 0, III = 30, IV = 40
I: Fagus sylvatica 2.2, Picea abies 2.2, Abies alba 2.1, Acer pseudoplatanus 1.2, Betula pendula +, Larix decidua +, Populus tremula +.
II: Abies alba +, Acer pseudoplatanus +, Corylus avellana +, Daphne mezereum +, Fagus sylvatica +, Fraxinus ornus +, Laburnum alpinum +, Lonicera alpigena +, Lonicera nigra +, Populus tremula +, Rosa pen-dulina +, Rubus idaeus +, Rubus saxatilis +, Sorbus aria +, Sorbus aucuparia +, Ulmus glabra +.
III: Anemone trifolia 3.2, Homogyne sylvestris 1.2, Oxalis acetosella 1.2, Polygonatum verticillatum 1.2, Abies alba 1.1, Calamagrostis varia 1.1, Veronica urticifolia 1.2, Cyclamen purpurascens + .2, Hieracium muro-rum + .2, Saxifraga cuneifolia +, Valeriana tripteris +, Acer pseudoplatanus +, Adoxa moschatellina +, Arun-cus dioicus +, Asplenium trihomanes +, A. viride +, Athyrium filix-femina +, Campanula trachelium +, Carex digitata +, Cardamine trifolia +, Cirsium erisi-thales +, Digitalis grandiflora +, Dryopteris filix-mas +, Galium laevigatum +, Gentiana asclepiadea +, Huperzia selago +, Hypericum montanum +, Laburnum alpinum +, Maiantemum bifolium +, Mercurialis perennis +,
Mycelis muralis +, Phegopteris connectilis +, Phyteuma ovatum +, Picea abies +, Polypodium vulgare +, Pre-nanthes purpurea +, Scrophularia nodosa +, Sorbus aucuparia ssp. aucuparia, +, Veronica montana +, Viola reichenbachiana +.
IV: Ctenidium molluscum 5.3, Isothecium mysuroi-des 1.2, Hylocomium splendens +.3, Bazzania trilobata +.2, Euhrynchium zetterstedtii +.2, Fissidens taxifolius +.2, Mnium sp. (?)+.2, Neckera crispa +.2, Peltigera leu-cophlebia +.2, Plagiochila asplenioides +.2, Polytrichum formosum +.2, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus +.2, Clado-nia pyxydata +, Dicranum scoparium +.
Relevé 3
Homogyno sylvestris-Fagetum var. Calamagrostis arundinacea
Altitude: 850 m, exposure: N, inclination: 25 °, soil: acid brown soil on chert, geological base: limestone/ chert, stoniness: 0 %,
I = 60, II = 20, III = 30, IV = 5 I: Fagus sylvatica 2.2, Abies alba 1.1, Picea abies +.2, Laburnum alpinum +
II: Fagus sylvatica 2.2, Lonicera nigra +.2, Betula pendula +, Picea abies +.2, Corylus avellana +, Daphne mezereum +, Laburnum alpinum +, Picea abies +, Sor-bus aria +, S. aucuparia ssp. aucuparia +, Rosa pendu-lina +, Rubus saxatilis +.
III: Calamagrostis arundinacea 2.2, Vaccinium myr-tillus 1.2, Anemone trifolia + .2, Galium laevigatum + .2, Homogyne sylvestris + .2, Luzula luzuloides + .2, Ly-copodium annotinum + .2, Phegopteris connectilis +, .2, Abies alba +, Acer pseudoplatanus +, Ajuga reptans +, Campanula trachelium +, Cyclamen purpurascens +, Dryopteris filix-mas +, D. expansa (D. assimilis) +, Fagus sylvatica +, Fragaria vesca +, Gentiana asclepiadea +, Hepatica nobilis +, Hieracium murorum +, Huperzia selago +, Oxalis acetosella +, Picea abies +, Polygonatum verticillatum +, Prenanthes purpurea +, Solidago virgaurea +, Valeriana tripteris +, Veronica urticifolia +, IV: Ctenidium molluscum 1.2, Bazzania trilobata +.3, Hylocomium splendes +.3, Isothecium mysuroides +.3, Plagiochila asplenioides +.2, Polytrichum formosum +.2, Tortella tortuosa +.2, Cladonia pyxydata +, Clado-nia squamosa +, Dicranum scoparium +.
CORYDALIDO CAVAE-ACERETUM PSUEDO-PLATANI Moor 1938 var. geogr. DENTARIA ENNEAPHYLLOS Zupančič 1996
The »garden plots« of Pokljuka Gorge are settled by an Illyrian variant of the Central European sycamore
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maple forest Corydalido cavae-Aceretum pseudoplatani var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos. Habitats are fragmentary, individual ones cover around 0.5 ha. Of characteristic species of Central European phytocenoses, Corydalis cava, C. solida and Lathraea squamaria are represented. Distinguishing species for the Illyrian variant are the south-eastern European-Illyrian species Anemone trifolia, Cardamine ennephyllos, C. trifo-lia and Saxifraga rotundifolia. A particularity of habitats of this geographic variant is the flourishing growth of the circumboreal species Matteucia struthiopteris, because of which we decided to form a sub-association according to it Corydalido cavae-Aceretum psuedopla-tani Moor 1938 var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos mat-teucietosum (Zupančič 1996). Because of ill-considered anthropogenic interventions in the »garden plots« and thus thinning of the tree layer, exposure to sun has affected the abundant growth of the shade loving species Matteucia struthiopteris and enabled the luxurious growth of ruderal species such as Urtica dioica, Chae-rophyllum hirsutum, Filipendula ulmaria, Lysimachia nemorum, Cirsium sp. etc. (Skumavec & Zupančič 2014).
