New data on the ecological peculiarities and the distribution in Bulgaria of the vulnerable habitat F3.1d Balkan-Anatolian submontane genistoid scrub from the European Red List of Habitats

According to the first Red List assessment of European Habitats, only 6 types of heathland and shrub have conservation significance. Amongst them, one type - F3.1d Balkan-Anatolian submontane genistoid scrub, is endemic for a part of the Balkan Peninsula and the west Anatolian Peninsula. This habitat type comprises a complex of open shrub, herbaceous and chasmophytic plant communities, but mostly dominated by the species complex of Genista rumelica/G. lydia. It is represented by open low heathlands typically occupying volcanic rocky substrates under climatic conditions with a pronounced Mediterranean influence. The European distribution of these communities is limited to North-East Greece and South Bulgaria. They are also included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria, vol. 3. Natural habitats, assessed as “Vulnerable”. Despite their significance for the vegetation cover of Bulgaria and their conservation value at national and European level, these communities remain poorly studied. The present study provides more detailed information on habitat’s distribution and area coverage in Bulgaria, as well as on its floristic and ecological structure