A syntaxonomic revision of floodplain forest communities in Romania

This paper compares the floodplain forests from Romania to those described from Central and Southeastern Europe from syntaxonomical and ecological perspectives and proposes a clear and adequate vegetation classification system that was needed for the Romanian floodplain forests. We performed a syntaxonomical analysis and classification of 473 vegetation releves published from all nine Romanian provinces, between the years 1968 and 2015. The plant communities, established on the basis of character and differential species, were grouped within the alliance Alnion incanae Pawlowski 1928, according to current phytosociological consensus. The floristic structure of each syntaxon is presented in a synoptic table with species constancy expressed as a percentage. Since plant communities specific to intramontane river floodplains are notably different from those in the plains, we grouped the associations within two different suballiances. Within the suballiance Alnenion glutinosae-incanae Oberdorfer 1953, we included the associations Stellario nemorum-Alnetum glutionosae Lohmeyer 1957, Telekio speciosae-Alnetum incanae Coldea 1990, and Cartel remotae-Fraxinetum excelsioris Koch ex Faber 1936. In the suballiance Ulmenion Oberdorfer 1953, we included the associations Fraxino pannonicae-Ulmetum glabrae Aszod 1935 corr. Soo 1963, Ulmo campestris-Fraxinetum holotrichae Borza ex Sanda 1970 and Fraxino pallisae-Quercetum pedunculiflorae Oprea 1997. In order to show the distribution of these associations within the territory of Romania, we have generated two maps displaying the provenance of the analyzed releves. The proposed classification system will facilitate the phytosociological and ecological investigation of floodplain forests and support the activities aiming at their conservation.