Re-evaluated conservation status of Salvia (sage) in Turkey I: The Mediterranean and the Aegean geographic regions

The precise evaluation of the conservation status of endemic and rare species is necessary in order to prevent their extinction. According to our current taxonomic revision of Turkish Salvia L., the Mediterranean and Aegean geographic regions of Turkey have 60 taxa, 32 of which are endemic (mainly local endemics), 5 of which are non-endemic rare, and the remaining 23 taxa are widely distributed. The rate of endemism is 53% in the area. The destruction of habitat through human encroachment such as urbanisation, land clearing, overgrazing, pollution, and road and dam constructions is the principal threat in the study area. Based on our field and population observations and the obtained data, we re-evaluated their current conservation status at both regional and (inter)national level using recent IUCN Red List categories. According to the results, threat categories of species at international level are as follows: 1 taxon Data Deficient (DD), 1 taxon Critically Endangered (CR), 8 taxa Endangered (EN), 15 taxa Vulnerable (VU), 7 taxa Near Threatened (NT), and 28 taxa Least Concern (LC). The threatened species are concentrated in 3 regions. The first region covers Antalya, Elmali, Korkuteli, Denizli, and Burdur. The second region covers Karaman, Mut, Gulnar, and Ermenek. The third region covers Adana, Kahramanmaras, and Hatay. The areas rich in terms of the endemic species number need to be legally protected with protection of population and vegetation. In addition, the area needs to be urgently modelled and managed by means of the Geographical Information System (GIS). In addition, some other measures need to be considered such as rehabilitation or restoration of damaged habitats and transferring the species to national parks and botanical gardens. Furthermore, public awareness and interest on the conservation of species should be increased