B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 33. 2002 (Budapest, 2002)
Bebya, S.: The fir forests of the Caucasus Mountains and considerations on their preservation
have been causing severe problems to many relicts and endemics that are important part of their phytocenological composition. Thus the investigation, preservation, assisted regeneration and rational use of the Abies forests in this region has become one of the most urgent actual tasks in botany and in the present science of forestry practices. The author took part in a comprehensive set of tasks dealing with issues of paleogeography, floristics, geobotany and several fields of forest science related to the species in concern. It has been a challenge to assess all aspects of the formation processes of the Caucasian Abies forests on the level of treating them as a whole unit and explore the scientific grounds of the interactions of these forests and the local population's economic activity. For the first time, the results of the studies of the Abies forests are shown in a way that starts from the plant species, while the scope of the investigation grows into the level of the entire formation (BEBYA 2002). In this work the origin, history of formation and the modern spread of the fir forests are also discussed. A new, updated sketch map of the Abies nordmanniana forests, divided into certain districts was also compiled. Furthermore, morphobiological, ecological, phytocenological phenomena have been studied based on experimental observations. Peculiarities of cone- and seed production and natural regeneration of the fir species in the natural forests were discussed. The main regularities of the age structure, composition and stand dynamics in general, the characteristics of differentiation and evaluation of individual trees in the forests were ascertained, too. MATERIAL AND METHODS The main purposes of the work were identified as follows: — reach a better understanding of the "life strategy" of Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach in its natural range; — provide a modern classification of forest types in relation with the habitat conditions of the species; — develop a system of tree measurement, forest productivity, and practical forest typology for optimal usage with the objective of better protection of these forests. The investigation was based on traditional methods of floristical exploration and documentation, including several field surveys with specimen collecting, vegetation mapping, identifying plant distribution, and consulting herbarium specimens in the local herbarium of the Botanical Institute of the Abkhazian Academy of Sciences, Sukhum (SUCH). Also, corresponding materials in the herbaria located in Batumi (BATU), Kiew (KW), St Petersburg (LE) and Moscow (MW) were studied. The author had several opportunities to consult Hungarian dendrologists Drs Zsolt Debreczy and István Rácz during their Dendrological Atlas Project expeditions (on two occasions, in Japan and in Taiwan the author was part of the research team), as well as collections of Caucasian, mainly woody, plants in the herbarium of the Botanical Department, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest
