The following is a list of ecoregions in Turkey as maintained by One Earth. [1] [2] Alternatively part of Turkey is included by the European Environment Agency: Black Sea Biogeographic Region, Anatolian Biogeographic Region and Mediterranean Biogeographic Region.
Contents
- Terrestrial
- Dinaric Mountains & Balkan Mixed Forests Bioregion
- Black Sea, Caucasus-Anatolian Mixed Forests & Steppe Bioregion
- Aegean Sea & East Mediterranean Mixed Forests Bioregion
- Zagros Mountain Forests & East Anatolian Steppe Bioregion
- Freshwater
- Marine
- References
The geography of Turkey is roughly rectangular, being more than 1,600 km (990 mi) east-west and 800 km (500 mi) north-south. Turkey's 783,562 km2 (302,535 sq mi) of land is divided into two parts by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles; European Turkey makes up only 3% of the country, with the rest being in Asia and often known as Anatolia.
The country has varied topography with fertile coastal plains contrasting with mountainous regions in the centre and eastern part of the country. The climate of Turkey also varies, with the weather systems found near the coasts contrasting with those prevailing in the interior. The Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. The interior of the country has a continental climate with severe weather on the Anatolian plateau in winter and hot, dry summers. These large differences in climate are reflected in an extremely diverse wildlife. [3]
Because it is mountainous the country has a lot of biomes. [4] The ecoregions of Turkey include the important [5] terrestrial Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests and Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests. There are also small areas of bottomland forest. [6] Turkey includes portions of three biodiversity hotspots: the Mediterranean Basin, the Caucasus, and the Irano-Anatolian. [5]
