Silva Balcanica, 20(3)/2019 Eco-biological characteristic OF THE flora OF THE Dabeto Protected AREA Stoyan Georgiev1, Koycho Koev2, Teodora Barakova1, Nikolay Kochev3 1Field Crops Institute – Chirpan 2Faculty of Biology, University of Plovdiv 3Primary school “Hristo Botev” – Krumovo Abstract The present study explores the floristic diversity in the Dabeto Protected Area (PA), situated in the vicinity of Novi Izvor Village, Plovdiv District. Vascular plants in PA Dabeto were studied through systematic observations and collecting herbarium material during the growing seasons in 2014-2016. The species list includes 160 vascular plants of 124 genera and 42 families. The vast majority of the plants are perennial herbaceous species, hemicryptophytes, species with European and Mediterranean origin, thermophytes or mezophytes and heliophytes. The species were grouped with respect to the soil moisture, temperature and light. Additionally, they were characterised with respect to the life forms and floristic elements. Key words: protected area Dabeto, NATURE 2000, medical flora, vascular plants INTRODUCTION The aim of the current study was to establish a comprehensive list of the vascular plants in Dabeto Protected Area (PA) and to provide floristic analysis and explore their ecological and biological characteristics. This protected area was declared by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW), aiming to protect a century-old oak forest dominated by Quercus frainetto Ten. and Quercus robur L. The age of the trees varies from 200 to 250 years and their height reaches 12 m. The area of the protected area was updated at 10.3383 ha in 2006. The entire area of commented territory is part of the NATURA 2000 zone BG0000438 „Reka Chinardere”. Brief information about the Dabeto PA is presented in a booklet issued by the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water – Plovdiv (2016). Generally, there are two tree species and three shrub species identified in this publication. Dominant species of the grassy vegetation are of the families Poaceae and Fabaceae. In the protected area, there are no comprehensive studies on flora and vegetation. The lack of detailed information underlines the need for our study, which will be valuable both for the protected area itself and for an area included in the NATURA 2000 network in Bulgaria. The present eco-biological research completes the gaps in knowledge about the flora and vegetation of the study area. The protected area is located in the vicinity of Plovdiv of the Upper Thracian Plain and according to the recent phytogeographical subdivision (Bondev, 1991) falls within the territory of the Thracian Lowland floristic region. 39 According to the physiographic division of Bulgaria (Galabov, 1982), the examined territory falls within the Kraishtensko – Tundjanska (transitional) zone, a region within the Upper Thracian Plain in the Western sub-region. The territory of the Dabeto PA is characterised with relatively mild winter and hot summer, with well-defined drought, especially in the months August-September, which are the driest months of the year. The average annual rainfall is 551 L/km2, which defines the area as a place with little annual rainfall (Galabov, 1982). The average annual temperature is around 12.1°С, which matches the indicated temperature for the country between 11 and 12 °С (Galabov, 1982). The average air humidity is 72% and corresponds to the average for the country (Galabov, 1982). MATERIAL AND METHODS The diversity of vascular flora in the Dabeto PA was studied based on systematic observations and collecting of material during the growing seasons of 2014-2016. The periodicity of the visits was conformed to the climatic conditions in the region and determined by their phenology. The earliest sampling campaigns were conducted from the beginning of February 2014, and the latest – from the end of September 2016. This allowed us to collate a comprehensive list of vascular plants growing in the protected area. The determination of the species was done following the Flora of Bulgaria (Yordanov (ed.), 1963-1979; Velcehv (ed.), 1982-1989), Flora of Bulgaria (Kozhuharov, 1995) and Flora of Bulgaria (Stoyanov et al., 1966-1967), Key of Trees and Shrubs in Bulgaria (Gramatikov, 1992), Key of Plants in Bulgaria (Delipavlov, Cheshmedzhiev, (eds.), 2011). The processing of herbarium materials and characterising of vascular flora was carried out following standard methods (Gusev et al., 2004). Characterisation of vascular plants was done based on biological types and life forms according to Raunkiaer (1934). Floristic elements were characterised following the classification of B. Stefanov (1943) and the classification of Walter, adapted to the flora of Bulgaria (Asyov, Petrova, 2012). The identified taxa were divided into ecological groups based on the most important ecological factors: water, temperature and light. An account and analysis of the flowering period for all identified species were done. The names of the plants are in accordance with The Euro+Med PlantBase, the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/ [accessed 12.07.2019]) and Key of Plants in Bulgaria (Delipavlov, Cheshedzhiev, 2011). