Pak. J. Bot., 42(2): 711-719, 2010. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THREATENED ENDEMIC FLORA IN TURKEY: KEMALIYE (ERZİNCAN) CASE ZÖHRE BULUT* AND HASAN YILMAZ Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture, Adnan Menderes University, South Campus, Aydın, Turkey *Corresponding author: E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract The flora in Turkey is an outstanding one in terms of its biodiversity and the variety of endemic plant species. In this study, efforts have been made to determine the current situation of Turkey in general and local region (Kemaliye), being rich for endemic plants, based on International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Sources (IUCN) in order to present abundancy of endemic plants in Turkey and conditions in which endemic plant have been threatened. Of 3504 endemic plants in Turkey, 12 are known to have been extinct and 3492 (99 %) are still being threatened. Of 61 endemic plants in Kemaliye region, 5 is known to have been extinct and 54 (88%) to be threatened. This study provides some suggestions about conservation and management of such plants by considering their threatened categories. Introduction Biological diversity consists of three hierarchical categories viz., gene, species and ecosystem. Species diversity implies the diversity of species in a certain region or all over the world (Anon., 2001). According to Hunter (1996), biodiversity consists of five components: 1) genetic, 2) species, 3) community, 4) landscape and 5) process or function (Kaya & Raynal, 2001). The fact that a plant grows only in a certain local area is defined as endemism. In other words, plants which can grow only in a specific and limited region on the earth’s surface are called endemic plants.