B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 33. 2002 (Budapest, 2002)

Papp, Beáta; Sabovljevic, Marko: The Bryophyte flora of Tara National Park (W Serbia, Yugoslavia)

The investigated area The Tara Mts are situated in the westernmost part of Serbia, by the Drina river between Visegrád and Bajina Basta (Fig. 1). Most of the mountains fall within the National Park area (between 43°52' N and 44°02' N, and 19°15' E and 19°38' E) which covers a surface of 19,175 hectares. Geomorphologically, the Tara Mts are composed of more or less flat highlands with deep valleys of rivers and streams (Solotuski stream, Raca river, Derventa river, Beli Rzav river, Brusnicki stream and some smaller ones such as Aluski, Kremicki, Jokica, Rovinjski). In the northern and northwestern parts of the national park steep limestone slopes can be found reaching 1,000 m in altitude difference. The highest peak is Veliki Stolac (1673 m a.s.l.). The physiographical features of the mountains show some hydrological, geological peculiarities. Springs and surface waters are either limestone or nonlimestone based. Besides limestone, the bedrock may be schist, sandstone, and serpentine. The variety of soil types adds to the diversity observed in the bedrock formation (GAJIC 1988). The Tara Mts lie in a region where confronting cold and hot front lines often cause unstable weather conditions. The average temperature from December to March is below 0 °C, in some regions longer than 6 months. The highest temperatures rarely pass 27 °C even in summer months. Span of absolute minimum and maximum temperatures reaches 49 °C. The annual precipitation is 980 mm, with the peak in May as the most humid month (130 mm), followed by June and July. The rest of the months have an even distribution of rainfall of about 60-80 mm. The number of foggy days is 86 per year, which refers to the relatively high humidity of the region. The average air humidity is 83%. The climate of the Tara Mts is of montane continental to subalpine type, characterised by humid and relatively cool, long summers, and winters of great snow loads (GAJIC 1988). The climax vegetation of the Tara Mts is closed forests. Besides the different old-growth forest types, human made meadows and pastures are also part of the landscape. Low altitude riverine plant communities of the Tara Mts are dominated by Salix and Alnus species. Quercetum frainetto-cerris Rudski (1940) 1949 and Quercetum montanum (B. Jovanovic, 1948) Cernjavski et B. Jovanovic, 1953 also occur in the lower altitudes of the mountains. On serpentine, Pinetum nigrae Stef. 1954, Pinetum sylvestris Stef. 1954 or mixed Pinetum nigrae-sylvestris Pavl. 1951 can be found. South-facing limestone slopes are often covered by Ostryeto-Pinetum nigrae Colic, 1965, while in northern exposition Fagetum montanum B. Jovanovic, 1953 dominates (GAJIC 1988). Upward from 850 m, usually relict Piceeto-Abieto-Fagetum Colic, 1965 forests cover the slopes. The most complex relict association is Omorikae-Pineto-Piceeto-Abieto-Fagetum mixtum Colic, 1965. The "character species" of this association is Picea omorika (Pancic) Purkyne, the