There are favourable conditions in Pokljuka Gorge for the growth of the sycamore maple association, since cold and humid air predominates here and there are slightly acid brown soils on limestone intermixed to a significant extent with chert. Under these ecological conditions, the semi-psychrophilic association of sycamore maple (Zupančič 1996), has become successfully established. In a paper by Zupančič (1996), the sycamore maple phytocenosis in two »garden plots« was described when the vegetation was in a more or less optimal state. For orientation, we add the diagnostically important species of the geographical variant Corydalido-Aceretum var. Dentaria ennaphyl-los, which are: Corydalis cava 22, C. solida 22, Lathraea squamaria 1+, Cardamine ennephyllos 2+, C. trifolia 11, Anemone trifolia 1+, Saxifraga rotundifolia 1+, Matteu-cia struthiopteris 22-3.
FRAXINO ORNI-OSTRYETUM CARPINIFOLIAE Aichinger 1933
The shrub association Fraxino-Ostryetum was described by the Austrian phytocenologist Aichinger in the Austrian and partly also Slovene region of the Karavanke (Aichinger 1933). He originally called the association Ostrya carpinifolia-Fraxinus ornus. He classified it phytogeographically in the Illyrian floral province, although there is no trace in it of more than two southeast European-Illyrian species: Anemone trifolia
and Cyclamen purpurascens - and some more widespread species that we formerly classified there, i.e., Fraxinus ornus, Ostrya carpinifolia and Pinus nigra. The association occupies extreme habitats on limestone, where the soils are skeletal rendzinas. In Slovenia the association was first recognised by the phytoce-nologists Tregubov (1957) and M. Wraber (1960) and they briefly described it in their contributions. Later there followed a further brief description by the authors of the report on the vegetation of Triglav National Park (Marincek et al. 1983). In the report are first described the characteristic and distinguishing species of the association, to wit Erica carnea, Calamagrostis varia, Polygala chamaebuxus and Sesleria caerulea s. lat. Aichinger (1933) in his monograph on the vegetation of the Karavanke did not explicitly state its characteristic and distinguishing species but only gave a wide choice of 18 types of plant combination.
Dakskobler (2015) recently performed a revision of associations of hop hornbeam and manna ash in the area of the Julian Alps and northern part of the Di-narid Massif (including the area of northern Italy). He compared them with similar associations in Austria and Croatia. He came to the conclusion that the associations differ among themselves and, on the basis of synthesis tables, showed that the following are diagnostic species of the association Fraxino orni-Ostrye-tum Aichinger 1933: Campanula caespitosa, Primula auricula, Hieracium porrifolium, Asperula aristata, Al-lium ericetorum, Paederota lutea, Betonica alopecuros, Rhamnus fallax, Picea abies, Anemone trofolia, Valeriana tripteris, Salix glabra, S. appediculata, Rosa pendu-lina, Laburnum alpinum, Phyteuma orbiculare, Campanula carnica, Galium purpureum, Euphrasia cuspi-data, Rhododendron hirsutum, Festuca calva, Saxifraga crustata, S. hostii, Potentilla caulescens, Aconitum an-gustifolium, Seslaria caerulea ssp. calcaria. The following of the diagnostic species are present in our association: Anemone trifolia, Laburnum alpinum, Pica abies; Sesleria caerulea ssp. calcaria, (Potentilla caulescens). The cause of the impoverishment of diagnostic species is the smallness of the object, since the association is more or less fragmentarily developed.
The association Fraxino-Ostryetum appears in Pokljuka Gorge above Pokljuka cave. It occupies the steeply precipitous southeast slope that transitions into the cliff above Pokljuka Gorge. The soils on the limestone or dolomite base are shallow rendzinas, which become lithosols in the cliff. Hop hornbeam above manna ash predominates in the shrub layer. There are individual small shrubs of the mentioned shrub species on the cliff. Phytocenological relevé 4 provides the following image of this shrub vegetation.
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Relevé 4
Fraxino orni-Ostryetum carpinifoliae
Altitude: 750 m, eksposure: E, inclination: 75 - 90 soil: rendzina, geological base: dolomitized limestone, stoniness: 10 %
I = 20, II = 100, III = 80, IV = 5,
I: Ostrya carpinifolia 1.2, Fraxinus ornus 1.1, Betula pendula +, Fagus sylvatica +, Laburnum alpinum +, Picea abies +, Sorbus aria +.
