Nature protection and biodiversity - Drivers and pressures (Turkey)

Threats to Agricultural Biological Diversity and Steppe Ecosystems

In Turkey, the most reduction and loss is in the steppe ecosystems on ecosystem basis. The major cause of this is that steppe areas mainly occur in flat plains, that they are proximate to settlement areas and that they are abandoned. The following table summarizes the threats to agricultural biological diversity and steppe ecosystems (Table 3). While some of these threats arise out of internal factors connected with agricultural practices, the external factors that affect land and resource utilization cause some other to happen.

Table 3: Common threats to agricultural biological diversity and steppe ecosystems             

Threats to Forest and Mountain Biological Diversity and their Causes

Mountain ecosystems include wetland, forest and steppe ecosystems, and therefore any pressure on those ecosystems in turn becomes a threat to mountain ecosystems. In addition, the factors that cause the reduction of Turkey’s mountain biological diversity include:

• The excessive use of forests in mountain ecosystems without considering their bearing capacity both at ecosystem and species levels (hunting, grazing, lumbering, visitors, in-forest constructional activities, etc.);

• The impacts of atmospheric pollution and global climate change;

• Pressures arising from the dependency of communities living in and around forests on agricultural and forestry products (livestock, uncontrolled use, gaining farmlands and forest fires) and the insufficient number of income-generating programs;

• Increasing construction due to tourism incentives, uplands tourism, the high number of visitors in the archaeological sites, and other tourism activities exceeding the bearing capacity;

• Alien species;

• The over gathering of plants having an economical value;

• Wrong mining activities;

• Wrong and insensible aforestation.

More than half of Turkey’s forest ecosystems have been destroyed. The factors that cause the reduction of Turkey’s forest ecosystems biological diversity include:

• The excessive use of forests without considering their bearing capacity both at ecosystem and species levels (hunting, grazing, lumbering, visitors, in-forest structures, etc.);

• The impacts of atmospheric pollution and global climate change;

• Pressures arising from the dependency of communities living in and around forests on agricultural and forestry products (livestock, uncontrolled use, gaining agricultural lands and forest fires) and the insufficient number of income-generating programs;

• Increasing construction due to tourism incentives, uplands tourism, the high number of visitors in the archaeological sites, and other tourism activities exceeding the bearing capacity;

• Alien species;

• Taking forests out of the forest regime;

• The destroying of forests for gaining farmlands;

• Forest fires;

• Destruction by insects;

• The uncontrolled taking of flora and fauna samples.

Threats to Coastal and Marine Biological Diversity and Their Causes

The threats to coastal and marine biological diversity can be listed as the entry of foreign species, over fishing, illegal fishing, pollution, the destruction of habitats, tourism activities, and interventions with the water regime.

Threats to Inland Waters Biological Diversity and Their Causes

The threats to inland waters biological diversity can be the occurrence of alien species, excessive or illegal fishing, pollution, the illegal hunting of birds, reptiles and their youngs or the gathering of their eggs, excessive grazing, the destruction of habitat, the uprooting of aquatic plants, the burning of reeds and uncontrolled cutting of them, secondary buildings, sedimentation, pressure from tourism, and interventions with the water regime.

The excessive use of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides to have better yield in agricultural products and both domestic and industrial wastewaters cause the contamination of inland waters, changes in food chain, and the degradation of water quality.

Fish and similar species released to inland waters for economic purposes either knowingly or unconsciously lead to irrecoverable changes in the natural inland waters biological diversity of the country. For example, the pike-perch species released to the Lakes Beyşehir and Eğirdir has caused the endemic Phoxinellus and P. Handlirschi species to become extinct.

Climate changes brought along with global warming with impacts felt more day by day and the resulting new practices that must be implemented in water sources utilization and management (e.g. the increased utilization of groundwater, increased utilization of inland waters resources as either drinking or irrigation water) will pose a stronger threat to the sustainability of many inland waters ecosystems.