Plant diversity of the Stirovaca meadows - North Velebit National Park, Croatia

Stirovaca is located in Croatia, in the south-east part of Velebit National Park ; it consists of dense forest stands and several meadow openings. The flora of the Stirovaca meadows has never before been systematically studied. Here, we report the results of a floristic study of plant diversity of the Stirovaca meadows. It was established that there were 134 species of wild vascular plants (132 species and 2 subspecies), classified into 97 genera and 38 families. The families with the greatest number of species and subspecies were Asteraceae (13.4 %), Poaceae (8.2 %), Lamiaceae (5.9 %) and Rosaceae (5.2 %). In the life-forms spectrum Hemicryptophyta prevailed (66.4 %) which is characteristic of meadowland flora in areas with continental climates. An analysis of the floristic elements showed the greatest presence of Eurasian (35.0 %) and South European floristic elements (23.1 %). Vegetation succession in the last 60 or so years has progressed very considerably, at the expense of meadowland. The results of this research show that the Stirovaca meadows are an essential enrichment of plant and landscape diversity, indicating the need to preserve and protect the area investigated.