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The Kasatura Bay region is one of Türkiye's Important Plant Areas and plant biodiversity hotspots. In this study, the diversity and gradient of the sand-dune vegetation in Kasatura Bay were studied. Vegetation sampling was carried out by using the Braun-Blanquet method. The vegetation dataset was recorded in the TURBOVEG database management program. For classification, Beta-Flexible clustering (β = −0.25) and the correlation similarity index were used in the PC-ORD program. Diagnostic species of the communities were determined in the JUICE program using the φ-coefficient (higher than 0.30). Detrended Canonical Correspondence analysis was applied to data in the CANOCO program to understand the effect of ecological factors on vegetation diversity. Ellenberg ecological indicator values were used as the ecological variables. As a result, seven different plant communities were identified at the Kasatura Bay sand dunes. A new association of Sileno thymifoliae–Cionuretum erectae ass. nova was identified under the alliance Sileno thymifoliae–Jurineion kilaeae. The sand-dune vegetation represents high diversity, also including endemic plants, some of which are globally threatened. Due to all this diversity, settled on sensitive conditions, conservation strategies need to be developed to protect and ensure the continuity of Kasatura Bay sand-dune vegetation in the face of intense human pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: What are the main vegetation types of forest and shrubland vegetation in central and eastern Euxine Turkey and SW Georgia? What are the main environmental factors affecting their diversity? What is their syntaxonomic position? Can we integrate them into the European vegetation classification system? Location: Central and eastern Euxine Turkey and SW Georgia. Methods: We collected 3104 vegetation plots of forest and shrubland vegetation in the study region and performed Two‐Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) classification. We described vegetation types based on the classification results, expert knowledge and information from literature sources. We defined diagnostic species and prepared distribution maps for each vegetation type. To determine the most significant environmental variables on floristic differentiation, we used canonical correspondence analysis. Detrended correspondence analysis with passive projection of most significant environmental variables was run to interpret the environmental variation of vegetation types. Results: The studied vegetation was divided into 29 vegetation types related to seven main vegetation groups: relict Mediterranean forests and shrubland (mainly along the coastline, beside some inland localities), lowland to submontane forests, central Euxine mountain forests, eastern Euxine (Colchic) mountain forests, subeuxine forests, azonal riparian forests and subalpine and alpine shrubland. Elevation is the most important factor causing the differentiation in vegetation. It is followed by longitude and latitude. Among climatic variables, temperature seasonality, annual precipitation and precipitation of the wettest quarter are the most significant factors for vegetation differentiation. These factors correlate with the reduction of maritime climate and geomorphological features. Conclusions: Vegetation types mostly correspond to the syntaxa accepted in the EuroVegChecklist. However, some of them do not appear in the EuroVegChecklist since they appear only beyond Europe. We described three syntaxa as new: Abietion equi‐trojani, Querco cerridis‐Carpinion orientalis and Piceo orientalis‐Fagenion orientalis. The study revealed high vegetation diversity of the region that should be taken into consideration in ecosystem management and used as a reference in restoration and mitigation of the effects of global changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aristolochia clematitis L. is a perennial herbaceous plant distributed throughout Europe, Asia Minor and Caucasus. It has been used as a medicinal plant since antiquity but not in recent times because it contains poisonous aristolochic acid, causing progressive kidney failure. The aim of this work was to study Aristolochia clematitis ecology on the basis of vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive, and to investigate the differentiation of its ecological niche using a co-occurrence-based measure of ecological specialization (ESI). The ecological niche was studied on three spatial scales: on the entire distribution area, its differentiation across 200 × 200 km grid cells and the differences between three central and three marginal regions. Our results suggest that Aristolochia clematitis has a very broad ecological niche occurring in a range of different habitats and climatic conditions, with a trend of a niche width decrease with the distance from the geographical center. The plant prefers more stable communities with less anthropogenic influence moving towards the margin of the distribution area. Specialization towards the marginal area is a result of evolutionary history, which refers to the recent anthropogenically induced spread from its original home range. A high incidence of Aristolochia clematitis in the vegetation of arable lands and market gardens as well as anthropogenic herbaceous vegetation in the distribution center corresponds to the geographical incidence of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To analyse the biogeographic patterns of Temperate Deciduous Forests (TDFs) in Western Eurasia based on different life‐forms and forests layers and explore their relationships with the current climate, Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate and topography. Location: Western Eurasia. Taxon: Vascular plants. Methods: We delimited nine regions encompassing the variability of TDFs in Western Eurasia and collected 1000 vegetation plots from each. We deconstructed the plant communities into three layers, tree, shrub and floor. We used (i) generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to analyse the influence of current climate, historical climate and topography on species richness by accounting for regional effects and (ii) redundancy analysis (RDA) with