II: Ostrya carpinifolia 3.2, Fraxinus ornus 2.2, Quercus petraea 1.1, Sorbus aria 1.1, Acer platanoides +, Daphne mezereum +, Fagus sylvatica +, Laburnum alpinum +, Picea abies +, Populus tremula +, Quercus robur +, Sorbus aucuparia ssp. aucuparia +.
III: Melampyrum pratense ssp. vulgatum 3.4, Cala-magrostis varia 2.2, Peucedanum schottii 1.1, Carex alba +, Convallaria majalis +, Carex digitata +, Genista tinctoria +.2, Peucedanum austriacum ssp. rablense +.-2 , Polygala chamaebuxus +, Polypodium vulgare +.2 +, Se-sleria caerulea ssp. calcaria +.2, Thymus praecox s. lat. +.2, Acer pseudoplatanus +, Anemone trifolia +, Arabis turrita, Asplenium ruta- muraria +, A. trichomanes ssp. trichomanes +, A. viride +, Buphthalmum salicifolium +, Campanula persicifolia +, C. rapuncoloides +, Cirsium erisithales +, Conzya canadensis +, Cyclamen purpura-scens +, Dianthus hyssopifolius +, Digitalis grandiflora +, Epipactis atrorubens +, Erica carnea +, Euphorbia amygdaloides +, E. cyparissias +, Fragaria vesca +, Galium laevigatum +, Hieracium murorum +, Knautia drymeia ssp. drymeia +, Laburnum alpinum +, Lathyrus pratensis +, Lotus corniculatus +, Melittis melysophyl-lum +, Moehringia muscosa +, Oryganum vulgare +, Picea abies +, Pimpinella saxifraga +, Primula vulgaris +, Pteridium aquilinum +, Scabiosa lucida +, Silene nu-tans +, Solidago virgaurea +, Sorbus aucuparia ssp. au-cuparia +, Thesium bavarum +, Veronica urticifolia +, Vicia cracca +, Vincetoxicum hirundinaria +, Viola rei-chenbachiana +, Vaccinium myrtillus +°.
IV: Ctenidium molluscum 1.2, Homalothecium phi-lippeanum +.3, Grimmia pulvinata +.2, Isothecium mysuroides +.2, Neckera crispa +.2.
RHYTIDIADELPHO LOREI-PICEETUM Zupančič 1981 em. 1999
M. Wraber (1953) was the first to draw attention to the spruce association in question. His description was general, without evidentiary material - phytocenologi-cal tables. He also behaved similarly later (M. Wraber 1960). He was uncertain in his descriptions whether the spruce phytocenosis with the moss Rhytidiadelp-hus loreus was an independent association or only a
sub-association of some other association with the species Luzula sylvatica subsp. sylvatica, which at that time had not been validly described (Luzulo sylvaticae--Piceetum M. Wraber 1963). Research of spruce forests of Slovenia by Zupančič showed that the spruce phyto-cenosis with the moss Rhytidiadelphus loreus is an independent association. Zupančič (1980) first presented it in a synthesis table comparatively with other European spruce association. It was validly presented for a second time in a paper by Culiberg, ŠErcelj & Zupančič (1981). Zupančič (1999) finally formed it in a monograph on spruce forests of Slovenia. The characteristic species of the association are Dicranum polyse-tum, Rhytidiadelphus loreus and Thelypteris limbosper-ma. In addition to characteristic species, we chose a further group of mosses and lichens that characteristically mark the phytocenosis Rhytidiadelpho-Piceetum, with an average 70 % cover of the habitat. These are: Bazzania trilobata, Cetraria islandica, Cladonia pyxi-data, C. rangiferina, Fissidens taxifilius, Hylocomium splendens, Leucobrium glaucum, Mylia taylori, Plagio-chila aspleniodies var. major, Plagiothecium neglectum, P. undulatum, Pleurozium schreberi, Polytrichum for-mosum, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, Scapania nemorosa and Tortella tortuosa. The association Rhytidialpho--Piceetum normally grows on distric acid brown soils on silicate, and on Pokljuka, unagglutinated moraine with chert of Quaternary age.
In Pokljuka Gorge there are moderately acid brown soils on a limestone base, intermixed with a considerable quantity of crumbled chert. The described soils, with boulders and rocks and with temperature inversion, are only suitable for the development of spruce forest. These ecological conditions enable the growth of beech, although on small areas of only a few are, or it appears only here or there, visibly feeble. There are two fragments of spruce forest in Pokljuka Gorge in which, of the characteristic species, there is only the moss Rhytidialphus loreus on very small areas. Other mosses achieve greater cover values, as is evident from phytocenological relevé 5, the majority being acidophi-lous which characteristically ecologically mark piceetal habitats. In addition to acidophilous mosses, tubulous flowers from the class Vaccinio-Piceetea are fairly numerous. The phytocenological relevé shows the selection of plants.
