The indicator plant species of wild animals in the Gidengelmez mountains district

Abstract

"Aim : The present study was carried out to identify indicator plant species of wild animals in the Gidengelmez mountains district. Methodology : The data was collected from 95 sample plots. Since all the data used were is binary, inter specific, correlation analysis was applied to examine the interrelationships between wild animals and plant taxa. Results : It was found that the most important indicator plants of wild animals were Salvia tomentosa, Micromeria myrtifolia, Vicia cracca subsp. stenophylla, Arum dioscoridis var. spectabile, Rosa canina, Jun/pews oxycedrus and Berberis crataegina. Vicia cracca subsp. stenophylla was the common indicator species for European hare (Lepus europaeus) and Badger (Me/es metes), whereas Salvia tomentosa and Micromeria myrtifolia were significantly associated with Beech marten (Manes foina) and Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) The most important indicator plant for Wild boar (Sus scrofa) was Berberis crataegina. With regard to wild goat (Capra aegagrus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos), no plant was found to have strong indicatory value. Interpretation : Correlation between occurrence and richness of wild animals and plant species richness was examined by Spearman correlation and Pearson correlation analysis. Among wild animals, only European hare was significantly related to plant species richness at the level of 0.05. The relationship between wild animal richness and species richness was found insignificant."