Ecological networks as a new approach for nature conservation in Turkey: A case study of Izmir Province

WOS: 000265153700006This paper aims to identify and evaluate a potential ecological network including core areas and large-scale corridors in the Izmir Province and its surrounding areas, Turkey. it is one of the first studies on the connectivity for mammal species and the detection of potential ecological corridors for Turkey. Four wide-ranging species (Hyaena hyaena, Lynx lynx, Caracal caracal, and Felis chaus) have been chosen as target species. Existing Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and surrounding lands have been evaluated based on a three criteria: (1) vegetation/habitat types, (2) carrying capacity and (3) road density using simple GIS-based models. The results are evaluated using the Minimum Viable Metapopulation (MVMP) standards. No KBA in the study region has a Key Population (KP) or Minimum Viable Population (MVP) with the exception of Boz Daglar. Least cost-path analysis has been applied to identify linkages between KBAs relevant for the four target species. The conclusion is that it is possible to maintain MVPs in the region when the KBAs are linked by ecological corridors. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)We are thankful to TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey), which provided financial support for making researches in the field of ecological networks in the Netherlands. We also would like to express our gratitude to Paul Opdam, Paul Chardon, TheoVan Der Sluis from Alterra Green World Research Center Wageningen University - the Netherlands, and GOven Eken and Yildiray Lise from Doga Dernegi-Turkey for their sincere co-operation and valuable knowledge given. Very special thanks are given to Ted Cook from Arizona State University-USA for his encouragement and guidance. Finally we also thank Sel uk Dinqal, Ph.D candidate at Texas A&M University - USA, Fatih Evrendilek from Abant Izzet Baysal University - Turkey and Bob Bunce from Alterra Green World Research Center Wageningen University - the Netherlands for their contributions to advance the manuscript