Relevé 5
Rhytidiadelpho lorei-Piceetum
Altitude: 680 m, exposure: N, slope: 35 stoniness: 80 % fallen boulders and rocks, soils: rendzinas, lithosols, geological base: limestone with chert
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I = 60, II = 10, III = 50, IV = 80
I: Picea abies 3.3, Fagus sylvatica +, Larix decidua +
II: Lonicera nigra 2.2, Clematis alpina 1.2, Picea abies +.2, Fagus sylvatica +, Fraxinus ornus +, Laburnum alpinum +, Lonicera alpigena +, Ostrya carpinifo-lia +, Rosa pendulina +, Rubus idaeus +, R. saxatilis +, Sorbus aucuparia ssp. aucuparia +, Ulmus glabra +.
III: Homogyne sylvestris 2.2, Gymnocaripium dryopteris 1.2, Oxalis acetosela 1.2, Polypodium vulgare 1.2, Valeriana tripteris 1.2, Veronica urticifolia 1.2, Ly-copodium annotinum +.3, Adenostyleds glabra +.2, Asplenium trihomanes ssp. quadrivalens (?) +.2, Cala-magrostis arundinacea +.2, C. villosa +.2, Carex digita-ta +.2, Cystopteris fragilis +.2, Dryopteris filix-mas +.2, Festuca altissima +.2, Luzula luzuloides +.2, Saxifraga cuneifolia +.2, Vaccinium myrtllus +.2, Acerplatanoides +, A. pseudoplatanus +, Actea spicata +, Adoxa mo-schatellina +, Anemone trifolia +, Aruncus dioicus +, Athyrium filix-femina +, Campanula cochlaeriifolia +, Cardamine pentaphyllos +, C. trifolia +, Cephalanthera damasonium +, Circaea lutetiana +, Cirsium erisithales +, Cyclamen purpurascens +, Dryopteris expansa, Epilo-bium montanum +, Fagus sylvatica +, Galeobdolon fla-vidum +, Galium leavigatum +, Hieracium murorum +, Melampyrum sylvaticum +, Mercurialis perennis +, Myosotis sylvatica +, Petasites albus +, Phyllitis scolo-pendrium +, Phyteuma ovatum +, Picea abies +, Polysti-chum aculeatum +, Prenanthes purpurea +, Sanicula europaea +, Saxifraga cuneifolia +, Senecio ovatus +, Solidago virgaurea +, Sorbus aucuparia s. lat. +, Symphytum tuberosum +., Ulmus glabra +, Viola rei-chenbachiana.
IV: Isothecium mysuroides 3.5, Eurhynchium zetter-stedtii 2.4, Hylocomium splendes 2.4, Minum undula-tum 1.4, Plagiochila asplenioides 1.3, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus 1.3, Ctenidium molluscum +.3, Fissdens taxi-folius +.3, Mnium spinosum (?)+.3, M. punctatum +.2, Metzgeria furcata +.2, Neckera crispa +.2, Plagiothecium undulatum +.2, Polytrichum formosum +.2, Bazzania trilobata +, Cladonia rangiferina +, Dicranum scopari-um +, Peltigera leucophlebia +, Rhytidiadelphus loreus +.
A few years ago, we recorded some specimens of the north-eastern Eurasian-Circumpolar species Mo-neses uniflora on this habitat. We have no longer found this species recently. They were probably picked by visitors to whom we showed them on natural history excursions.
MASTIGOBRYO-PICEETUM (Schmidt & Gais-berg 1936) Br.-Bl. & Sissingh in Br.-Bl. et al. 1939 corr. Zupančič 1999 var. geogr. ANEMONE TRIFOLIA var. geogr. nova
German phytocenologists have for the most part been involved in research of the Central European acidophilus spruce association Mastigobryo-Piceetum (Schmidt, Gaisberg, R. Tuxen, Oberdorfer, J. & M. Bartsch, Jahn, Hartmann). In the vicinity of Slovenia in Koroška (Carinthia), it was already recognised at the start of the nineteen thirties by the Austrian phytoce-nologist Aichinger. His compatriot Smettan presented it in the Tyrol with 10 phytocenological relevés. The association was first described in Slovenia by Persoglio (in Tregubov 1957) under the name Bazzanio-Picee-tum, in the Upper Sava Valley. Zupančič (1999), while studying spruce association checked Persoglio's research of the association Mastigobryo-Piceetum and compared his results with the results of the previously mentioned European phytocenologists; he came to the conclusion that the northwest European phytocenosis differs from ours, so he characterised it as a new geographic variant Mastigobryo-Piceetum var. geogr. Tri-entalis europaea Zupančič 1999, with distinguishing species the Arctic-Nordic boreal element Trientalis europaea and the acidophilous boreal moss Ptilium cri-sta-castrensis. At the same time, on the basis of examples from 9 analytical tables of the association Masti-gobryo-Piceetum, more or less reliably determined characteristic or distinguishing species of this association, from those previously very loosely envisaged by Braun-Blanquet (1939): these are Blechnum spicant, Bazzania trilobata and Sphagnum nemoreum.
