title: Identification of ecologically significant habitats for urban nature conservation: a case study in Turkey.
abstract: Given the rapid urbanization of Turkey, sustained productivity of natural resources should be an integral part of any urban development policy. The biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem services link urban and rural ecosystems. It is, therefore, essential that ecologically significant habitats along urban-rural continuum be protected to secure public and environmental health. This necessitates their identification and the establishment of administrative and legal foundations for urban nature conservation in the management of urban habitats, should be established Ecological analysis of urban habitats of Karşiyaka led to the identification of 19 ecologically significant habitats. Nature conservation priority was rated, using rarity, species richness, stratification, site age, and area of the habitats. Ecologically significant habitats made up about 54 ha of the total urban green space of 289 ha in Karşiyaka. The total number of plant species was estimated to be 273.
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture, Mustafa Kemal University, Alahan-Hatay 31034, Turkey. fevrendilek@mku.edu.tr
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Evrendilek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002947:Cities; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D014421:Turkey