DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF AQUATIC VASCULAR MACROPHYTES IN GAZIANTEP PONDS, TURKEY

Turkey is one of the richest countries in terms of plant diversity. Therefore, it is remarkably important to determine the flora of Turkey and floristic studies have been still needed at the regional level. Accordingly, it is very important to investigate wetlands, which are hotspots of biodiversity. This study is focused on the specification of vascular aquatic macrophyte flora in Gaziantep. The field surveys and plant samplings had been carried out from January 2015 to January 2017. 184 angiosperm taxa of 97 genera belonging to 38 families and one pterido-phyte taxa have been identified in the investigated ponds. UPGMA analysis has resulted in three groups for investigated 15 ponds. And the CCA ordination indicated that precipitation, mean temperature, basin, altitude and surface area had the largest effect on occurrence of species. According to the α diversity, Tilmen pond has contained the highest number of species. On the other hand, the richest pond has been Karapinar in terms of taxonomic a diversity. This paper will motivate future studies on aquatic vascular macrophyte flora and diversity.