B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 37. 2006 (Budapest, 2006)

Bauer, Norbert: Open sandy grasslands of the Bakony region

MAGYAR 1933, HARGITAI 1940, ZSOLT 1943, BORHIDI 1956, PRÉCSÉNYI 1981), the interspecific interactions. Through microcoenological examinations and fine-scale mapping these also shed light on the rules which govern the development of vegetation patterns, the phenomena of vegetation dynamics and the understanding of the degradation processes. Long-term ecological researches (KOVÁCS-LÁNG et al. 1998, 1999) make clearer the phenomena of landscape-scale approach (MOLNÁR and BOTTA-DUKÁT 1998, BÍRÓ and MOLNÁR 1998). On a national scale our knowledge of sandy vegetation associations is profuse and comprehensive (FEKETE 1998), nevertheless there are some unanswered questions and, from the classical point of view of coenology, some insufficiently explored regions (mainly sandy surfaces on the margins of mountains) require further study. Such area is the Bakony region, especially its marginal sandy foothills. As for the sandy vegetation of the Bakony region, the most particularly searched area is the region between Fenyőfő and Bakonyszentlászló, covered with sandy Scots pine forests ("Fenyőfői Osfenyves", mainly Festuco vaginatae-Pinetum sylvestris (SOÓ 1931) 1971). PÁL KITAIBEL made the first observations in 1799 by describing his impressions and recording some of the important plant species there (GOMBOCZ 1945). Several studies (GAYER 1927, DORNYAI 1927, ZÓLYOMI 1936, REDL 1942, FEKETE 1964) discussed the flora and the question of the indigeneity of the pine forest dominated by Pinus sylvestris L. indented with dry grasslands on sandy dunes. SOÓ (1931) recognised the unique composition of these sandy Scots pine forests and published the first combined coenological samples of the forest and the neighbouring patches of sandy steppes. MAJER (1988) published a monograph of Scots pine forests around Fenyőfő, lately PÓCS (1995) and BARTHA (1999) gave a clear description and KEVEY (2001) published his ideas on this topic. As for the sandy grasslands of the Little Hungarian Plain (Kisalföld), BORHIDI (1956) shows how certain typical endemic, Ponto-Pannonian and continental plant species (Colchicum arenarium W. et K., Tragopogon floccosus W. et K., Ephedra distachya L., Alyssum tortuosum W. et K., Echinops ruthenicus (Fisch.) M. B., etc.), normally occurring in the sandy areas of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve, decrease in number as we move from east to west in the region. The same author also publishes tables of the coenological relevés named Festucetum vaginatae danubiale, Festucetum vaginatae arrabonicum, and Festuceto-Corynephoretum arrabonicum, providing also 3 relevés each from the two latter units of the sandy grassland associations around Fenyőfő and Bakonyszentlászló. As for the vegetation of other sandy areas of the Bakony region, there are only some references in floristical publications focusing on other subjects; FEKETE et al. (1961) published Corynephorus canescens (L.) P. B. as coming from the area near Homokbödöge-Nagytevel with the remark "auf Sand massenhaft". Recently, some