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results from the our analysis summarised the data from our field studies researches and were complemented by review on available published literature. As a result, it has been established that in the Dabeto PA there are 160 species of vascular plants. They are distributed in 124 genera and 42 families, which is 4.4% from the 40 species, 14.6% from the genera and 33.0% from the families in the Bulgarian flora (Asiov, Petrova, 2012). Systematic list of vascular plants in the Dabeto PA Pinophyta Cupressaceae: Jniperus communis L.; Pinaceae: Pinus nigra Arnold. Magnoliophyta Liliopsida Araceae: Arum maculatum L.; Cyperaceae: Carex caryophillea Lotourr., Carex hallerana Asso, Carex michelii Host, Carex sylvatica Hudson; Iridaceae: Iris graminea L.; Liliaceae: Muscari neglectum Guss., Ornitogalum umbellatum L., Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce, Scila autumnalis L.; Orchidaceae: Orchis purpurea Hudson, Orchis simia Lam.; Poaceae: Aegilops cylindrica Host, Agrostis capillaris L., Alopecurus pratensis L., Avena fatua L., Bromus arvensis L., Bromus sterilis L., Calamagrostis arundinacea (L.) Roth, Calamagrostis epigeios (L.) Roth, Chrysopogon gryllus (L.) Trin., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Dactylis glomerata L., Festuca heterophylla Lam., Festuca valesiaca Scheicher ex Gaudin, Hordeum murinum L., Lolium perenne L., Poa bulbosa L., Poa pratensis L., Poa trivialis L., Sesleria latifolia (Ademovič) Degen. Magnolipsida Aceraceae: Acer campestre L., Acer tataricum L.; Apiaceae: Chaerophyllum temulentum L., Conium macculatum L., Daucus carota L., Eryngium campestre L., Myrrhoides nodosa (L.) Cannon, Orlaya grandiflora (L.) Hoffm.; Araliaceae: Hedera helix L.; Asteraceae: Achilea millefolium L., Anthemis arvensis L., Anthemis tinctoria L., Arctium lappa L., Bellis perennis L., Centaurea cyanus L., Centaurea solstitialis L., Centaurea thracica (Janka) Hayek, Cichorium intybus L., Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop., Crepis tectorum L., Inula conyza DC., Onopordum acanthium L., Taraxacum officinale Weber, Tragopogon pratensis L., Xeranthemum annuum L.; Boraginaceae: Buglossoides purpurocaerulea (L.) I. M. Johnston, Echium italicum L., Echium vulgare L., Myosotis arvensis (L.) Hill, Myosotis stricta Link ex Roemer & Schultes; Brassicaceae: Alliaria petiolata (Bieb.) Cavara & Grande, Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic., Cardaria draba (L.) Desv., Erophila verna (L.) Chevall., Rorippa thracica (Griseb.) Fritsch, Thlaspi arvense L.; Campanulaceae: Campanula rapunculoides L.; Cannabaceae: Humulus lupulus L.; Caprifoliaceae: Sambucus ebulus L.; Caryophyllaceae: Cerastium arvense L., Dianthus giganteus D’ Úrv., Scleranthus perennis L., Stellaria media (L.) Vill., Silene italica (L.) Pers., Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke; Convolvulaceae: Convolvulus arvensis L.; Cornaceae: Cornus mas L.; Corylaceae: Carpinus orientalis Mill.; Dipsacaceae: Scabiosa ochroleuca L.; Euphorbiaceae: Euphorbia cyparissias L.; Fabaceae: Astragalus glycyphyllos L., Coronilla varia L., Corothamnus procumbens (Waldst. & Kit.) C. Presl, Lathyrus nissolia L., Lathyrus pratensis L., Lotus corniculatus L., Medicago minima (L.) Bartal., Melilotus alba Medic., Onobrychis viciifolia Scop., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Trifolium campestre Schreber, Trifolium micranthum Viv., Trifolium repens L., Vicia angustifolia Grufb., Vicia cracca L., Vicia grandiflora Scop., Vicia tetrasperma (L.) Schreber, Vicia varia Host; Fagaceae: 41 Quercus frainetto Ten., Quercus polycarpa Schur, Quercus pubescens Willd., Quercus robur L.; Fumariaceae: Corydalis bulbosa (L.) DC., Fumaria officinalis L.; Geraniaceae: Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Her., Geranium robertianum L., Geranium sanguineum L.; Hypericaceae: Hypericum perforatum L.; Lamiaceae: Ajuga reptans L., Balota nigra L., Clinopodium vulgare L., Glechoma hederacea L., Lamium purpureum L., Prunella laciniata (L.) L., Prunella vulgaris L., Salvia nutans L., Stachys annua (L.) L., Stachys germanica L., Teucrium chamaedrys L., Thymus pannonicus All.; Oleaceae: Ligustrum vulgare L.; Onagraceae: Epilobium paviflorum Schreber; Plantaginaceae: Plantago lanceolata L., Plantago major L., Veronica cymbalaria Bodard, Veronica hederifolia L., Veronica triloba (Opiz) A. Kerner; Polygonaceae: Polygonum aviculare L., Rumex acetosella L.; Primulaceae: Cyclamen coum Mill.;