The overall objective of the project is to monitor seasonal changes that occur in Tuzla wetland ecosystems by means of suitable methods and indicators. For this aim; the changes on (1) habitat type, (2) lagoon surface area, (3) vegetation and bird species indicators, and(4) soil salinity that is an effective factor in identifying coastal habitats were monitored.CORINE classification, an international classification system, was employed for identificationof the habitats, and the evaluation was based on vegetation community indicator and soilsalinity. Eleven distinct habitat types were identified and match with the list of endangeredhabitats in EU as stated in the annexes of BERN Convention.Geographical Information Systems was used for mapping spatial distribution of thehabitats and habitat map was created. Within this context, seasonal changes of the watertable of the Tuz Gölü lagoon and its impacts on the adjacent habitats were investigated.Regarding avian fauna, which is an effective bio-indicator, breeding ecology, populationdynamics and behavioral features were analyzed, and genetic methods were employed aswell as a ringing campaign. For change detection of the wetland 13 Landsat TM and ETM+scenes covering period between January-October 2009, were used for pairwisecomparisons. For land cover classification a WorldView-2 data was used and obtainedinformation was utilised in delineating boundries of habitats.Vegetation analysis was performed to describe the species composition of thehabitats. Fifty seven sampling plots were selected and 59 plant taxa were identified. Twentythree plant communities were described according to species composition of vegetation.Multivariate statistical analyses were used to determine the plant communities and theirrelation along the salinity gradients. The most common plant life forms are therophytes andchamaephytes respectively. Dominant species of the area are Halocnemum strobilaceum,Arthrocnemum fruticosum, Spergularia marina, Plantago coronopus and Atriplexportulacoides. Soils of the research area were classified as hyper-saline in general. Soilsalinity is the main driving factor controlling the distribution of plant taxa. The highest speciesrichness value (42 species) was obtained in the range of 800?1600 mS/m.During the point surveys at the six observation points 44 water bird species wereobserved. At the salt marshes 36 species were observed, whereas at the freshwater marshhabitat 28 species. In total 247 nests were found in the two years. The lying date is known for198 nests: most nests were laid during May. The fate of 184 nests is known: 19.6% of nestsproduced at least one chick whereas 70.1% of nests were predated. In the spring fieldworkGammarus aequicauda and Gammarus subtypicus which are considered basic sources forthe diet of C. alexandrinus, were sampled in high abundance in the lagoon sediment. Thisfinding may be an evidence for the sedentary colony of C. alexandrinus which is a constantand breeding species.Principal habitats of the area which are influenced by the anthropogenic impacts arestated in the list of endangered habitats in EU. Outcomes of this research represent asample study for monitoring methodology in conservation and management of coastalwetlands.
- Title Original : Tuz Gölü Lagünü ve Ba?lant?l? Sulak Alan Ekosisteminde K?y? Habitatlar?n?n K?sa Dönemli ?zlenmesi
- Website : http://
- Project start : 2008
- Project end : 2011
- Contact Person : Tuluhan Yilmaz
- Funding Agency : Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUB?TAK) and NKTH (Hungary)
- Project Partners : Cukurova University (Turkey), Eötvos University (Hungary)
