Flora and vegetation
Dark Geranium
(Belarus Red Data Book)
Photo by Nina Verkaik-de Haan
(The Netherlands)
The range of variation in soils and the presence of micro-relief provides suitable conditions for the growth of more than 1000 species of high vascular plants, comprising about 70% of Belarus' flora. The most numerous families are the aster or composite family (Asteraceae - 84 species), grasses (Poaceae - 75), pod-bearing family (Fabaceae - 48), pink family (Caryophyllaceae - 41), rose family (Rosaceae - 38), crowfoot family (Ranunculaceae - 35), cabbage family (Cruciferae, Brassicacae - 35), mint family (Labiaceae - 35), and figwort (Scrophulariacea - 28). The best represented genera are Carex (38 species), Trifolium (14), Veronica (14), Salix (13), Ranunculus (13) (Tolkach et al., 1996).
A fern
Photo by Aleksey Bunevich
About 10 % of all plant species have lignified (woody) shoots. These include 25 species of trees, 38 species of brushwood and lower shrubs. Common conifers are the Scotch pine (Pinus silvestris (L.)) and Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). Silver fir is a local occurring conifer, which is limited to several localities within the Belarussian part of the forest. Hardwood species are represented by English oak (Quercus robur L.), Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.), Downy birch (B. pubescens Enrh.), Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), Black alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaerth.), Ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and Aspen (Populus tremula L.). Much less frequent is Durmast oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). Species of shrubs include willows (Salix), Common snowball (Viburnum opulus L.), Alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.), Hazel-nut (Corylus avellana L.), Mezereon (Daphne mezereum L.), Juniper (Juniperus communis) etc. The most widely spread lower shrubs are Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), Mountain cranberry (V. vitus-idaea L.), Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull.), Bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum L.), Marsh rosemary (Ledum palustre L.) and Bog cranberry (Oxycoccus quadripetalis Gilib.) (Nikolaev & Zefiriv, 1971). There are about 270 species of mosses or bryophyta (Bryophyta) in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, which constitutes more than 60 % of the bryoflora of the Republic of Belarus. More than 290 lichen species are known here, while mushrooms are represented by 600 species.
Pine forest
Photo by Vyacheslav Aleshko
The flora of Pushcha listed in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Belarus includes 61 rare and threatened species of higher plants, 5 species of mosses, 17 lichens and 14 fungi. Silver fir, Durmast oak, Cypripedium calceolus (L.), Astrantia major (L.), Adenophora lilifolia (L.), Lilium martagon (L.), and many others plant species on this list of endangered species are present in Pushcha.
The historical and current development and distribution of the Pushcha's flora is characterized by penetration of the forests territory by both European (nemoral) as well as Eurasian (boreal) species. The most commonly occurring are species which are typical for the northern part of the temperate climatic zone within the Eurasian and European ranges of flora; these species make up the core of the floristic composition of the most important communities of forests and lower vegetations (Tolkach et al. 1996).
Grass Trientalis europaea L.
Photo by Nina Verkaik-de Haan (The Netherlands)
The vegetation can be divided into seven large categories; coniferous forests - 68,8 % (of which Pine forest and Spruce forest make up 58 % and 11 % respectively), broad-leaved forests - 5,8 % (Oak forest 4,6 % and Ash forest 1,2 %), secondary broad-leaved forests - 1,1 % (Hornbeam forest 1,0 %, Maple and Lime forest 0,1 %), derivative small-leaved forests - 5,6 % (Common birch forest 4,9 % and Aspen forest - 0,7 %), leaf bog forests - 18,7 % (Black alder forest 15,6 %, White birch forest 3,1 %), moss and grass bogs, and meadows. The forests' vegetations can be divided further into smaller taxonomic units (formations and subformations) (Geltman & Romanovsky, 1971; Map of the vegetation of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, 1982).
Tree-fungus
Photo by Nina Verkaik-de Haan (The Netherlands)
* Based on information from the article by Heorhi Kazulka & Vasiliy Zhukov "The State National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" is the oldest Natural Reserve in Europe”, published in the book "Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the Turn of the Third Millennium. Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the Formation of the State Reserve "Belovezhskaya Pushcha". - Minsk, 1999. - pp. 16 - 33. (In Russian)
(With some modern data added.)
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