IMPORTANCE OF KARST SINKHOLES IN PRESERVING RELICT, MOUNTAIN, AND WET-WOODLAND PLANT SPECIES UNDER SUB-MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE: A CASE STUDY FROM SOUTHERN HUNGARY

Species composition and the vegetation pattern of the understory were investigated in different sized solution sinkholes in a woodland area of the Mecsek Mountains (southern Hungary). Vegetation data together with topographic variables were collected along transects to reveal the vegetation patterns on the slopes, and a species list was compiled for each sinkhole. The results indicate that the vegetation pattern significantly correlates with sinkhole size. In smaller sinkholes, vegetation does not change substantially along the transects; in larger sinkholes, however, vegetation inversion is pronounced. We also found that sinkhole size clearly influences the number of vascular plant species, in accordance with the well-known relationship between species number and area. In the forest landscape, many medium-sized and large sinkholes have developed into excellent refuge areas for glacial relicts, mountain, and wet-woodland plant species.