Along the extreme northeast edge of Pokljuka Gorge appears the acidophilous forest association Ma-stigobryo-Piceetum var. geogr. Anemone trifolia. On the basis of the predominately acidophilous vegetation and the prevailing chert in the soils, we conclude that it grows on distric brown soils that are shallow to medium deep. Two characteristic species are present on the described surfaces, Bazzania trilobata and Blechnum spicant. In view of the mass appearance of the north-east-Euroasian-Suboceanic species Melampyrum pratense L. subsp. vulgatum (Pers.) Ronniger, we classified both described habitats of the association into a new sub-association Mastigobryo-Piceetum melampyreto-sum vulgati subass. nova. The holotype of the sub-association is relevé 1 (Phytocenological table). The species Melampyrum pratense subsp. Vulgatum, together with some other species, e.g., Calluna vulgaris, Pteridi-um aquilinum, Potentilla ercta, Carex alba, appears on drier or, rather, less damp habitats.
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We classified the association Mastigobryo-Picee-tum according to phytogeographic principles as a northwest geographic variant of the pre-Alpine-Alpine region of Slovenia, with the distinguishing species Anemone trifolia L., which for this region is an explicitly characteristic Alpine-southeast European-Illyrian species. We also ranked in the phytocenological table
the relevé described in 1986 from the region of the Karavanke - Sava Caves (Zupančič 1999), which belongs in this geographic variant and shows similarities to the already known sub-association lueucobrietosum (Persoglio in Tregubov 1957). The phytocenological table shows the vegetation and floristic image more precisely.
MASTYGOBRYO-PICEETUM (Schmidt & Gaisberg 1936) Br.-Bl. & Sissingh in Br.-Bl. et al. 1939 corr. Zupančič 1999 var. geogr. ANEMONE TRIFOLIA var. geogr. nova
a
s o
n
nda pi
ir a
£ "
sa
« • y m ta
e
s si
ni is S ni
iS
F
Zaporedna številka popisa (Number of relevé)	1	2	3
Delovna številka popisa (Working number of relevé)	7/14	8/14	38/86
Datum (Date)	18.8.2014	18.8.2014	27.8.1986
Nadmorska višina v m (Altitude in m)	841	862	1250
Nebesna lega (Aspect)	NE	E	E
Nagib v stopinjah (Slope in degrees)	20	20	25
Kamnitost v % (Stoniness in %)	0	0	0
Geološka podlaga (Bedrock)	r o ž e,	a p n e	sili, skri
Tla (Soil)
Pokrovnost (Cover) %: drevesna plast (Tree layer)	I
grmovna plast (Shrub layer)	II
zeliščna plast (Herb layer)	III
mahovna plast (Moss layer)	IV
Velikost popisne ploskve (Relevé) m2
Kraj popisov (Location)
kisla distrična rjava tla Acidophilous dystric cambisol
60 5 60 15 400
60 5
90 15 400
Pokljuška soteska Julijske Alpe
70 30 70 30 400 Savske jame Karavanke
ZNAČILNICE ZA ASOCIACIJO (Characteristic species of association)
			1	2	3
VP	Bazzania trilobata	IV	1.3	+.3	2.3
VP	Blechnum spicant	III	+	+.3	2.2
RAZLIKOVALNICA ZA GEOGRAFSKO VARIANTO (Diferential speecies of geographical variant)
i_1	2	3
Anemone trifolia	III
+.2
+.2
RAZLIKOVALNICA ZA SUBASOCIACIJO M.-P. var. geogr. ANEMONE TRIFOLIA MELAMPYRETOSUM subass. nova (Diferential species of subassociation)
1_2	3
RP Melampyrum pratense subsp. vulgatum	III | 2.3	2.3 ~| .
RAZLIKOVALNICA ZA SUBASOCIACIJO M.-P. var. geogr. ANEMONE TRIFOLIA LEUCOBRYETOSUM Persoglio 1957 (Diferential species of subassociation)
1 2 i_3_
VP Leucobryum glaucum
IV
+.2
1.2
2.3
VP VACCINIO-PICEETEA Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et al. 1939 em. Zupančič (1980) 2000 s. lat.
1	2	3
I 3.3	3.3	4.1
Picea abies	II .	+	2.3
ea cc a a
ee
ee rr PP
3+-2
3+-2
22
3+-2
33-4
2+-23+-4
+
3
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MITJA ZUPANČIČ & JOŽE SKUMAVEC: FLORA AND VEGETATION IN POKLJUKA GORGE (JULIAN ALPS, NW SLOVENIA)
Vaccinium myrtillus Calamagrostis arundinacea Polytrichum formosum Bazzania trilobata Leucobryum glaucum Blechnum spicant Lycopodium annotinum Maianthemum bifolium Dicranum scoparium
Abies alba
Dicranum polysetum Plagiothecium undulatum Dryopteris expansa (D. assimilis) Phegopteris connectilis Oxalis acetosella Calluna vulgaris Hieracium murorum Hypnum cupressiforme Thelypteris limbosperma Huperzia selago Luzula luzuloides Sphagnum girgensohnii Luzula pilosa
Gymnocarpium dryopteris Solidago virgaurea Gentiana asclepiadea Hylocomium splendens Peltigera leucophlebia Dicranella heteromalla Homogyne alpina Aposeris foetida Cantharellus cibarius Larix decidua Lonicera nigra Monotropa hypophegea Plagiochila asplenioides var. major Plagiothecium neglectum Rosa pendulina Rubus saxatilis Vaccinium vitis-idaea Veronica urticifolia Melampyrum sylvaticum Cetraria islandica Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus Equisetum sylvaticum
III	+	+	+. 0	2+	
	3.3	3.3			3+-3
	2.3	1.3	2.4		31-2
IV	1.3	1.2	2.3		31-2
	1.3	+.3	2.3		3+-2
	+.2	1.2	2.3		3+-2
III	+ +	+.3 +.2	2.2 2.2		3+-2 3+-2
	1.1	+	1.1		3+-1
IV	+.2	1.2	+.2		3+-1
I			+	1+	
II			1.1	11	3+-1
III	+	+		2+	
IV	+.2	+.3	+.2		3+
	+.3	+.2	+.2		3+
III	+.2	+.2	+		3+
	+	+.2	+		3+
	+	+	+.2		3+
	+	+.2	+		3+
	+	+	+		3+
IV	1.2	1.2			21
III	+ +.2	+ +.2	1.3 1.2		2+-1 2+-1 2+
IV	+.2		+.2		2+
III		+	+.2		2+
IV III
II
III
IV
II
III
IV III
+ +
+.2
+ +
+.3 +.3
+.2
+.2
+ + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
RP QUERCETALIA ROBORIS-PETRAEAE R. Tx. (1931) 1937 s. lat.
