Zespół Ctenidio-Polypodietum vulgaris w Pienińskim Parku Narodowym (Karpaty Zachodnie)

During field studies conducted in July 2013 in the Pieniny National Park, moss- and fern-rich communities were found on the strongly shaded limestone rocks of the forest interior. These communities were dominated by Asplenium trichomanes, Campanula rapunculoides, Polypodium vulgare, Geranium robertianum, Asplenium ruta-muraria, Anomodon viticulosus, Cystopteris fragilis, Arabidopsis arenosa subsp. borbasii, Valeriana tripteris, Lamium galeobdolon, Plagiochila porelloides and Tortella tortuosa. The average cover of bryophytes was twice as high as that of herbaceous plants (average 40%). The recent revision of the hierarchical system of syntaxonomic units for the whole of Europe suggests that the described community should be recognised as the Ctenidio-Polypodietum vulgaris Jurko et Peciar 1963 association, which belongs to the class Polypodietea, and has not been described in Polish phytosociological literature so far.