variance partitioning to describe the variation in life forms along abiotic gradients. The three forest layers were analysed jointly and separately. Results: The Balkans, Alps and Carpathians appeared to be the richest in plant species, whereas the British Isles and the Hyrcanian region were the poorest. Annual temperature range and annual mean temperature were the best predictors of species richness for the whole dataset and for the shrub layer. The tree layer richness was mainly explained by the annual temperature range and by elevation, whereas the forest floor richness was more related to the annual temperature range and the annual mean temperature differences between the LGM and current climate. The current climate was the main predictor of the composition of the whole community, the tree layer and the floor layer, while the shrub layer was also influenced by historical climate. Main conclusions: Our overview of the diversity of temperate deciduous forests in Western Eurasia demonstrates different patterns and drivers across life‐forms and forest layers. While the diversity of trees is mainly linked to current climatic conditions, the shrub layer is also driven by postglacial‐glacial climatic stability, suggesting a different origin from forest trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: What are the main vegetation types of forest and shrubland vegetation at the alliance level in Mediterranean Turkey? What is their syntaxonomical position? Can we integrate them into the European vegetation classification system? Which environmental factors are the main drivers of the floristic differentiation of vegetation types? Location: Southern and western Turkey. Methods: We collected 4,717 vegetation plots of forest and shrubland vegetation in Mediterranean Turkey and performed an unsupervised classification of this data set. We described vegetation types based on the classification results, expert knowledge and information from the literature. We defined diagnostic species and prepared distribution maps for each vegetation type. To support the interpretation of the vegetation types, we determined the most important environmental variables using canonical correspondence analysis. Results: The studied vegetation was divided into 21 types related to three vegetation belts: (a) thermo‐ and meso‐mediterranean, comprising coniferous (Pinus brutia, Pinus pinea) and sclerophyllous forests, as well as macchia, garrigue and phrygana; (b) supra‐mediterranean, comprising Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana forests, thermophilous deciduous forests dominated by various oak species and Ostrya carpinifolia, and forests dominated by temperate species such as Fagus orientalis; and (c) oro‐mediterranean, comprising forests and shrublands dominated by Abies cilicica, Cedrus libani, Juniperus excelsa and Juniperus communis subsp. nana. Elevation was identified as the main environmental driver of the vegetation pattern. Among climatic variables, the most important are the mean temperatures (annual and of driest, coldest, and warmest quarters), minimum temperature of winter, precipitation of warmest and driest quarters and precipitation seasonality. These factors indicate the decreasing effect of the Mediterranean climate with increasing elevation. Conclusions: The vegetation of Mediterranean Turkey is arranged along climatic gradients depending on elevation and the distance from the Mediterranean Sea. Most vegetation types in this area correspond to the syntaxa accepted in EuroVegChecklist, while others were described as new.Mediterranean Turkey comprises three vegetation belts: 1) thermo‐ and meso‐mediterranean, with coniferous (Pinus brutia, Pinus pinea) and sclerophyllous forests, as well as macchia, garrigue and phrygana (red dots), 2) supra‐mediterranean, with Pinus nigra, thermophilous oaks and Ostrya carpinifolia forests, and forests of temperate species (yellow dots), and 3) oro‐mediterranean, represented by Abies cilicica, Cedrus libani, Juniperus excelsa forests and Juniperus communis shrublands (blue dots). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinusbrutia, Pinushalepensis, Pinuspinaster and Pinuspinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad‐scale classification of these pine forests based on a large data set of vegetation plots. Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, Levant, Anatolia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Methods: We prepared a data set of European and Mediterranean pine forest vegetation plots. We selected 7,277 plots dominated by the cold‐sensitive Mediterranean pine species Pinusbrutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea. We classified these plots using TWINSPAN, interpreted the ecologically and biogeographically homogeneous TWINSPAN clusters as alliances, and developed an expert system for automatic vegetation classification at the class, order and alliance levels. Results: We described Pineteahalepensis as a new class for the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forests, included in the existing Pinetaliahalepensis order, and distinguished 12 alliances of native thermophilous pine forests, including four newly described and three informal groups merging supposedly native stands and old‐established plantations. The main gradients in species composition reflect elevational vegetation belts and the west–east, and partly north–south, biogeographical differences. Both temperature and precipitation seasonality co‐vary with these gradients. Conclusions: We provide the first formal classification at the order and alliance levels for all the Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests based on vegetation‐plot data. This classification includes traditional syntaxa, which have been critically revised, and a new class and four new alliances. We also outline a methodological workflow that might be useful for other vegetation classification syntheses. The expert system, which is jointly based on pine dominance and species composition, is a tool for applying this classification in research and nature conservation survey, monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We present the first survey of plant communities of Istanbul, their classification and syntaxonomy