The Carpathian montane conifer forests, also known as Carpathian montane forests, is a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion, terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Geography

The ecoregion covers an area of 125,337 km². It is surrounded by

temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These ...

ecoregions in the neighboring lowlands. The

Central European mixed forests The Central European mixed forests ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0412) is a temperate hardwood forest covering much of northeastern Europe, from Germany to Russia. The area is only about one-third forested, with pressure from human agriculture leaving the r ...

lie to the north, east, and southeast. The

Pannonian mixed forests The Pannonian mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Europe. It covers an area of 307,720 km2 in all of Hungary, most of Slovakia, about half of Croatia and Slovenia, around a third of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roman ...

occupy the

Pannonian Plain The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorphologic ...

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

to the west and southwest. The

Apuseni Mountains The Apuseni Mountains (, "Western Mountains"; , "Transylvanian Mountains") are a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Romanian Carpathians. The highest peak is the Bihor Peak at . The Apuseni Mountains have ab ...

in Transylvania form an outlier. The Balkan mixed forests share a small border to the south, in western

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

Flora

The plant communities in the Carpathians occur in elevational zones, with some variation from range to range, and from north to south. Foothill forests below 600–650 meters elevation are mostly of broadleaf deciduous trees, principally English oak (''Quercus robur''), small-leafed lime (''Tilia cordata''), and European hornbeam (''Carpinus betulus'') in the northern portion of the range, and oaks – '' Quercus sessilis, Quercus cerris,

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''virgiliana''), commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It ...

'', and ''

Quercus frainetto ''Quercus frainetto'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''Quercus conferta'', ''Quercus farnetto''), commonly known as the Hungarian oak, is a species of oak, native plant, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, ...

'' – in the southern portion of the range. Montane forests occur between 600 and 1100 meters elevation in the northern range, and between 650 and 1450 m in the south.

European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...

(''Fagus sylvatica'') and

Silver fir Silver fir is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Abies alba'', native to Europe *''Abies amabilis'', native to western North America *''Abies pindrow ''Abies pindrow'', the pindrow fir, West Himalayan fir, or silver fir, is ...

(''Abies alba'') are the characteristic trees, along with

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

(''Picea abies''), European larch (''Larix decidua''),

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

(''Pinus sylvestris''), ''

Populus tremula ''Populus tremula'' (commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, or quaking aspen) is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of the Old World. Description It is a substantial deciduous tree growing to t ...

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

, Betula pubescens'', and sycamore maple (''Acer pseudoplatanus''). Nearly pure stands of European beech occur in some ranges, including the

White Carpathians The White Carpathians (; ; ) are a mountain range on the border of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, part of the Carpathians. They are part of the macroregion of Slovak-Moravian Carpathians, stretching from the Váh river and the Little Carpat ...

and

Little Carpathians The Little Carpathians (also: ''Lesser Carpathians'', ; ; ) are a low mountain range, about 100 km long, and part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto n ...

in the western Carpathians, the Vihorlat, Bukovec, and Biesczady mountains in the Eastern Carpathians, and areas of the southern Carpathians. In other areas the conifers silver fir and Norway spruce are predominant, including the Tatra Mountains, Moravian-Silesian Beskids, and Orava Magura in the western Carpathians and the Gorgany and Bistrița Mountains in the eastern Carpathians. The subalpine zone, between 1100 and 1400 meters elevation in the north and 1400 and 1900 meters in the south, is dominated by Norway spruce, with lesser numbers of

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

(''Sorbus aucuparia''). At the timberline (1400 meters elevation in the north and 1900 meters in the south) arolla pine (''Pinus cembra'') predominates. In the Tatras the timberline forests are a mix of arolla pines and European larch (''Larix decidua''). Krummholtz grows above the timberline, with

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and So ...

(''Pinus mugo''),

dwarf juniper Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sho ...

(''Juniperus communis'' subsp. ''alpina''), and green alder (''Alnus alnobetula'' subsp. ''fruticosa''). Above the krummholtz are alpine meadows. In the Bieszczady Mountains there is no Norway spruce zone, and dwarfed beeches transition directly to alpine meadows above 1200 meters elevation. The highest peaks are rocky, with some sparse alpine plants and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

Fauna

The Carpathian montane forests are one of the most sizable refuges in Central Europe for large predators and raptors, including

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

(''Ursus arctos''),

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

(''Canis lupus''),

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...

(''Lynx lynx''),

European wildcat The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Great Britain, Turkey and the Caucasus. Its fur is brownish to grey with stripes on the forehead and on the sides and has a bushy tail with a bl ...

(''Felis silvestris''), and

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos''). The Tatra chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica'') is a subspecies of goat-antelope endemic to the Tatra Mountains. Small populations of

European bison The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

(''Bison bonasus'') range free in the Carpathians. Other large herbivores include

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

(''Cervus elaphus hippelaphus'') and roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus'').

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 29,488 km², or 24%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

Low Tatras National Park Low Tatras National Park (; abbr. NAPANT) is a national park in Central Slovakia, between the Váh River and the Hron River valleys. The park and its buffer zone cover the whole Low Tatras mountain range. The National Park covers an area of ...

, Muránska planina National Park, Veľká Fatra National Park, and Poloniny National Park in Slovakia, Bieszczady National Park in Poland, Carpathian National Nature Park,

Carpathian Biosphere Reserve Carpathian Biosphere Reserve () is a Nature reserve, biosphere reserve in Ukraine that was established in 1968 and became part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO in 1992. Since 2007 bigger portion of the reserve along with some ...

, Cheremosh National Nature Park, Gorgany Nature Reserve, Skole Beskids National Nature Park, Synevyr National Nature Park, and Uzhanian National Nature Park in Ukraine, and Maramureș Mountains Natural Park, Rodna National Park, Călimani National Park, Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Natural Park, Piatra Craiului National Park and Apuseni Natural Park in Romania. The Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-designated

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

that includes several old-growth beech forests in the Carpathians, along with beech forests in other parts of Europe.

External links

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of the Czech Republic Ecoregions of Poland Ecoregions of Romania Ecoregions of Slovakia Ecoregions of Ukraine Palearctic ecoregions Temperate coniferous forests Montane forests Carpathians