| Περιγραφή Τόπου |
Mountain Panachaiko is located in the north-western part of Peloponnisos, east of the city of Patras. It is characterized by a multifarious relief, with several peaks, the highest of which is Voidias with an altitude of 1926 m. This mountain is north-south oriented and consists of a representative part of the Olonos-Pindos geotectonic zone. For this reason, the mass of Mt. Panachaiko is characterized by a variety of geological substrates and soil types such as alpine sediments of large width, limestone, argilic schistolith and flysh, which are strongly depressed. Even more depositions of the Pliocene-Quaternary age constisting mainly of argilic elements, conglomerates, pebbles, etc., characterize the area. So, in the upper part of the mountain we can distinguish the following petrological formations: 1) Limestones which include pyritiolithes or limestones without them, 2) Limestone with layers of ceratolithe and argillic schistoliths, and 3) Layers of flysh. These formations are interrupted by many gorges and gullies with flowing streams. The vegetation of several places in the lower altitudes is influenced by human activities (agricultural fields and pastures). The presence of maquis at the roasides and the borders of the fields shows the predominance of this type of vegetation in this area during previous years. At the places where the shruby vegetation is sparser, phrygana with species Phlomis fruticosa, Coridothymus capitatus, Cistus salviifolius, Micromeria juliana, Sarcopoterium spinosum, etc. grows, while in the reclaimed areas, phrygana occur with the dominant species being Phlomis fruticosa. On a large part of the western side of the mountain maquis occur at altitudes of up to 800 m. The dominating species is Quercus coccifera in some places forming unmixed arborescent clusters. Between these shrubs, climbing plants (Clematis flammula, Smilax aspera, Asparagus acutifolius) are developed. At several places near the streams the species Platanus orientalis forms clusters, which follows their beds. The coniferous forests with the endemic species Abies cephalonica mainly grow on the larger part of lower eastern area of the site, above the villages of Pititsa, Ano Salmeniko and Vounopyrgos, as well as on the lower southern part, above the villages of Moira, Veteika and Kounaveika. Smaller areas sparsely covered by Abies cephalonica also occur on the western slopes above the villages Souli, Pournarokastro and Ano Kastritsi. The appearance of isolated solitary trees of Abies cephalonica among the maquis begins from the 750-800 m altitude. The typical Abies forest begins at a higher altitude and extends almost up to 1400 m in several places. For the estimation of the percentage cover of the N17 habitat class (coniferous woodland) the Abies cephalonica forests have been taken into consideration. In some openings of the forest, shrubs of Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus oxycedrus, Phillyrea media, Quercus coccifera etc., as well as phrygana can be found, while grassy plants such as Crocus sieberi, Ranunculus ficaria, Anemone blanda, Cyclamen neapolitanum, Tussilago farfara etc. are present among them. The Abies cephalonica forest is characterized by good structure mainly at the south-eastern part of the site above the village of Krini and westwards of the peak of Barbas, where it is noteably dense while in the other places it is more sparse. The degradation of Abies forest is a consequence of intense erosion and grazing. Above the forest zone, spiny vegetation (Astragalus angustifolius, A. depressus etc.) dominates. In these zones erosion of limestone has mainly contributed to the formation of a strong relief with steep calcareous cliffs and screes. Dense grasslands of the Mountain- and Oro-Mediterranean vegetation zones participate in the formation of a vegetation complex clearly differentiated into four major vegetation types: open stepped grasslands, calcareous cliffs, calcareous screes and dense closed grasslands. The degraded vegetation accompanied by bare ground describes the main appearance of the landscape in the higher part of the mountain. This bare ground shelters a great amount of the endemic flora of Mt. Panachaiko and is floristically the most important area of this mountain. |