with main environmental drivers that shape them. Study area: Anatolian (Asian) part of Istanbul, Turkey. Methods: We collected 442 vegetation relevés according to Braun-Blanquet method. Cluster analysis and ordination of the dataset were performed to assess particular vegetation patterns. Diagnostic species of each cluster were determined using the fidelity measure (phi-coefficient). Site conditions were presented by ecological indicator values. Results: The analysed dataset shows clear division into six classes. They represent typical weed plant community (Digitario sanguinalis-Eragrostietea minoris), annual (Sisymbrietea, Chenopodietea) and perennial ruderal vegetation (Artemisietea vulgaris, Epilobietea angustifolii), and higher successional stadia (Charabdido- Asphodeletea). Conclusions: Our survey of urban vegetation of Istanbul is the first attempt of urban vegetation classification in Turkey. We showed high diversity of vegetation due to various human impacts and Istanbul's location on the crossroads of different phytogeographical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Better understanding of the competitive interaction at the early development stages of the stand is crucial to help schedule silvicultural treatments for young stands and for the better management of the future stands. We used scale‐dependent analysis to improve our understanding of sapling dynamics in the pure Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) stands in Southern Turkey. Using data from nine plots established at the western Taurus Mountains, diameter, height, and crown radii of saplings were compared, and spatial point pattern analyses were performed. We found significant differences for the mean diameter and height, and crown radii of saplings among the plots. Univariate pair correlation function showed that sapling pattern was regular only at small scales (r < 0.4 m) but was predominantly random. Bivariate pair correlation function revealed no evidence of spatial interaction between tall saplings and short saplings. Univariate mark correlation function revealed that strong intraspecific competition was detected at small scales (up to 0.55 m). This distance is reasonable for the juvenile age tending of Taurus cedar saplings and should be under consideration during silvicultural treatments to use the site productivity more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the paper is to describe species composition, ecology and syntaxonomy of unique mesophilous forests in Georgian Colchis in the context of the Euxinian forests. Location: SW Georgia, western part of the Caucasus Region, slopes of the Lesser Caucasus (80-990 m). Methods: Forest vegetation was sampled following the Braun-Blanquet approach and basic environmental characteristics were recorded for each relevé (n = 53). The dataset was clustered using modified TWINSPAN and diagnostic species for each cluster were defined by phi fidelity index. Links between the species composition of vegetation and environmental factors were analysed by detrended correspondence analysis. Numerical comparison of the distinguished clusters with previously published associations from northern Turkey was carried out (expanded dataset, n = 173). Results: Among the new relevés, we distinguished three vegetation types subsequently described as new associations: (i) Digitali schischkinii-Carpinetum betuli, chestnut-hornbeam forests of slightly dry sites, with low cover of evergreen shrubs, (ii) Rusco colchici-Castaneetum sativae, chestnut-hornbeam forests with a dense evergreen shrub layer, and (iii) Polysticho woronowii-Ulmetum glabrae, ravine forests with noble hardwood trees and ravine forest specialists. These associations were classified to the alliances of Euxinian forests, the first two to Castaneo-Carpinion and the third to Alnion barbatae. Major turnover in species composition within the dataset followed gradients of rockiness, slope inclination, altitude and mean annual temperature. The analysis of the expanded dataset revealed a decreasing occurrence of Mediterranean species and an increasing number of fern species along an easterly gradient. This change in species composition is likely to be driven by macroclimatic gradients. Conclusions: This paper presents the first numerical comparison of chestnut-hornbeam and ravine forests across central and eastern parts of the Euxinian Province. Our results have highlighted the uniqueness of Georgian Colchic forests, described as new associations, in the context of Euxinian forest vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this study is to put forward Turkey as a case study of the applicability of the European approach to landscape characterisation studies at the local scale within the context of the European Landscape Convention. For this purpose, a classification of landscape types with the help of LANMAP typology is suggested at the European scale in a basin in Turkey where there are obvious differences in terms of landscape characteristics. In particular, this study examines the usability of a countrywide thematic database when making this classification. It is understood that a mapping system as well as a common nomenclature of types of land covered at the country scale is insufficient for the suggested methodology for Europe. Later, results of the continuation of a classification system at the local scale for landscape characterisation are discussed, and some deficiencies of LANMAP when characterising the landscapes at this scale are mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains the original diagnoses of new syntaxa and typifications of existing names of syntaxa from paper "Classification of plant communities along post-fire succession in Pinus brutia stands in southern Antalya (Turkey)" that was published in Turkish Journal of Botany. As journal has only on-line version according to ICPN descriptions are not valid. We described syntaxa: Eryngio falcati-Securigerion securidacae all. nova, Ajugo chiae-Lactucetum serriolae ass. nova, Phlomido grandiflorae-Cistetum salvifolii ass. nova, and Arbuto andrachnes-Quercetum cocciferae ass. nova and selected nomenclatural type for Querco-Phillyreetum mediae Barbero & Quézel 1976. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]