Melampyrum pratense subsp. vulgatum
Populus trémula
Pteridium aquilinum Betula pendula
	1	2	3	22
III	2.3	2.3		
I II	+	+.3 +	.. 1+ . 2+	2+
III	+	+.2		2+
II	+	+		2+
+
2
+
2
+
2
+
+
+
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Veronica officinalis Carex montana Potentilla erecta
III
+.2
EP ERICO-PINETEA Ht. 1959 s. lat.
Carex alba Erica carnea
A ADENOSTYLETALIA G. & J. Br.-Bl. 1931
Polygonatum verticillatum Rubus idaeus Veratrum album
F QUERCO-FAGETEA Br.-Bl. & Vlieger in Vlieger 1937 s. lat
Anemone trifolia
Laburnum alpinum
Carex digitata Ctenidium molluscum
Fagus sylvatica
Acer pseudoplatanus Cirsium erisithales Prenanthes purpurea Eurhynchium zetterstedtii Aruncus dioicus Corylus avellana Isothecium myosuroides Mycelis muralis Sambucus racemosa
	1	2
III	1.2	+.3
		+
	1	2
III	+	+
II	+	+
III	+	
937 s.	lat.	
	1	2
III	+.2	+.2
II	+	1.1
III		+
	+	+.2
IV	+	+.2
I	+	+
II	+.2	+
	+	+
III	+	+
	+	+
IV		+.2
III	+	
II	+	
IV		+
III		+
II	+	
2+-1 1+
+-1 3+ 2+ 2+-1 1+ 2
2
+2
+
1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ +
Q QUERCETALIA PUBESCENTIS Br.-Bl. (1931 n. nud.) 1932 s. lat.
1
Sorbus aria	II +
Fraxinus ornus	.
2+ ,+0
O OSTALE VRSTE (Other Species)
Cladonia pyxidata Cladonia rangiferina
Sorbus aucuparia subsp. aucuparia
Tortella tortuosa Ajuga reptans Galeopsis pubescens
LEGENDA (Legend) Geološka podlaga (Bedrock) apne Apnenec (Limestone) rože Roženec (Chert) sili Silikat (Silikate) skri Skriljavec (Schist)
IV IV
II
III
IV III
1
+
+
+ +
+.2
3 +.2
+2
+
2
+
+
1
+
1
+
2
+
2
+
1
3
+
2
+
+
2
+
2
+
2
2
+
0
+
2
+
2
+
2
+
+
1
+
1
+
1
+
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MITJA ZUPANČIČ & JOŽE SKUMAVEC: FLORA AND VEGETATION IN POKLJUKA GORGE (JULIAN ALPS, NW SLOVENIA)
CONCLUSIONS
Because of its natural features, Pokljuka Gorge is entitled to special treatment within the framework of Triglav National Park. Because of its botanical and geological features of interest, it should be protected on the same level as the protection of the central part of the park. Today it is protected according to the criteria of the outer zone of Triglav National Park. In the small area of Pokljuka Gorge - around 36 hectares - there are a large number of geological karst phenomena, such as sinkholes, natural bridges, Pokljuka Save, Stranska soteska, narrows, chert inserts in limestone etc., which is a rarity in the world. The flora is even more interesting, with the subendemic Saxifraga burseriana, alpine flora and mountain or high mountain vegetation because of air inversion, which causes plant inversion. Because of the specific colder micro- and mezoclimatic conditions in Pokljuka Gorge, which is located in the montane belt from 670 to 800 m asl, alpine plants appear: Primula auricula, Potentilla caulescens, Viola biflora, Saxifraga cu-neifolia, Lycopodium annotinum, Huperzia selago, Veronica urticifolia, Lonicera nigra, (Moneses uniflora) and many others. Spruce communities occupies the coldest or acidic soil parts of the gorge, and sycamore maple thrives in the coldest »garden plots«. This region, with a relatively small area, is settled by 6 forest-shrub associations and 262 plant species, which gives the gorge a special seal because of the botanical and vegetational variety, which is supplemented by the Alpine-Karstic geo-
logical and soil variety. With our presentation of the flora and vegetation, we wished to show a part of these interesting features of Pokljuka Gorge. We would like this contribution to encourage zoologists to deal with the fauna of Pokljuka Gorge, because we do not doubt that the variety is even greater than the botanical.
