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

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Abstract

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 km2 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.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Johannes Kamp, Jürgen Dengler and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. We are thankful to the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group for supporting the linguistic revision of the manuscript and to Aiko Huckauf for linguistic editing. We are grateful to Ali Kandemir, Bilal Şahin, Deniz Özüt, Gül Nihan Tuğ, Hüseyin Ambarlı, Hüseyin Dural, Latif Kurt, Melike Kuş, Murat Doğan, Murat Ünal, Mustafa Durmuş, Nezaket Adıgüzel, Osman Erdem, Ömer Faruk Kaya, Serhat Arda, Sıtkı Eraydın, Süreyya İsfendiyaroğlu, Şinasi Yıldırımlı, Tuğrul Körüklü, Yavuz Bağcı for providing expert knowledge and literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Düzce University, Konuralp, 81620, Düzce, Turkey

    Didem Ambarlı

  2. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

    Didem Ambarlı

  3. Nature Conservation Centre, Aşağı Öveçler Mah. 1065. Cad. 1293 Sok. No: 9/32, 06460, Ankara, Turkey

    Didem Ambarlı, Uğur S. Zeydanlı, Özge Balkız, Yıldıray Lise, Semiha Demirbaş Çağlayan, Hilary J. Welch, Ayşe S. Turak & Aydan Özkil

  4. Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Uğur S. Zeydanlı

  5. Faculty of Forestry, Düzce University, Konuralp, 81620, Düzce, Turkey

    Serdar Aslan

  6. Engineering Faculty, Environmental Engineering Department, Erciyes University, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey

    Evrim Karaçetin

  7. Department of Biology, Bülent Ecevit University, Incivez, 67100, Zonguldak, Turkey

    Mustafa Sözen

  8. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Dokuz Eylül University, Buca, 35160, İzmir, Turkey

    Çetin Ilgaz

  9. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey

    Arzu Gürsoy Ergen

  10. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK

    Geoff Welch

  11. Biology Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Dumlupınar Bulvarı No. 1, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    C. Can Bilgin

  12. Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Gazi University, 06500, Ankara, Turkey

    Mecit Vural

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  1. Didem Ambarlı
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  2. Uğur S. Zeydanlı
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Correspondence to Didem Ambarlı.

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Communicated by Dr. Jürgen Dengler and Dr. Johannes Kamp.

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Ambarlı, D., Zeydanlı, U.S., Balkız, Ö. et al. An overview of biodiversity and conservation status of steppes of the Anatolian Biogeographical Region. Biodivers Conserv 25, 2491–2519 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1172-0

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