The Central Anatolian deciduous forests, also known as the Central Anatolian woodlands and steppe, is a Palearctic

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of the

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

. It is located in

Central Anatolia The Central Anatolia Region ( tr, İç Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Ankara. Other big cities are Konya, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Sivas, and Aksaray. Located in Central Turkey, it is borde ...

, Asian

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Geography

The ecoregion occupies the plateau of Central Anatolia. Belts of forested mountains surround the ecoregion, with the Mediterranean-climate Anatolian conifer and deciduous mixed forests and

Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests The Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests ecoregion, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, is in the eastern Mediterranean Basin. Lebanon cedar (''Cedrus libani'') is a characteristic tree. Geography The e ...

ecoregions in western and southern mountains, and the more temperate-climate

Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests The Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion located in northern Anatolia, Turkey. Geography The ecoregion covers an area of . It covers portions of the Pontic Mountains, which extend east and ...

in the ranges to the north. The eastern edge of the ecoregion approximates the

Anatolian diagonal The Anatolian diagonal is a theoretical dividing line which runs diagonally across central and eastern Turkey from the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea to the southeastern corner of the Black Sea, and roughly cuts across part of the cou ...

, a biogeographic boundary which separates central from eastern Anatolia. The diagonal forms the western edge of the adjacent

Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests The Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests ecoregion is located in the mountains of eastern Turkey. It is a Palearctic ecoregion in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. Geography The ecoregion covers an area of 81,628 km2, Supplem ...

ecoregion. The driest portions of the plateau, including the area around

Lake Tuz Lake Tuz ( tr, Tuz Gölü meaning 'Salt Lake'; anciently Tatta — grc, ἡ Τάττα, la, Tatta Lacus) was the second largest lake in Turkey with its surface area and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. It is located in the C ...

, are part of the distinct

Central Anatolian steppe The Central Anatolian steppe is a Palearctic ecoregion in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. It covers an area of 24,934 km2. Geography The Central Anatolian steppe is located in the Central Anatolia region of Tur ...

ecoregion. The northern part of the ecoregion is drained by the

Sakarya Sakarya may refer to: Places * Sakarya Province, in Turkey ** Sakarya (electoral district) ** Sakarya University * Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago * Sakarya River, in Turkey * Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Pr ...

and Kızılırmak rivers. The southern portion occupies several closed lake basins, including Lake Tuz.

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Turkey's capital, lies in the northern portion of the ecoregion. Other cities in the ecoregion are

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...

, Kayseri,

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...

, and

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is continental, with hot summers and cold winters. Rainfall ranges annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 600 mm.Kapur, Selim, Erhan Akça, and Hikmet Günal (2017). ''The Soils of Turkey''. Springer, Sep 30, 2017

Flora

The characteristic vegetation of the ecoregion is dry deciduous forest interspersed with areas of shrub steppe. Human activity has transformed most of the region into anthropogenic steppe or open woodland. The forests which once covered 50 to 55% of the region now cover less than 10%.Atalay, Ibrahim (1986). "Vegetation formations of Turkey". ''Travaux de l'Institut de Géographie de Reims'', Année 1986 65-66. pp. 17-30. Oaks, including ''

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain (Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is also fo ...

'' and '' Quercus infectoria'', are the predominant trees. At higher elevations, ''Q. pubescens'' is joined by '' Pinus nigra,

Juniperus oxycedrus ''Juniperus oxycedrus'', vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region from Algeria and Portugal, north to southern France, east to westernm ...

'', and ''

Juniperus excelsa ''Juniperus excelsa'', commonly called the Greek juniper, is a juniper found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria across Turkey to Syria and Lebanon, Jordan, the Caucasus mountains, and south ...

''. The steppe plants include herbs, grasses, and low shrubs, with species of '' Artemisia,

Bromus ''Bromus'' is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 ...

Achillea ''Achillea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known colloquially as yarrows. The plants typically have frilly leaves. The common name "yarrow" usually refers to '' A. millefolium''. The genus was named after the Gre ...

Trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

'', and ''

Astragalus ''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...

'' prominent. Trees are absent from areas with less than 400 mm of annual rainfall. These areas constitute the 'true steppe' of the

ecoregion.

Protected areas

Protected areas include Bozdağ National Park and Sultan Sazlığı National Park.

External links

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Turkey Ecoregions of Asia Natural history of Anatolia * Forests of Turkey Palearctic ecoregions Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests