Wetland loss in Turkey over a hundred years: implications for conservation and management

• Published in: Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
• Main Authors: Ataol, Murat, Onmus, Ortac
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Inc 2021
• Subjects: Wetland; drainage; dams and reservoirs; turkey; conservation and management; areal extent; North-Atlantic Oscillation; wetland loss; Trends; Variability; Impacts; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11454/77286; https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2021.1930587

The aims of this study were to provide a complete inventory of wetlands in Turkey including their past status (1910-1930) in comparison to the present time (2014). The types of wetlands and their area sizes were determined by using cartographical maps of 1/200,000 in scale made between 1910s and 1920s vs. 2006 CORINE Land Cover data, which were updated with Landsat 8 satellite images in 2014. The effect of possible climate change on wetlands sizes various local, national and regional rainfall datasets were analysed by correlation and regression analysis. A hundred years ago, the total number of natural wetlands was 1299 with a total surface area of 1,376,505 hectares. In 2014, the total number of natural wetlands had decreased to 900, with a total surface area of 1,085,936 hectares, so that 21.2% of the original wetlands were lost (291,339 hectares). The observed changes in the number of wetlands and their relative sizes cannot be attributed directly to changes in climate. Wetland drainage was largely responsible for observed wetland losses, but local changes in precipitation regimes partially contributed to this loss. Urgent conservation and restoration of wetlands are recommended to avoid further loss of wetlands in Turkey.