Paper Title
Study of Habitats of Rare Species Osmanthusdecorus (boiss. &balansa) Kasapligil in Georgian Forests

Abstract
The paper concerns to the research of the structure and diversity of one of the relichabitats of Colchic forests of Tertiary geological period formed by Caucasian osmanthus - Osmanthusdecorus (Boiss.&Balansa) Kasapligil. Recent assessment of the population of this species indicated that in Georgia (South Caucasus) the O. decorus is spread only between the Adjara-Imereti and Shavsheti ridges, in the Valley of At charistskali River, on the altitude from 55 meters up to 190 meters (Up to 200 ha discreetly, in small groups). The present condition of habitats of Caucasian osmanthus has been estimated. The number of individuals of the species has been determined equal to 7 per 100 sq.m on average (varies from 3 to 12).The sum of basal areas of Caucasian osmanthus doesn’t exceed 13% in its population in comparison to the same characteristics of other woody species distributed in the same habitat. It indicates strong degradation of the population of O. decorus in Georgia. According to our study the structure of habitat of the species is very variable. To the center of the O. decorus population density of its individuals is high and gets lower to the edges of its habitat. Our study shows that discovered pattern of the population of Caucasian osmanthushighly correlates to the degradation level of the habitat where this species is distribute -The higher is the concentration of woody species in a forest, the higher is the number of O.decorus in undergrowth. This study identifies that the population of Caucasian osmanthus is under the heavy anthropogenic impact and there is high risk of decries of number of individuals of this species in near future in Colchis refugium as there is only small population of O. decorus existed in Colchic forests. The results of this study are important for revision of the Red List status of Caucasian osmanthus and develop the plane of preservation of its population on the country level. Keywords - Habitat Structure, Osmanthusdecorus, South Caucasus, Tree Basal Area