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Although Albania's territory is quite small, its flora is characterized by high
diversity of ecosystems and habitats and considerable species richness. This
diversity is attributable to the country's geographic position (at the interface
among three important regions: the Balkan mountains, the Mediterranean region
and the southern limit of continental Europe) as well as geological,
hydrological, soil diversity, climatic and large altitudinal range. The Albanian
relief is mostly hilly and mountainous. Korabi Mountain is the highest point (2751m above sea
level). Tthe former Tërbufi Marsh, 8 m
below sea level, is the lowest. The medium altitude of the country is 708 m
above the sea level. Albania is well known for its rich and complex hydrographic
network composed of rivers, lakes, wetlands, groundwater, and sea. The main
rivers are the Drini, Buna, Mati, Shkumbini, Semani, Vjosa, Erzeni, Ishmi,
Bistrica, and Pavllo, and their courses have an important effect on the
country's coastal biodiversity. About 247 natural lakes of different types and
dimensions, and a considerable number of artificial lakes, are located inside
the country. Based on their origin, they can be divided into tectonic lakes (4),
glacier lakes (134), karstic lakes (94), and fluvial lakes (15). Among the more
important ones are the transboundary lakes of Shkodra, Ohrid, and Prespa, the
most important and largest ones in the Balkans with European and international
significance. In the coastal area of Albania there are wetlands such as
Karavasta, Narta, Patoku, Viluni, Kune-Vaini, Orikumi, and others, with a total
area of 150 kmth. Investigations
concerning flora and vegetation in Albania already began in the 192 century when numerous plant species
were discovered and described by, among others, Boissier, Heldreich,
Haussknecht, Halacsy and Baldacci. Interest
for these studies continued to increase during the last century and the trend is still increasing as witnessed by recent
publications of Kosanin (1913, 1914, 1939), Janchen (1920), Javorka et al.
(1926), Novak (1926, 1927, 1928), Markgraf (1926, 1931, 1932), Soska (1938,
1939) etc. The 4-volumes of the Flora of Albania (Paparisto & al. 1988; Qosja &
al. 1992, 1996; Vangjeli & al. 2000) comprise 3757 taxa, including 173
cultivated species. Recently many new vascular plant species were reported from
Albania by Dimitrov (1997, 1998, 2001a-b), Greuter & Raus (2000), Tan & Mullaj
(2000), Rakaj (2006), Shuka & Jahollari (2007), Barina & Pifkó (2008b, 2008c,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2013) etc. These and other sources estimate that over 3600
species and 850 subspecies of vascular plants occur in Albania.
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Ramonda serbica is a very interesting relict specie: it belongs to the tropical family
Gesneriaceae, ralated to a tropical climate that in the Tertiary period
dominated in this part of the Balkan Peninsula. On the other hand, the presence
of another group of relict species, found in the Southeastern Mountains of
Albania that includes Morina persica
and Astragalus parnassi speaks in favor of the existence of a steppe climate which dominated toward the end of
the Tertiary period, that is to say, the beginning of the Pliocene. During this
period, a steppe-semi desert vegetation of a Mediterranean type was densely
developed. In this respect, some species found only in certain parts of Albania
are especially interesting. These areas are in fact merely exclaves of their
areas which continue east to Asia Minor and the Near East. Such is the case, for
instance, with Morina persica and
Acantholimon androsaceum. The relicts of the Tertiary period have been preserved in almost every
part of Albania, particularly in the deep river gorges in its southern and
western parts, where the influence of the glacial phenomenon was much weaker.
The gorges on the River Vjosa, Devolli and the River Drin and their tributaries
are such places where we can find Ramonda
serbica, Viola kosaninii (the gorge on the River Cem);
Aesculus hippocastanum (gorge on the
spring Bença) and others. The mountain massifs are particularly rich with
Tertiary and Glacial relicts. Of the Tertiary relicts, the pines
Pinus peuce ("Arnen"; Mt. Runa, Kunora
e Lurës, Masdejë, Allamani, Skenderbeu, Martanesh, Shpat, Mokër) and
Pinus heldreichii ("rrobull"; between
1000 and 2200 m in all Mountains areas of Albania) deserve special attention.
These are joined by the Glacial relicts, which include numerous representatives
of the Arctic-Alpine floral element: Dryas
octopetala, Salix reticulata, Taxus
baccata, Salix retusa, Salix herbacea (Alps, Mt. Korab, Tomorr etc.)
and others found near these. |