The description of the vegetation gave us the opportunity to show the development path and problems of sintaxonomy, which required lengthy deliberation during the search for more or less final solutions. This seemed to us particularly necessary and important for an area in which there are not optimal but exceptional ecological conditions for the forest associations in question. Their development tends towards opposing conditions, i.e., to low altitudes with specific microclimatic influences. A continuous struggle for the dominance of one or another influence takes place among them, which enables the optimal development of one phyto-cenosis or another. The consequence of these conditions is that the plant cover of the phytocenoses is limited to the most adaptable plant species, which can withstand the daily or annual exchange of temperature influences. This is also reflected in the described forest phyto-cenoses, in which not all characteristic and distinguishing species are represented, lacking those that need optimal conditions for their development. Only characteristic and distinguishing species are present that are adapted to these unquiet (turbulent) ecological conditions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to colleagues Dr. Igor Dakskobler and Emeritus Professor Dr. Ljudevit Ilijanic, corresponding member of SAZU, for reviewing the paper and use-
ful advice. We are similarly grateful to Vinko Žagar BA, for computer processing of the phytocenological table.
POVZETEK
Pokljuška soteska je med najzanimivejšimi naravnimi znamenitostmi Triglavskega narodnega parka. Vrezana je v strm severovzhodni rob Pokljuške planote na nadmorskih višinah od 670 do 800 m. Je največja fosilna soteska v Sloveniji, nastala pred mnogimi milijoni let, ko so jo izoblikovale vode Triglavskega ledenika. (Smolej 1982, Ramovš 1986, Skumavec 1995, Skuma-vec & Skobrne 1995).
Pokljuško sotesko so mnogokrat obiskovali naravoslovci, tudi midva. Predvsem sva opazovala floro in
vegetacijo. V letu 1996 je bila natisnjena razprava o be-lojavorjevi združbi v Pokljuški soteski (Zupančič 1996). S tem v zvezi se je kolegu Skumavcu porodila zamisel o načrtnem pregledu vaskularne flore in vegetacije Pokljuške soteske. Rezultat je pričujoča razprava.
Raziskovana pot naju je vodila vzdolž soteske, od Jele, Kobalovega rovta, Stranske soteske, Pokljuške luknje, Srednjega vrtca, Galerij, Velikega vrtca, po poti proti Zatrniku nad sotesko, prek prehoda ali krožne poti proti Stari Pokljuki oziroma pod Pustovem polju,
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skozi Pokljuško luknjo in nazaj do Jele. Območje soteske obsega skoraj 2 km dolžine. Želela sva zajeti in popisati čim več flore, verjetno se nama to ni povsem posrečilo in predvidevava, da je ali bo mogoče najti še kakšno vrsto, ki sva jo spregledala.
Gozdne združbe so predstavljene s 5 fitoceno-loškimi popisi in fitocenološko tabelo.
Floristične in vegetacijske raziskave so potekale po standardnih metodah.
Klimatske razmere v Pokljuški soteski so bolj ali manj podobne tistim, ki vladajo v alpskem svetu (1500-2000 m padavin, povprečna letna temperatura 3 do 6 °C). Pokljuška soteska je mraziščno območje.
Geološko sestavo večinoma predstavlja zgornjetri-adni apnenec in nekaj enako starega dolomita. Na nekaterih mestih (npr. v »vrtcih«) je primešan roženec. Tla na apnencu in dolomitu so karbonatna bazična, evtrična rjava in rendzine. Tla, presuta z rožencem, so distrična, zmerno kisla rjava. Na balvanih in skalah se pojavlja litosol.
Zabeležili smo 262 taksonov vaskularne flore (Tabela 2). Posebnost je prisotnost 11 jugovzhodnoevrop-sko-ilirskih vrst: Anemone x pitonii, A. trifolia, Aspose-ris foetida, Cardamine ennaphyllos, C. trifolia, Galium laevigatum, Helleborus niger, Homogyne sylvestris, Knautia drymeia ssp. drymeia in Lamium orvala ter subendemit, Saxifraga burseriana, ki ga še s 5 vrstami: Cardamine pentaphyllos, Chaerophyllum hirsutum, Pe-ucedanum austriacum ssp. rablense, Primula vulgaris in Stellaria montana, uvrščamo med jugovzhodnoe-vropsko floro. Več kot dve petini vrst je hladnoljubnih, to so cirkamborealni, mediteransko-montanski, evro-sibirski, paleotemperatni, arktično-alpski in vzhodno-alpski geoelementi (po Poldiniju 1991 - Tabela 1). Analiza flore kaže, da območje Pokljuške soteske uvrščamo v ilirsko florno provinco, jugovzhodnoalpski florni sektor in v julijskoalpski-zahodnokaravanški--kamniškoalpski distrikt (Zupančič et al. 1987). Zavarovanih vrst je 14: Cephalanthera damasonium, C. rubra, Convallaria majalis, Cyclamen purpurascens, Dactylorchiza maculata ssp. fuchsii, Dianthus hyssopi-folius, Epipactis helleborine, Helleborus niger, H. odo-rus, Huperzia selago, Hypericum montanum, Lycopodi-um annotinum, Neottia nidus-avis in Primula acaulis. Pomembna je prisotnost subendemita Saxifruga burse-riana.
