Monitoring forest plant biodiversity changes and developing conservation strategies: a study from Camili Biosphere Reserve Area in NE Turkey

This study was carried out in forestland of Camili Biosphere Reserve (CBR) area in NE Turkey. It was designed to evaluate the consequences of disturbances on changes in secondary forest succession from 1985 to 2005 for monitoring forest plant biodiversity changes and developing conservation strategies. The successional stages were mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), aerial photos and high resolution satellite images (IKONOS). The results showed that stable stage decreased about 77.96% over the last 20-year time period. Although 701.6 ha conifer forests existed in competition and reaction stages in 1985, none existed in 2005. In overall, about 33.23% of the area decreased, 42.36% did not change and 24.41% increased in different seral stages. Consequently, 8.83% of the area decreased as a whole to indicate that the forest has been developing from stable to nudation stage, that is to say, retrogressive succession is going on in the area. Forest structure and its relationship with plant biodiversity along with its changes over time were determined using FRAGSTATS. We also investigated spatio-temporal configuration of six secondary forest successional stages and generated structural diversity measures. These measures revealed that the landscape has been fragmented, posing a danger to lose the important components of plant biodiversity. Sustainable management of such degraded forests is of crucial importance for plant biodiversity conservation. In conclusion, the study contributes to the development of a framework for effective conservation of plant biodiversity through plant biodiversity integrated Multiple Use Forest Management (MUFM) plans by using the successional stages and plant biodiversity changes.