Plant communities, diversity and endemism of the Kula Volcano, Manisa, Turkey

Abstract

Volcanoes often harbour specialized plant communities and shelter endemic plant species. Kula Volcano is one of 14 volcanoes in Turkey. Although this volcano is clearly a landmark of the Aegean region, only few botanical studies analysed the vegetation pattern at the Kula Volcano. None performed a phytosociological classification to delimit different plant communities. We applied a stratified random sampling design according to altitude and aspect and sampled 112 vegetation plots. We classified plant community types using a modified TWINSPAN analysis followed by the determination of diagnostic species based on φ coefficient fidelity values. Floristic relationships between plant community types were interpreted by ordination and ANOSIM analyses. Further, we used partial correlations of the ordination axes and environmental parameters in order to identify relationships between vegetation zonation and environment. We identified five major plant community types based on 85 diagnostic species. These plant community types were significantly correlated with altitude and aspect. Further, 13 endemic plant species were found from which one was endangered and one was classified as vulnerable according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Keywords::

• Biodiversity
• conservation
• diagnostic species
• endemism
• modified TWINSPAN
• phytosociology

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the [CBU-BAP] under [grant number 2010-084]; [ERASMUS Exchange program] under [grant number 40198292-5018].

The authors do not have any personal or institutional conflicts of interest.