V Pokljuški soteski smo določili 5 gozdnih in 1 gr-miščno združbo. Od listnatih gozdov je najbolj razširjena asociacija oziroma geografska varianta Anemono trifoliae-Fagetum var. geogr. Helleborus niger, ki pora-šča evtrična plitva, skeletna karbonatna rjava tla ali rendzine na apnencu in dolomitu. Na apnencu, kjer so plitva do srednje globoka karbonatna rjava tla, uspeva
asociacija Homogyno-Fagetum. Kisla varianta asociacije Homogyno-Fagetum var. Calamograstis arundinacea var. nova. je na mešani silikatno-apnenčasti geološki podlagi, kjer so kisla rjava tla na rožencih. V »vrtcih« se pojavlja belojavorjeva asociacija oziroma geografska varianta Corydalido cavae-Aceretum pseudoplatani var. geogr. Dentaria enneaphyllos, ker tam prevladuje hladen in vlažen zrak. Tla so zakisana rjava na apnencu s primesjo roženca. Fragmentarno razvita smrekova združba Rhytidiadelpho lorei-Piceetum naseljuje razgiban apnenčast skalovit svet na balvanih, kjer so tla pomešana z rožencem. Na skalah (balvanih) pa je inicial-ni kisli litosol. Ta rastišča so pod vplivom temperaturne inverzije in hladnih tal, ki jih povzroča kroženje zraka med skalami, kjer dolgo časa ležita sneg in led. Drugi smrekov gozd oziroma geografska varianta Ma-stigobryo-Piceetum var. geogr. Anemone trifolia var. geogr. nova je na distričnih kislih rjavih plitvih do srednje globokih tleh z obilico roženca. Strmo apnenča-sto-dolomitno pobočje in stene nad Pokljuško luknjo porašča toploljubno grmišče Fraxino orni-Ostryetum. Tla so rendzine, ki v prepadni steni prehajajo v bazični litosol.
Opisana gozdno-grmiščna vegetacija je utemeljena s fitocenološkimi popisi in fitocenološko tabelo »in situ« ter razpravo Zupančiča (1996).
Pri opisu vegetacije smo izkoristili priložnost, da prikažemo razvojno pot in probleme sintaksonomije, ki je zahtevala dolgotrajna razmišljanja ob iskanju bolj ali manj dokončnih rešitev. To se nam je zdelo še posebej potrebno in pomembno za območje, kjer za obravnavane gozdne združbe ni optimalnih ekoloških razmer, temveč so te izredne. Njihov razvoj poteka v nasprotujočih si razmerah, to je na nizkih nadmorskih višinah s posebnim mikroklimatskim vplivom. Med njimi se odvija neprestan boj za prevlado enega ali drugega vpliva, kar onemogoča optimalni razvoj te ali one fitocenoze. Posledica teh razmer je, da je rastlinska odeja fitocenoz omejena na najbolj prilagodljive rastlinske vrste, ki prenesejo vsakodnevno oziroma vsakoletno menjavanje temperaturnih vplivov. To se odraža tudi na opisanih gozdnih fitocenozah, kjer niso zastopane vse njihove značilnice in razlikovalnice, ki za svoj razvoj potrebujejo optimalne razmere. Prisotne so le tiste značilnice ali razlikovalnice, ki so prilagojene tem nemirnim (turbulentnim) ekološkim razmeram.
Pokljuška soteska je zaradi svoje naravoslovne znamenitosti upravičena do posebne obravnave v sklopu Triglavskega narodnega parka. Zaradi botaničnih in geoloških zanimivosti bi jo morali zavarovati na ravni varovanja osrednjega dela Triglavskega narodnega parka. Danes je zavarovana po kriterijih zunanjega pasu Triglavskega narodnega parka.
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Figure 2: Notice in Jela at the entrance to Pokljuka Gorge (Photo: J. Skumavec)
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Figure 3: Burser's saxifrage - Saxifraga burseriana L. on the cliff in front of Pokljuka Cave (Photo: J. Skumavec)
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Figure 6: Sub-Alpine spruce forest - Rhytidiadelpho lorei-Piceetum (Photo: J. Skumavec) 148 FOLIA BIOLOGICA ET GEOLOGICA 56/1 - 2015
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Figure 8: Cherts in Triassic limestone (Photo: J. Skumavec)
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Figure 9: Pokljuka Gorge seen from Mežakla (Photo: J. Skumavec)
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