Vegetation
There are few regions in Greece that have as much forest cover
as the Grammos region
Although divided by rivers, rocky outcrops, and their old settlements and agricultural areas, the forests of Grammos stretch from the lowland villages to the alpine meadows, which they surround to the east, south, and west. The northern side of the mountain range, which belongs to Albania, appears much less forested, apparently due to much more intensive historical use.
The semi-mountainous landscape is composed of the typical land cover patterns of Northern Greece—namely, a mosaic of plowed fields, orchards, and patches of natural vegetation, as well as unbroken strips of riparian vegetation. In some places, we find large clusters of oak trees; in some areas, they are visibly weathered and have a stunted structure, while in others they are mature and dense.
Agricultural and agroforestry landscapes
In the area around Nestorio and its villages, both along the Aliakmon River and its tributaries, the landscape is characterized by the typical agricultural units of the semi-mountainous region of northern Greece—that is, a mosaic of plowed fields, orchards, and pockets of natural vegetation, such as clusters of oak trees and ravines.
As we ascend toward the mountainous zone, the proportion of semi-natural and natural habitats increases, with the addition of dry grasslands, rocky outcrops, and increasingly larger patches of forest. In the grasslands—once agricultural areas—surrounding the old settlements along the middle course of the Aliakmon River, such as Palaia Kotili, Agios Zacharias, Ligoneri, and Slimnitsa—the orchards have been replaced by semi-wild fruit trees (wild cornelian cherries, wild pears, etc.) and fruit-bearing shrubs, the most significant of which are blackberries (Rubus sp.).
Oak Forests
In the valleys of the Aliakmon River, from the east up to the line of permanently inhabited villages (from Nestorio to Nea Kotili), we find large forests of deciduous oaks. Here, the Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) predominates, often mixed with conifers, mainly black pine and, to a lesser extent, fir.
In the corresponding oak forests of the valleys of the Sarantaporos tributaries (Pefkofyto, Chrysi, and as far as Eptachori)—which have warmer and drier conditions and typically poorer flysch soils—the downy oak (Quercus pubescens) and the Macedonian oak (Quercus trojana), also in combination with the hardy black pine and an understory of the characteristic smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria). In higher-quality sites, the Macedonian oak is found mixed with holm oaks, cork oaks, ash trees, and cedar.
The mountain forest
The mountainous region is covered by seemingly endless forests of fir, black pine, and beech. Riparian vegetation follows the middle course of the Aliakmon River up to an elevation of one, while higher up it is limited to willows and osiers, framed by the ubiquitous black pines.
At the highest elevations in the region, there is a mountainous vegetation zone consisting of forests of beech (Fagus moesiaca), fir (Abies borisii–regis), and black pine (Pinus nigra).
The dominant species in the mountain forest is the black pine (Pinus nigra), which covers approximately one-third of the forested areas, where it forms both pure stands and mixed stands with beech, oak, and fir. The black pine thrives both in rich soils in the limestone and plutonic rock zone and on steep slopes with dry, weathered schist.
The black pine stands are, for the most part, nearly even-aged, single-layered, and of medium or young age.
The beech (Fagus moesiaca) typically occupies north-facing sites in the region, from the lower limit of the mountainous zone up to the tree line.
The hybrid fir occurs in small clusters and as isolated trees.
Rocks, ravines, gorges, and steep slopes
The cliffs, gorges, and steep slopes in Grammos are not as large as those we are accustomed to seeing in the Pindus and the mountains of southern Greece. Here, limestone—and the accompanying vegetation—appears in specific locations, while the extensive formations of the middle zone consist of the distinctive sandy layers of flysch, a terrain that does not favor the growth of rock-loving flora.
The flysch covers the entire southern and eastern semi-mountainous zone and extends all the way to Voio.
Limestone cliffs, similar rock outcrops (sares), and rocky outcrops are a common feature in Grammos. More commonly, we find smaller rocky formations composed of sandstone, ophiolite, and greenstone.
On the serpentine outcrops, we find the serpentine-loving species Campanula hawkinsiana, Silene haussknechtii, Thymus teucrioides subsp. alpinus, Cardamine glauca, Arenaria conferta subsp. serpentini, and Oxyria digyna. Most species in this habitat have a very limited distribution in Greece.
Στους ασβεστολικούς βραχώνες θα βρούμε ομάδες από Geranium aristatum, Geranium sylvaticum, Achillea holosericea, Actaea spicata, Polystichum lonchitis, Asplenium fissum, Doronicum columnae, Saxifraga paniculata, Nepeta spruneri, Linaria peloponnesiaca, Dianthus integer subsp. minutiflorus και Vincetoxicum hirundinaria.
Στους πιο απόκρημνους ασβεστόλιθους, αλλά και στις αντίστοιχες θέσεις στο φλύσχη, θα βρούμε μια ποικιλία ειδών ευρείας εξάπλωσης, όπως τα Asplenium septentrionale, Saxifraga paniculata, Sedum album, Sedum urvillei, Euphrasia salisburgensis, Cerastiun decalvans, Aubrieta scardica, Malcolmia orsiniana, Draba lasiocarpa, Edraianthus graminifolius, Centaurea deustiformis, Silene parnassica, Silene pindicola, Silene pusilla και Sempervivum marmoreum.
The Alpine meadows
The forest boundary retains the lacy outline shaped by climatic conditions, human interventions, and wildfires, and is maintained by grazing. Above the forest and all the way to the peaks lie the subalpine meadows, impressive both for their vast expanse and the uniformity of their vegetation. The barren alpine meadows—a sight that hardly resembles Greece—are the landscape that characterizes Grammos more than any other.
Alpine Lakes
The stagnant water basins are the most distinctive geological feature of Grammos—and the one for which the area is best known. The Areni Lakes—especially the large, lower lake known as Moutsalia—and Gistova—the highest-altitude lake in Greece—are, along with the Drakolimnes of Smolika and Gamila, the most popular mountain lakes in the country.
The lakes in the upper zone are usually of glacial origin. In contrast, the lakes of Areni were formed through ordinary geological processes: by the deposition of weathered material from various rocks, which created an impermeable bottom in a karst basin.
