Mapping of Forest Habitats in Mountainous Areas – a Case Study from Svoge Municipality, Western Bulgaria

. The study is focused on the study of forest habitats of Svoge Municipality, situated in the western part of the country. The total area of Svoge Municipality is 868 km2 . 134 relevés were collected during the period of 2015-2019, following the Braun-Blanquet approach and 445 field points were verified, as well. As a result, nine forest habitat types, included in Directive 92/43/EEC, were identified, representing a habitat diverse municipality. They are covering 135.89 km2 or 15.7% of the total municipality's area. The habitat type of the Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests (9130) covers the largest area (57.86 km2 ), followed by the habitat type of the MedioEuropean limestone beech forests of the Cephalanthero-Fagion (9150) (31.03 km2 ). The dominance by beech forest is typical for the Western Balkan Range where these types of forests expanded due to climatic and anthropogenic factors, which led to the reduction of the belts, dominated by the common hornbeam, the spruce and the fir. Major threats include forest degradation and loss, because of logging activities, pests, presence of invasive species, quarries and illegal household disposing. Measures, including afforestation with local species and forest regeneration, are needed