Wild fruit trees in the Forest Park of Starcevica, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

A significant part of the diversity inside the forest ecosystem complex belongs to the crop wild relatives, including wild fruit trees. Determining the presence and abundance of wild cherry (Prunus avium), wild apple (Malus sylvestris), wild pear (Pyrus communis) and service tree (Sorbus domestica) and an analysis of the site and associated tree species in the community were carried out in the area of the forest park of Starcevica, Banja Luka based on representative samples by taking phytocoenological images at the sample surfaces ("releve"). Thirty-seven polygons (test areas) with the size of 20x20 m were inventoried. For each fruit species abundance, cover and degree of presence were determined. The map was created on the basis of GPS coordinates collected from the field. In total, 1059 trees on 37 polygons were inventoried, of which 39 wild apple trees, 27 wild pear trees, 118 wild cherry trees and 3 service trees. Other trees belong to other forest species, and were mostly represented by hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea). The presence of wild fruit trees in the forest park Starcevica was noted in the average value of 2 by Braun-Blanquet method and abundance of 10-25% of fruit trees in the study area in relation to the presence of other forest species.