Vegetative And Dendrological Characteristics Of Hober Forest Park In Korcula

A systematic research of biological and ecological characteristics of the overall Hober area and Hober forest park itself has not been performed thus far. Structural characteristics of the stand were included only in The Management Plan for Hober Forest Park (2006-2015). Forestry issues were addressed in the paper by Vojinovic (1997). Dendrological research was included in the papers by Denich and Draganovic (1985), Vojinovic (1997), Fabris (2001) and Onofri (2002). Its overall inventory records are missing.The current condition of Hober forest park is characterised by its neglect and no landscape design in terms of both forest vegetation, dendrological, horticultural and garden and architectural content. Moreover, there is conceptual indefiniteness of the overall Hober area.Hober forest park in terms of vegetation belongs to the forest community of the Aleppo pine and I oak (Querco ilicis - Pinetum halepensis Loisel 1971). It is primarily due to vegetative and structural unevenness that 7 experimental surfaces were placed in the forest park itself and 4 more outside of it. A comprehensive vegetation and structural analysis was intended for the selection of individual areas, in order to provide their description and present their condition, which can subsequently be used for the purpose of zoning the area.According to the analysed research the Aleppo pine prevails in the layer of trees on the surfaces 1, 2, 3 and 9; flolm oak on the surfaces 4 and 5 and Common cypress on the surfaces 6 and 7. Laurestine is the most common species in the shrub layer, which appears on all the surfaces. Then there are green olive trees with broad leaves and mastic trees. The tree layer prevails with the exception of the surfaces 8, 10 and 11 where there is maquis. It is evident that in developed stands the tree layer and the shrub layer are almost equally dense. The latter is not the case on the surface 6, partially on the surface 9 and the surface 10 where maquis prevails and the surface 11, which is a natural succession of forest vegetation on abandoned agricultural surfaces. With the exception of maquis, there is a very high wood volume which, depending on stand development, ranges from 100 to even 270 m(3)/ha. The number of trees is also very large and it ranges from 1,000 to 2,700 per hectare. All this data indicates no landscape design and absence of any silvicultural work.The objective of this paper is to explore vegetative, dendrological, silvicultural and structural characteristics of the overall Hober area. They are the primary indicators of the condition and will provide the guidelines for its future biological and spatial valorisation.