Löki V., Tökölyi J., Süveges K., Lovas-Kiss Á., Hürkan K., Sramkó G. & Molnár V. A. (2015): The orchid flora of Turkish graveyards: a comprehensive survey. Willdenowia 45(2): 231–243.
Abstract
Graveyards are widely known among orchidologists as finding places of several orchid species in Turkey, including some very rare and localised ones. Graveyards provide places that are less strongly affected by landscape-altering human activities than other habitats because of their special cultural roles and religious privileges. In this study we performed a comprehensive survey of Turkish graveyards as orchid habitats. In total, 300 graveyards were studied in 30 provinces of Turkey in 2014. 84 orchid taxa (almost half of the known Turkish orchid flora) were found in 208 graveyards. From the studied provinces two south-southwestern provinces (Muğla, Antalya) emerged as peaks of species richness. This finding is in accordance with the overall biogeographical pattern of orchid diversity in Turkey. Our survey also contributes new floristic data to the orchid flora of Turkey. We documented salep collection in 10 graveyards from six provinces involving nine species. Altogether, we found orchids in 69% of the inspected graveyards, allowing us to conclude that the occurrence of orchids in Turkish graveyards is not a rare phenomenon. Thus, graveyards can be important refuges for orchids in the changing economical and agricultural circumstances of Turkey.
Keywords
Asia minor, cemetery, flora of Turkey, Near East, Orchidaceae, salep, SW Asia
Abstract
Graveyards are widely known among orchidologists as finding places of several orchid species in Turkey, including some very rare and localised ones. Graveyards provide places that are less strongly affected by landscape-altering human activities than other habitats because of their special cultural roles and religious privileges. In this study we performed a comprehensive survey of Turkish graveyards as orchid habitats. In total, 300 graveyards were studied in 30 provinces of Turkey in 2014. 84 orchid taxa (almost half of the known Turkish orchid flora) were found in 208 graveyards. From the studied provinces two south-southwestern provinces (Muğla, Antalya) emerged as peaks of species richness. This finding is in accordance with the overall biogeographical pattern of orchid diversity in Turkey. Our survey also contributes new floristic data to the orchid flora of Turkey. We documented salep collection in 10 graveyards from six provinces involving nine species. Altogether, we found orchids in 69% of the inspected graveyards, allowing us to conclude that the occurrence of orchids in Turkish graveyards is not a rare phenomenon. Thus, graveyards can be important refuges for orchids in the changing economical and agricultural circumstances of Turkey.
Keywords
Asia minor, cemetery, flora of Turkey, Near East, Orchidaceae, salep, SW Asia
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