Türkiye

Asia

623

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Turkey is a biogeographical bridge between three continents and brings together territories as different as the Mediterranean coast, the steppe plateau of central Anatolia, the humid temperate forests of the Black Sea and the eastern mountains that rise above five thousand metres. That variety makes it one of the richest countries in plant species in the whole western Palaearctic, with thousands of endemics. The Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, together with the Mediterranean coast, funnel enormous flows of storks and raptors between Europe and Africa. Inland wetlands such as the Sultan marshes and the Kızılırmak delta support colonies of flamingos and pelicans, while Lake Van, saline and closed, has a fish of its own that runs up the streams to spawn. In the east the fauna turns Caucasian, with bears, wolves, lynx and bezoar goats.

The nature of Türkiye

National animal: The grey wolf is the traditional symbolic animal; the Anatolian shepherd and the Kangal are the national dogs

Did you know?

The northern bald ibis, a black bird with a bare head and curved bill that was once common in central Europe, died out on the continent centuries ago and today survives in only a handful of places in the world. One of them is Birecik, on the banks of the Euphrates, where the colony is kept under a singular regime: the birds are taken into enclosures over winter to stop them setting out on a migration from which almost none returned, and released again in spring to breed.

Biodiversity profile

Asia Occidental / transcontinental (Anatolia, con territorio europeo)Solo 1,5% de la Region Biogeografica de Anatolia cuenta con areas protegidas efectivas para la conservacion de biodiversidad, una de las coberturas mas bajas documentadas para un hotspot de estepa

Climate

•Mediterraneo (Csa) en la costa sur y oeste
•Oceanico templado humedo en la costa del Mar Negro
•Continental semiarido y estepario (BSk) en el interior de Anatolia

Main biomes

•Estepa de Anatolia central (391.597 km2 de estepas seminaturales)
•Bosque mediterraneo costero
•Bosque templado humedo del Mar Negro (uno de los mas ricos de Europa en biodiversidad)
•Bosque de roble seco del este de Anatolia
•Estepa de Anatolia
•Bosque templado del mar Negro
•Lago salino cerrado
•Delta fluvial
•Matorral mediterráneo
•Alta montaña anatolia
•Humedal estepario

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Costas del Mediterraneo, Egeo, Marmara y Mar Negro, con playas de anidacion de tortuga boba (Caretta caretta) y foca monje mediterranea

Flagship wildlife

•Foca monje del Mediterraneo (Vulnerable)
•Oso pardo
•Lobo gris
•Ibis eremita del norte (poblacion semisalvaje reintroducida en Birecik)
•Caracal
•Ibis eremita
•Tortuga verde
•Flamenco común
•Pelícano ceñudo
•Cabra bezoar
•Lince caracal
•Cigüeña blanca

Notable endemic species

•Un tercio de las mas de 9.000 especies de plantas vasculares nativas de Turquia son endemicas
•3.035 especies endemicas solo en las estepas de Anatolia
•215 de 427 especies de peces de agua dulce (50,4%) son endemicas, principalmente ciprinidos confinados en cuencas anatolicas aisladas
•Mas de 100 especies de vertebrados endemicos, predominantemente peces de agua dulce
•Pez inci kefali del lago Van
•Ciervo de Anatolia
•Rata topo de Anatolia
•Salamandra de Anatolia

Notable threatened species

•1.130 especies de ambientes esteparios catalogadas como amenazadas, casi amenazadas o con datos insuficientes a nivel nacional
•Solo el 16,2% de las especies amenazadas de las estepas anatolicas estan cubiertas por la red de areas protegidas (94,1% en aves, pero solo 12,9% en plantas vasculares)
•Turquia ocupa el puesto 140 de 163 paises en conservacion de biodiversidad y habitat segun un indice internacional

Notable protected areas

•40 parques nacionales, 189 parques naturales, 31 areas de reserva natural, 80 areas de proteccion de vida silvestre y 109 monumentos naturales en todo el pais
•Parque Nacional de Kaçkar
•Marjales de Sultan
•Delta del Kızılırmak
•Parque Nacional de Köprülü
•Lago Van
•Playa de Iztuzu

Main conservation threats

•Conversion agricola y sobrepastoreo que amenazan a las estepas, con impacto sobre el 66,6% de sus especies endemicas
•Desertificacion agravada por el cambio climatico
•Mas de 4.000 represas, desvios y centrales hidroelectricas planificadas para 2023, con fuerte impacto sobre rios y humedales

Notable natural phenomena

•La "Diagonal Anatolica", una frontera biogeografica clave que separa el norte y oeste mas humedos de las estepas continentales del interior, ha modelado patrones de especiacion en multiples grupos taxonomicos

Conservation

Draining inland wetlands for irrigation has made entire lakes on the Anatolian plateau disappear. On the coast, the programmes protecting loggerhead turtle nests at Iztuzu and Dalyan are a Mediterranean benchmark.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Bosphorus in September for passing storks and raptors. Iztuzu between June and August for turtles. Eastern Anatolia in summer for high-mountain wildlife and steppe birds.

Sources: ScienceDirect - Turkey's globally important biodiversity in crisis | Academia.edu - Biodiversity Conservation Status Steppes Anatolian Region | Grokipedia - Fauna of Turkey | CBD - Turkey Fifth National Report

Temperate forest Grassland