Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management

The aims of this study are to provide a complete inventory of wetlands in Turkey including their past status (1910-1930) in comparison to the present time (2014), and also recommendations for conservation and management. The types of wetlands and their area sizes were determined by using cartographi...

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Main Authors: Murat Ataol, Ortaç Onmuş
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2021-01-01
Series:Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2021.1930587
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spelling doaj-1a26f4ba0cc14a258af8550a551afd6d2021-06-25T11:10:06ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEcosystem Health and Sustainability2332-88782021-01-010010.1080/20964129.2021.19305871930587Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and managementMurat Ataol0Ortaç Onmuş1Çankırı Karatekin UniversityEge University IzmirThe aims of this study are to provide a complete inventory of wetlands in Turkey including their past status (1910-1930) in comparison to the present time (2014), and also recommendations for conservation and management. The types of wetlands and their area sizes were determined by using cartographical maps of 1/200,000 in scale made between 1910s and 1920s vs. 2006 CORINE Land Cover data, which was updated with Landsat 8 satellite images in 2014. Long term rainfall pattern for these wetlands during these two periods were determined using the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO). A hundred years ago, the total number of natural wetlands was 1299 with a total surface area of 1,376,505 hectares (ha). In 2014, the total number of natural wetlands had decreased to 900, with a total surface area of 1,085,936 ha, so that 21.2% of the original wetlands were lost (291,339 ha). NAO was negatively correlated (p<0.01) with the mean annual amount of precipitation in Turkey, but statistically explained 14% of the variability in the mean amount of annual rainfall. It can be concluded that the observed changes in the number of wetlands and their relative sizes cannot be attributed directly to changes in climate. Wetland drainage is largely responsible for observed wetland losses but regional changes in precipitation regimes partially contributed to this loss. Urgent conservation and restoration of wetlands are recommended to avoid further loss of wetlands in Turkey.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2021.1930587wetlandwetland lossdrainagedams and reservoirsturkeyconservation and managementareal extent
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Murat Ataol
Ortaç Onmuş
spellingShingle Murat Ataol
Ortaç Onmuş
Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
wetland
wetland loss
drainage
dams and reservoirs
turkey
conservation and management
areal extent
author_facet Murat Ataol
Ortaç Onmuş
author_sort Murat Ataol
title Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
title_short Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
title_full Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
title_fullStr Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
title_full_unstemmed Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
title_sort wetland loss in turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
series Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
issn 2332-8878
publishDate 2021-01-01
description The aims of this study are to provide a complete inventory of wetlands in Turkey including their past status (1910-1930) in comparison to the present time (2014), and also recommendations for conservation and management. The types of wetlands and their area sizes were determined by using cartographical maps of 1/200,000 in scale made between 1910s and 1920s vs. 2006 CORINE Land Cover data, which was updated with Landsat 8 satellite images in 2014. Long term rainfall pattern for these wetlands during these two periods were determined using the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO). A hundred years ago, the total number of natural wetlands was 1299 with a total surface area of 1,376,505 hectares (ha). In 2014, the total number of natural wetlands had decreased to 900, with a total surface area of 1,085,936 ha, so that 21.2% of the original wetlands were lost (291,339 ha). NAO was negatively correlated (p<0.01) with the mean annual amount of precipitation in Turkey, but statistically explained 14% of the variability in the mean amount of annual rainfall. It can be concluded that the observed changes in the number of wetlands and their relative sizes cannot be attributed directly to changes in climate. Wetland drainage is largely responsible for observed wetland losses but regional changes in precipitation regimes partially contributed to this loss. Urgent conservation and restoration of wetlands are recommended to avoid further loss of wetlands in Turkey.
topic wetland
wetland loss
drainage
dams and reservoirs
turkey
conservation and management
areal extent
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2021.1930587
work_keys_str_mv AT muratataol wetlandlossinturkeyoverahundredyearsimplicationsforconservationandmanagement
AT ortaconmus wetlandlossinturkeyoverahundredyearsimplicationsforconservationandmanagement
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