The Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests is a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needl ...

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 ...

located in northern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

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 covers an area of . It covers portions of the

Pontic Mountains The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Kuzey Anadolu Dağları'', meaning North Anatolian Mountains) form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the ''Parhar Mountains'' in the local Turki ...

, which extend east and west across Northern Anatolia parallel to the southern coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. The ecoregion lies between humid Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests, which cover the northern slope of the mountains and the Black Sea coast, and the drier forests, woodlands, and steppes of the Anatolian interior. The peaks are seldom higher than 2000 meters in the western and central mountains, and over 3000 meters in the

Kaçkar Mountains The Kaçkar Mountains ( tr, Kaçkar Dağları; hy, Խաչքարի լեռներ, lit=Mountains of Khachkars), formerly known as the Lazistan Mountains or the Mountains of Khaghtik (), are a mountain range that rises above the Black Sea coast in n ...

in the northeast.

Climate

The climate is transitional between the humid and moderate Black Sea coast, and the drier and more continental Anatolian interior. Average annual rainfall varies from 500 to 1,000 mm. In the western and central portions of the ecoregion, winter is the rainiest season, and in the east spring is the rainiest season.

Flora

The ecoregion's forests are mostly conifers, with deciduous broadleaf trees. In the western portion of the northern ranges, Turkish fir (''Abies nordmanniana'' subsp. ''equi-trojani'', syn. ''Abies bornmuelleriana'') is predominant, mixed with oriental beech (''Fagus orientalis''),

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

(''Pinus sylvestris''), or both.

Oriental spruce ''Picea orientalis'', commonly known as the Oriental spruce or Caucasian spruce, is a species of spruce native to the Caucasus and adjacent northeast Turkey. Description It is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 30–45 m tall or 9 ...

(''Picea orientalis'') is predominant in the northeast, along with

Caucasian fir ''Abies nordmanniana'', the Nordmann fir or Caucasian fir, is a fir indigenous to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia and the Russian Caucasus. It occurs at altitudes of 900–2,200 m on mountains with precipit ...

(''Abies nordmanniana''). The southern ranges have a drier and more continental climate, and pines are the dominant trees. Anatolian black pine (''Pinus nigra'' ssp. ''pallasiana'') is more common in the west, and Scots pine in the east. Deciduous broadleaf trees are part of the southern forest, including species of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(''Quercus''),

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

(''Acer''), and ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan ( mountain-ash) and service tree. The exact number of species is disputed depe ...

''. Open scrublands and small forest patches of juniper (''

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 communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'') and birch (''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 t ...

'' spp.) occur at high altitudes.

Fauna

Large mammal predators include the

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

(''Ursus arctos'') and gray wolf (''Canis lupus'').

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

(''Cervus elaphus'') and

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

(''Capreolus capreolus'') roam the west, and Anatolian chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra asiatica'') and

wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threate ...

(''Capra aegagrus'') are found in the east.

Protected areas

Protected areas include Kaçkar National Park, Altındere Valley National Park, Mount Ilgaz National Park, Yedigöller National Park,

Soğuksu National Park Soğuksu National Park ( tr, Soğuksu Millî Parkı), established on February 19, 1959, is a national park in central Anatolia, Turkey. It is located in the Kızılcahamam district of Ankara Province. Geography Soğuksu National Park is loc ...

, Yozgat Pine Grove National Park, Örümcek Gümüşhane Nature Reserve, Akdogan and Ruzgarlar Nature Reserve, Kale Bolu Hazelnut Nature Reserve, Kökez Bolu Nature Reserve, and Sülüklügöl Bolu Nature Reserve.

External link

References

{{reflist Temperate coniferous forests Ecoregions of Turkey Natural history of Anatolia * Forests of Turkey Ecoregions of Asia Palearctic ecoregions Montane forests