Oro-Moesian acidophilous grassland

Description (English)

Dense, closed, usually unsculptured, chionophilous grasslands of acid substrates at the 1800-2500 metre level of high mountains of the central Balkan peninsula, including the Balkan Range, the Rhodopides, in particular, Vitosha, Rila, Pirin, the Slavianka-Orvilos, the central Rhodope Mountains (Cernatica-Prespa complex) and the Falakron, the central Moeso-Macedonian mountains (Ozogovska Planina), the southern Dinarides, dominated by Festuca paniculata, Bellardiochloa violacea, Festuca airoides (Festuca supina), Agrostis rupestris or the Balkan endemics Festuca valida and Sesleria comosa, often associated with Nardus stricta, which may be abundant or co-dominant; rare species harboured in these communities include Aquilegia aurea, Lilium jankae, Gentiana lutea, Gentiana punctata, Viola rhodopeia. Outside of protected areas these grasslands are usually submitted to pasture regimes. Formations overwhelmingly dominated by Nardus stricta have been included in unit E4.318.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification