Phytosociological investigations of steppe and steppe forest vegetation in the south-east part of Central Anatolia of Turkey

Abstract

To gain a better understanding of the ecological systems, it is necessary to study the development, composition, and classification of the steppe and steppe forest communities, which are the primary components of phytocoenoses in semi-arid environments. Therefore, this study was aimed to contribute to a syntaxonomic classification of the Central Anatolian steppe and steppe forest vegetation. The Braun–Blanquet approach was used to analyze the vegetation of the study area in Göllüdağ (2172 m a.s.l.) located in the north of Niğde province. The vegetation data were analyzed using cluster analysis and detrended components analysis. The relationships between the communities and certain environmental factors were examined by principal components analysis. Two new steppe and steppe forest communities in Central Anatolia were classified in this study. The steppe communities were included in Agropyro tauri-Stachydion lavandulifoliae and Astragalo-Brometalia, whereas the steppe forest communities were classified as Quercion anatolicae and Querco cerridis-Carpinetalia orientalis.

Keywords

• Göllüdağ
• steppe
• oak scrubs
• phytosociology
• syntaxonomy