Vegetation types and habitats with participation of plant species – local endemics to the marble part of Northern Pirin Mts., Bulgaria

A study of the marble part of Northern Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria—a UNESCO World Heritage Site and NATURA 2000 protected zone—reveals that eight local endemic plant species exhibit remarkable ecological flexibility despite their restricted range. These species, including Cyanus achtarovii and Arabis ferdinandi-coburgii, thrive across diverse vegetation types due to the uniformity of the high mountain marble relief. The research, employing Braun-Blanquet’s phytocoenological approach, classified these communities within major syntaxa and EUNIS habitats, underscoring the area's high conservation value as a refuge for rare and relict flora. This finding highlights the unique adaptive strategies of endemic species in alpine and subalpine carbonate environments.

Nacheva, V., Tzonev, R., Pachedjieva, K., Kolchagov, R., Gussev, C., & Pavlova, D. (2024). Vegetation types and habitats with participation of plant species – local endemics to the marble part of Northern Pirin Mts., Bulgaria. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1305(1), 12001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1305/1/012001