Differentiation and conservation status of Mulgedio-Aconitetea communities in the Stołowe Mts. National Park

Material presented at conference: Sandstone Landscapes III, Diversity, Ecology and Conservation, Stolowe Mts. National Park, 25-28 April 2012, Kudowa Zdrój, Poland Abstract: The differentiation of hygrophilous tall herb communities in the Stołowe Mts. is known sufficiently well, in spite of that only some relevés of Mulgedio-Aconitetea Hadač & Klika in Klika & Hadač 1944 were published by Pender and Macicka-Pawlik (1996) and Świerkosz et al. (2002). Due to small differences in altitude and ecological factor, only three communities can be distinguished: Geranio phaei-Urticetum dioicae Hadač et al. 1969 (Świerkosz et al. 2002), Petasitetum albi Zlatnik 1928 and Prenanthetum purpureae Bolleter 1921. In the 2011 the protection status of two latter communities from Mulgedio-Aconitetea class was studied. Collected data were used to assess the conservation status of tall herb communities and indicate the main threats causing changes in their structure and functions. An important component of global assessment of tall herb communities were: the occurrence of alien and synanthropic species, naturalness of the stream and occurrence of the complex of natural habitats in the vicinity of the stand.