Biotech Studies 2013, Vol 22, Num, 2     (Pages: 086-095)

Evaluation and Determination of Rangeland Vegetation in Kayseri Province

Sabahaddin ÜNAL 1 ,Ziya MUTLU 1 ,Öztekin URLA 1 ,Hakan YILDIZ 1 ,Bilal ŞAHİN 2

1 Central Research Institute for Field Crop, Ankara
2 Çankırı Karatekin University, Yapraklı Vocational School, Çankırı
- Rangelands are basically one of the main feed resources for livestock. They are also important for watershed functions, biodiversity, and recreation. It is necessary to be known rangelands current status for their improvement and management. For this reason vegetation survey was conducted on the rangelands of Kayseri Province in year 2009. A modified wheel point method with loop was used for vegetation survey in the 60 representative survey sites of rangelands in Kayseri province. The results of this survey indicated that vegetation cover was detected as 57.85 %. The cover rates of decreasers and increasers in botanical composition were 12.62 % and 19.98 %, respectively. The numbers of sites determined as good, fair, and poor conditions were 1, 29, and 30, respectively. The 59 sites of total sites were identified as fair and poor in condition based on the rangeland condition classes. On the other hand, 26 sites were found as risky and 28 sites as unhealthy in health categories. These results show that rangelands are in fast degradation trend which should be immediately stopped and reversed to the original situation with available rehabilitation techniques for the improvement of rangelands. Keywords : Rangeland condition, health, management, improvement