Site selection

Mediterranean biogeographic region

The Greek island of Lesbos along with six other islands formsa group of northeastern Aegean islands. Lesbosis only 9 kilometres from the Turkish coast and is ameeting point of European and Asian flora and fauna.The vegetation of Lesbos consists of ubiquitous frigana and Mediterranean evergreen forests (Pinusbrutia, Pinuspallasianassp. Nigra) in the central part of the island(between the gulf and parts of the northeast and west), and chestnut forests (Castaneasativa) at altitudes of Mount Olympus (southern island) and Lepetimnos (northern island). Almost the entire island, including the existing forests, is under intensive grazing (Biel, 2002).

Study sites within the Mediterraneanregioninclude:

  • Agiasos (1) –a site under the influence of intensive grazing,characterized by mixed Mediterranean forests.
  • Sanatorium (2) - a reference site, with preserved Mediterraneanchestnut forests.

Continental biogeographic region

Dubašnica Mountain (1000m) and Malinik (1158m) are located in the eastern part of the KučajMountains. The Dubašnicaregion has altitudes rangingbetween 850 and 1000 m, and covers over 82 square kilometresbetween the LazarevaRekacanyon tothe south and Zlotska River cliffsto the east.

Study sites within the Continental regioninclude:

  • Demižlok (3) - a site under strong influence of extensive agriculture.
  • Malinik (4) - a site characterized by extensive agriculture and moderate grazing.
  • LazarevaReka canyon(5) - a reference site, rich inpre-glacialhabitats, no grazing.
  • Manastirište (6) - a site characterized by extensive agriculture and moderate grazing.

Pannonian biogeographic region

Fruska Gora is a mountain island, characterized by specific historical development and rich flora and vegetation. The dominant forests are mesophillous mixed forests of sessile oak (Quercuspetraea) and European hornbeam (Carpinusbetlus), orographically-conditioned beech forests, as well as thermophilous forests of pubescent oak (Quercuspubescens),Turkey oak (Quercuscerris), and Italian oak (Quercusfarnetto). The presence of lime trees indicates land use underanthropogenicinfluence.

Study sites within the Pannonian region include:

  • Glavica non-forested(7)-a site covering the area under intensive agricultural activities no grazing).
  • Glavica (8) - a reference site generally considered to be important for Syrphidae diversity conservation.

Continental biogeographic region

Kopaonik (2016m) is the easternmost mountain in the Dinaric system and occupies the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is generally considered to be one of the most diversemountains in terms of flora and vegetation, characterized by numerous conifer forests(pine and red fir) in the higher ranges and mixed beech and oak tree forests in the lower ranges of the mountain, withmanygreen pastures and flower meadows.

Study sites within the Continentalregion include:

  • Jasle-Čukara (9) - a site characterized by moderategrazing.
  • Samokovskariver cliffs(10) - a reference site in which habitats are considered to be preserved (no grazing).
  • Marine vode (11) - a site characterized by the strong influence of tourism development activities, such as infrastracture (i.e. cable cars)and light grazing.
  • Kukavica (12) - a site of natural habitat with moderate grazing.

Submediterranean biogeographic region

Although not shown on ourmap (Fig. 1), we separated the sub-Mediterranean regionfrom the Continental and Mediterranean zones, since it is considered to be substantially different from these latter two.In relation to its vegetation and floristic peculiarities, the PcinjaValley represents a transition area to the Mediterranean region, withMediterranean influences penetrating into the valleys of the largerrivers of the Aegean river basin and radiating along their tributaries via Macedonia up into the mountains ofSouthernSerbia (Zlatkovic et al., 2010).It comprisesan area called PčinjaValleyinthe south of Serbia(closeto the border with Macedonia), covering 2,606 hectares.

Study sites within the Submediterraneanregion include:

  • Trgovište (13) -a sitesubstantiallyaltered primarily due toagricultural activities (extensive) and grazing (high).
  • Vogance (14) - a reference site that is characterized by less intense land use (moderategrazing).

Alpine biogeographic region

StaraPlanina (2168m) is located to the north-east of Pirot, closeto the border with Bulgaria and is the largest mountain in Serbia. This mountain represents abiogeographical area where the interplay of different influences can be seen, which is reflected in the great diversity of floral elements. It is rich in different types of habitats, with altitudesrangingfrom 300 to 2168 m above sea level.Due to its substantial altitudinal span, StaraPlanina Mt. vegetation is divided into five clearly-defined zones: 1) oak forests (400-1000 m), 2) beech forests (1000-1500 m), 3) spruce forests (1500-1800 m), 4) subalpine scrub (1800-1900 m) and 5) alpine meadows and pastures (>1900 m) (Lakušić and Ćetković 2007).Overthe whole area, and particularly in the mountain zones, many pastures are more or less degraded,due to anthropogenic land use.

Study sites within the Alpineregion include:

  • Arbinje (15) - a referencesite with preserved spruce forests, typicalmoorland and Sphagnum communities.
  • Dojkinci village south(16)-Dojkinci village is situatedin the range of 850-900 meters above sea level, in the Gornji Visokarea.This siteis characterized by being under mild agricultural influences,with mixed coniferous and beech forests.
  • Dojkincivillage north(17) - asite characterized by the presence of extensive agriculture andconiferous forests.