The Lowland Meadow Vegetation of the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

The vegetation of the lowland meadows in the central Black Sea region of Turkey was analyzed according to the Braun-Blanquet method with the help of TWINSPAN clustering, CCA, and DECORANA ordination methods. Three plant associations were discovered and described in the study area as new. The most abundant and frequent life form in the associations is hemicryptophytes. The Shannon Diversity Index and Evenness was also used for calculations of the associations. The syntaxonomical status of the described associations was ordered as follows: Molinio-Arrhenatheretea Tuxen 1937 Holoschoenetalia vulgaris Br.-B1. ex Tchou 1948 Gaudinio-Hordeion bulbosi Galan, Deil, Haug and Vicente 1997 Alopecuro pratensis-Juncetum littoralis Yalcin et al. 2013 ass. nova Plantaginetalia majoris Tuxen 1950 Trifolio fragiferi-Cynodontion Br.-B1. and O. Bolos 1958 Polypogono monspeliensis-Hordetum geniculati Yalcin et al. 2013. ass. nova Ranunculo ophioglossifolii-Paspaletum distichi, Yalcin et al. 2013 ass. nova