Quercus hartwissiana

Colchis lowland forests, where Quercus hartwissiana occurs, had been widespread until the beginning of the 20th century. Large areas of former continuous forest has been transformed into plantations of maize and tea, or converted into pastures. Subsequently it became evident, that the idea to establish a well-developed agriculture in the region was a complete failure since the soils of Colchis lowland are very poor (Matchutadze 2009). The present-day socio-economic hardship with its high population pressure and the increasing demand for timber causes even more damage to the forest. The dense and valuable Colchis forests are still being devastated. The oak, beech, hornbeam, and wing-nut have become rare forest elements and only survive in places that are difficultly accessible. Deforested places are used for agriculture. The fast-growing Alder (Alnus barbata) has become dominant under human shelter (Matchutadze 2003).

Quercus hartwissiana is included the Red List of Georgia under the status: Vulnerable (Red List of Georgia 2006). This species is also listed as Vulnerable in Bulgaria (Petrova and Vladimirov 2009). Most populations in Bulgaria will occur within the Strandzha National Park. It is also found in protected areas in its non-European range. This species is recorded in 36 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017).