Biodiversity of high-mountain woody plants in the East Carpathians in Ukraine

Abstract

The highest parts of the European mountain massifs are covered by subalpine and alpine vegetation, with rich flora containing many relic woody plants adapted to cold temperatures and relatively short vegetation periods. In the Ukrainian Carpathians, only several highest mountain massifs form environmental conditions suitable for high mountain plants. The aim of the study was the detection of the centre of biodiversity of the high mountain plants in the East Carpathians in Ukraine. We expected the largest number of high mountain woody species in the Ukrainian East Carpathians would occur in the Chornohora, the largest and most elevated mountain chain in the country. To solve this problem, the geographic distribution of 16 woody species was analysed cartographically. We gathered georeferenced data of 919 localities of taxa, which occur in the subalpine and alpine vegetation belts, and prepared maps of their distribution using QGIS software. Additionally, we analysed vertical distribution and occurrence on different expositions of every taxon. Most of analysed subalpine and alpine species occur in the highest and the largest mountain massifs. The high mountain woody species occur in the Ukrainian parts of the East Carpathians mainly in the largest mountain massifs, the Chornohora, Svydovets, Chyvchyny, Marmarosh, and to a lesser extent, also in the Gorgany. The vertical distribution and predominant occurrence on the northern or close to northern expositions of most subalpine and alpine species indicate their demands for the relatively high level of humidity of the soil and high level of precipitation. These condition point to the relic character of most of analysed species, which origin from the glacial periods of the Pleistocene. Most of the taxa, which have centres of their distribution in the alpine and sub-alpine vegetation belts of the East Carpathians in the Ukraine territory are valuable but threatened elements of the Ukrainian flora.