Greek juniper

In Bulgaria, Greek juniper is distributed in the Struma Valley – Kresna Gorge in the Rhodopes – the valley of the river Vacha and south of Krichim. It is very limited along the Chepelarska River, south of Asenovgrad.

Greek juniper (Juniperus excelsa) is an evergreen tree with an average height of 5-6 m, which blooms in March-April. In some places the diameter of the stems of old trees reaches about 1 m, but they often dry out. The species and its phytocenoses are found only in the regions with a pronounced Mediterranean climate – in the Rhodopes – around Krichim (“Burnt Gune” reserve), Asenovgrad (very limited along the Chepelarska River) and more widely only in the valley of the Struma River (Kresna Gorge)). The most representative communities are in the Tisata Reserve and in its buffer zone.
The coenoses of the Greek juniper occur mainly between 100 and 300–400 m alt. They can reach slightly higher altitudes along the feeders of Struma River where they occupy only the southern slopes of the valleys. Along the light and relatively wide valley of Vlahina river these coenoses reach Vlachi village, while in the narrower and relatively humid valley of Ostavska River they reach lower altitudes. In Kresna Gorge the phytocoenoses of the Grecian juniper cover the eastern and southern slopes on volcanic, often metamorphic, rocks (gneisses, amphibolites). The slope is relatively steep, on average 20–40°. The soils are shallow Leptosols from the subtype Lithic Leptosols. They are strongly eroded and rock pieces of different size occur in many places and the soil cover is missing.

Unknown

The Greek juniper is a protected species included in Annex 3 of the (BDA) and in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – with the category “Slightly affected” (LC) – Least Concern.
The species forms a natural habitat “Forests of Grecian juniper (Juniperus excelsa)”, which is also included in the Red Book of Bulgaria (2015) with the Critically endangered”. The communities of the species are also included in Annex 1 of the BDA, as they are a priority for conservation.

*Note: For the description of plants is used information from: Peev, D. & al. (eds). 2015. Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Vol. 1. Plants and Fungi. BAS, Sofia [English ed.: ISBN: 978-954-9746-21-1 (IBER – BAS)]; A practical guide for Identifying, Managing, and Monitoring of High Conservation Value Forests in Bulgaria. Sofia, WWF – Bulgaria, 145 pp.; the website of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).