Dinaric calcareous block fir forest
The dinaric calcareous silver fir forests are an endemic vegetation type of the littoral Dinaric Alps, located in the Dinaric Mountains mixed forests ecoregion in Southeastern Europe. Pure stands of dinaric calcareous silver fir (Abies alba) forests appear on limestone escarpments in the montane zones of Orjen, Velebit, Biokovo and Prenj. They comprise one of the most interesting formations of Balkan vegetation types as the forests bear several rare plants and are of striking beauty. As a highly endemic and rare vegetation type of the dinarids, it needs protection. Structure Dinaric calcareous silver fir forests have an open structure which is environmentally sensible. As storms of bora and scirocco type are common on the coastal dinaric mountains, wind plays a great role in the formation of the highly labile structure in the pure silver fir communities. Silver firs can reach up to on limestone and trunk diameters of have been observed. Distribution Dinaric calcareous silver fir forests are dispersed in smaller patches on the hypercarstic littoral karst mountain environments of the dinarids. Prominent are those on Velebit and Orjen, appearing on bare limestone escarpments in the montane lifezone between . The abundance of precipitation on these coastal mountains of up