Ebru Özdeniz

Habitat classification and evaluation of the Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Protected Area (Muğla/Turkey)

AbstractThe aim of this study is the classification and evaluation of the habitats in Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Protected Area (SPA) in accordance with the international criteria, determination of the unique, rare and threatened habitats and making proposals for the sustainability of the habitats and its balanced use. Köyceğiz-Dalyan SPA hosts different habitats such as forests, maquis, garrigue, phrygana, lakes, stream, sand hills, reeds, fresh water and oceanographic regions and the diversity of the species living there, the complex web of relations among these species and the diversity biological processes constitutes a relevant model for Thermo and Eu-Mediterranean zones for East Mediterranean Basin. Nowadays the rate of loss in biological diversity stemmed from the anthropogenic sources is a thousand times higher than the geological extinction. That is why the determination and description of the habitats with unique properties is of extreme importance. This study involves the classification of Köyceğiz-Dalyan SPA habitat types in accordance with the European Union Nature Information System (EUNIS) habitat classification. The habitats were evaluated with regard to the criteria such as size of area, biodiversity, naturalness, rarity, typicalness, the reparation and/or restoration potential. The evaluations are based upon the indices of class area (CA), number of patches (NP), percentage of landscape [Perceland (Pİ)], the largest patch index (LPI), modified Shannon–Simpson diversity index (MSHDI-MSIDI). As a result of this study EUNIS habitat types of Köyceğiz-Dalyan SPA located at the southwest of Turkey have been determined and there were 11 new habitats found which are not included in AB habitat list. These habitat types were evaluated by the use of evaluation indices in addition to biological and ecological processes. There were proposals made for the protection of rare and endangered habitats.

A first inventory of gypsum flora in the Palearctic and Australia

Gypseous substrates are well-recognised as supporting distinctive and unique flora assemblages, including numerous gypsum endemic (gypsophile) species. Along with these, others are also frequent although their presence is not restricted to gypsum; they show a clear preference for them (gypsocline). While this phenomenon (gypsophily) has been studied regionally, and various hypotheses put forward to explain it, there has been little global synthesis. We present a preliminary check-list on the gypsophile and gypsocline flora of the Palaearctic and Australian areas as a part of a project to develop a global checklist of the World’s gypsophytes, which can broaden our ecological and biogeographical understanding of these unique environments. The database contains 935 taxa spanning 54 countries. The Irano-Turanian region —and to a lesser extent the Mediterranean region— emerged as the richest territories in terms of gypsophile species; this richness was much reduced in the Saharo-Arabian and, especially in the Eurosiberian regions. The factors that can modulate the richness of gypsophytes in a region are discussed and have been distributed into four groups: a) geological and edaphic factors; b) factors linked to the insular nature of outcrops; c) climatic variables and their interaction with the soil; d) biogeographical factors. The importance of those factors linked to insularity and, especially, to water availability is emphasized. Because the soil structure of many gypsum outcrops reduces water ability to plants, such outcrops can be regarded as “dry-islands” surrounded by less xeric substrates. The fact that gypsophytes can be grouped within a few major flowering plant clades across continents, confirms their pre-adaptations to these harsh and unique environments. Our work provides a preliminary database for exploring ecological and biogeographic issues relating to gypsophily, and we hope it will stimulate global interest in these valuable ecosystems.