An overview of biodiversity and conservation status of steppes of the Anatolian Biogeographical Region

Date

2016-11-01

Author

Ambarlı, Didem
Zeydanlı, Uğur Siyami
Balkız, Özge
Aslan, Serdar
Karaçetin, Evrim
Sözen, Mustafa
Ilgaz, Çetin
Ergen, Arzu Gursoy
Lise, Yıldıray
Caglayan, Semiha Demirbas
Welch, Hilary Joy
Welch, Geoff
Turak, Ayşe Suzan
Bilgin, Cemal Can
Özkil, Aydan
Vural, Mecit

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The Anatolian Biogeographical Region is unique in the Palearctic realm, with high plant and butterfly species richness and populations of globally threatened birds, mammals and herptiles (amphibians and reptiles). It is a place of diverse land-use practices, dating back to the earliest farming practices in the world. Among 10,930 species of vascular plants, birds, butterflies, mammals and herptiles distributed in Turkey, we identified 1130 living predominantly in steppic environments and being classified either as threatened, near-threatened or data deficient at the national level, if not globally. A total of 28 effective protected areas were present in the region, covering 1.5 % of the 391,597 km(2) land area. Only 16.2 % of the threatened and near-threatened species (n = 809) were distributed within the protected area network, ranging from 94.1 % for birds to as low as 12.9 % for vascular plants. The total area of steppe and steppe forest vegetation has been reduced by at least 44 % of its former extent due to diverse habitat destructive activities. The most significant threats arise from unsustainable agricultural activities including overgrazing, conversion to croplands and afforestation. To maintain steppe diversity, we propose a "to-do list", including mainstreaming biodiversity, effective implementation of Turkey's Rangeland Act, conducting effective environmental impact assessments, establishing an effective site network for steppe biodiversity conservation and filling gaps in scientific knowledge.

Subject Keywords

Dry Grassland, Land Use, Protected Area, Threat, Turkey, Vascular Plants

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/42488

Journal

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1172-0

Collections

Department of City and Regional Planning, Article

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Citation Formats

D. Ambarlı et al., “An overview of biodiversity and conservation status of steppes of the Anatolian Biogeographical Region,” BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION, pp. 2491–2519, 2016, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/42488.