VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION AND REINTRODUCTION OF COMMON YEW (TAXUS BACCATA L.) IN ITS NATURAL HABITATS IN STRANDZHA AND VITOSHA MOUNTAINS

Abstract

Ex situ propagation and reintroduction in the wild could be a promising approach in the conservation of rare species, including the Common yew. Its conventional vegetative propagation by rooting of cuttings do not provide satisfying results since a major factor remains the stage of development of the donor plant. Cuttings from stage-young individuals taken from Maglizh site formed more root primordia, with successful rooting of 44%. Individuals in the reproductive stage of their development form root primordia, but root development follows in 8 to 20 % of cuttings, while the other cuttings necrotize. The attempt to reintroduce Taxus baccata revealed that young plants hardly develop in the lower part of the steep slopes of thinned forest communities, forming the natural habitat of the mixed scree forests, on steep slopes and ravines, a xerophytic variant of the Tilio-Acerion alliance. Young Yew plants are sensitive to summer droughts and to the allelopathic effect of their neighboring Rhododendron ponticum shrubs, which reduces the success of their reintroduction. A limiting factor is also the thick layer of leaf litter and shading by beech trees in the lower part of the slopes, as well as damage by wild herbivores, mainly roe deer and rabbits. Young saplings require good soil aeration, combined with sufficient moisture during the summer drought period and intensive cultivation, including lightening under beech shading during the initial three-year period after planting.