Ecological site classification and management of phryganic ecosystems with a special study on the ecosystems of the medium altitudes of the White Mountains

The ecological methods of classifying natural ecosystems are based on the combination and clustering of basic ecological parameters (physiography, geomorphology, topography, soil) in a region, with sampling of those factors on the same locations. The application of this method in the phryganic ecosystems of the medium altitudes of the White Mountains resulted in 11 ecological site units, characterized by special soil and vegetation characteristics. These  ecological units, describe a range of site locations, from very deep soils on abandoned terraces of the north aspects, where the ecological group of Ononis spinosa is characteristic, to the driest locations of the south aspects, with a high cover of the parent limestone rock on the surface, where the soil penetrates in the limestone crevises, in which the ecological group of Teucrium alpestre is characteristic. The classification and mapping of phryganic ecosystems with this method can incorporate a lot of ecological information and become the basis for the rational management of these ecosystems.