The Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
, in the
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...
biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
, is in the eastern
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...
.
Lebanon cedar
''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great relig ...
(''Cedrus libani'') is a characteristic tree.
Geography
The ecoregion covers an area of , in portions of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
, and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
The ecoregion lies mainly in the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...
, which run through southern
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
roughly parallel to the coast. The Taurus is divided into three sub-ranges – the Western, or Isaurian, Taurus (highest peak
Mt. Kizlarsivrisi ); the Central, or Lycian, Taurus (highest peak
Medetsiz ); and the Eastern, or Cilician, Taurus (highest peak
Demirkazık ).
The ecoregion also includes the higher-elevation portions of the
Nur Mountains
The Nur Mountains ( tr, Nur Dağları, "Mountains of Holy Light"), formerly known as Alma-Dağ, the ancient Amanus ( grc, Ἁμανός), medieval Black Mountain, or Jabal al-Lukkam in Arabic, is a mountain range in the Hatay Province of south ...
(or Amanos) along the western Turkey-Syria border, and the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
ine
Syrian Coastal Mountains,
Lebanon Mountains
Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at .
Geography
The Mount Le ...
, and
Anti-Lebanon Mountains
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of t ...
, which run parallel to the eastern Mediterranean shore in Syria, Lebanon, and northernmost Israel. The highest peak in the Nur mountains is
Bozdağ (), and the highest peak in the Levantine mountains is
Qurnat as Sawda' in Lebanon ().
[
]Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
is the most common rock, with areas of serpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed predominantly of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. Serpentinite has been called ''serpentine'' or ''s ...
and other ophiolitic
An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks.
The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is found i ...
rocks.
Temperate-climate forests and steppes lie to the north on the Anatolian plateaus. The Mediterranean-climate Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
* Eastern Air ...
ecoregion lies along the Mediterranean coastal lowlands, in the Levantine lowlands and foothills, and to the east.
Climate
The ecoregion has a montane Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
. Average annual precipitation ranges from 800 to 2000 mm. Winter is the wettest season, and summer is the driest. Rain-bearing winds generally come from the southwest winds, and south and west-facing slopes generally have higher rainfall than north and east-facing ones. Average temperatures vary with elevation, and higher elevations experience cool temperatures and regular winter frosts and snows. Proximity to the sea moderates winter temperatures, and interior regions have a more continental climate with colder winters.[
]
Flora
The main plant communities are conifer forests, broadleaf deciduous forests, and alpine meadows and shrublands.
Conifer forests are the most widespread. Turkish black pine (''Pinus nigra''), Lebanon cedar
''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great relig ...
(''Cedrus libani''), Taurus fir (''Abies cilicica''), and juniper (''Juniperus foetidissima
''Juniperus foetidissima'', with common names foetid juniper or stinking juniper, is a juniper tree species in the family Cupressaceae.
Description
''Juniperus foetidissima'' is a medium-sized tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter ...
'' and ''Juniperus excelsa
''Juniperus excelsa'', commonly called the Greek juniper, is a juniper found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria across Turkey to Syria and Lebanon, Jordan, the Caucasus mountains, and south ...
'') are the most common conifers. Junipers grow close to the treeline
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
, which is at approximately 2000 meters elevation near the coast, and 2400 meters elevation in drier inland areas.[
Deciduous forests are concentrated in areas with higher rainfall (1,500-2,000 mm) facing the prevailing southwest winds, notably the Geyik Mountains in the Western Taurus and the Nur Mountains in the east. Deciduous broadleaf trees are predominant, including ]Oriental hornbeam
''Carpinus orientalis'', known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a hornbeam native to Hungary, the Balkans, Italy, Crimea, Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus. and occurs usually on hot dry sites at lower altitudes in comparison to the ''Carpinus betulus' ...
(''Carpinus orientalis''), European hop-hornbeam (''Ostrya carpinifolia''), oaks (''Quercus cerris
''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristle ...
, Q. libani, Q. trojana'', and ''Q. petraea'' ssp. ''pinnatiloba''), and maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...
s (''Acer hyrcanum
''Acer hyrcanum'' is a maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less ...
, A. platanoides, A. campestre'', and '' A. monspessulanum'').[
The dry alpine meadows are characterized by low-growing subshrubs, tufted herbaceous plants, grasses, and geophytes, including many species of '']Astragalus
''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...
''.[
]
Protected areas
Protected areas in the Western Taurus include Çığlıkara Nature Reserve, near Elmalı
Elmalı is a town and district in Antalya Province, the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It lies about inland, near the town of Korkuteli and west of the city of Antalya. In 2007, the population for the whole district was 36.213, of which 14,0 ...
, Antalya Province
Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.
Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visi ...
, which protects 15,889 ha of ''Cedrus libani'' forest. The protected area around the coastal mountain of Babadağ, near Fethiye
Fethiye () is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. In 2019 its population was 162,686.
History
Fethiye was formerly known as Makri ...
in Muğla Province
Muğla Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, ...
, includes montane forests of '' Acer undulatum'', which is endemic to the mountain, along with ''Cedrus libani, Abies cilicica, Pinus brutia'', and junipers, and maquis at lower elevations.[Mansourian, Stephanie & Rossi, Magali & Vallauri, Daniel. (2013). Ancient Forests in the Northern Mediterranean: Neglected High Conservation Value Areas. 10.13140/2.1.5170.4640.] Other protected areas in the Western Taurus include Sarıkara National Park in the Bey Mountains, Köprülü Canyon National Park on the Köprüçay River, and Üzümdere National Park, Altınbeşik Cave National Park, and Dim Çayı National Park in the mountains above Alanya
Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, east of the city of Antalya. As of Turkey's 2010 census, the city had a population ...
.
Protected areas in the Central Taurus include Cehennem Deresi National Park and Topaşir National Park.
External links
*
References
{{reflist
Natural history of Anatolia
Eastern Mediterranean
Ecoregions of Asia
Ecoregions of Israel
Ecoregions of Lebanon
Ecoregions of Syria
Ecoregions of Turkey
Ecoregions of the Mediterranean Basin
Forests of Turkey
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Montane forests
Palearctic ecoregions
Sclerophyll forests