baumzaehlen - Primeval Forests & Their Trees

Boky National Nature Reserve, Slovakia

The reserve (1.8 km ² ) lies on a south to southwest facing steep dry slope at 280–590 m elevation ¹ .

The dominants in the upper canopy are Quercus petraea (sessile oak) and Quercus cerris (Turkey oak). Many small tree species grow under them; the most abundant ones include Carpinus betulus (European hornbeam), Acer campestre (field maple), Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry) and Crataegus spp. (hawthorns). Forest is low on steep slopes but in the side valleys Quercus spp. become fairly large and less drought-resistant species also occur, e.g. Fagus sylvatica (European beech) and Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple). As the reserve is mostly too dry for F. sylvatica , tree species diversity is relatively high in the Central European context; some of the species (like Crataegus spp.) are not easy to tell apart.

This is an important reserve as very little almost untouched dry Quercus forest still remains in Europe. Some parts of the reserve have probably been used for grazing in the past, but for a long period there has been no human influence ² . The oldest Quercus spp. are more than 300 years old ² . Annual precipitation is 720 mm and average annual temperature about 7.5°C ¹ .

A marked hiking trail leads through the reserve. In the valley below the reserve there is a highway which means much noise in the lower reserve.

References :

1 Korpel’, Š. (1995): Die Urwälder der Westkarpaten. Gustav Fischer Verlag.

2 http://www.pralesy.sk/