Plant communities and flora of Küre mountains National Park (Bartın section)

Küre Mountains National Park is situated between Bartın and Kastamonu provinces and in A4 grid square according to the categorization of P. H. Davis. In this study, it was aimed to determine flora and vegetation of Küre Mountains National Park (Bartın Section) and to reveal its plant diversity, vegetation types and plant communities. Endemic and rare plants were classified according to IUCN categories. The vegetation of study area was investigated by applying Braun-Blanquet method. The vegetation map was prepared using the ArcGIS 10.4 program. Between 2014-2017, 1450 plant samples were collected in 45 field trips to the research area, and 256 relevés were taken. As a result of the identification of collected plants, 95 families, 341 genus and 622 taxa were determined. The distribution of taxa according to phytogeographic regions are as follows: 173 taxa (%27,86) Euro-Siberian, 18 taxa (%2,9) Irano-Turanian, 73 taxa (%11,75) Mediterranean, 358 taxa (%57,5) widespread and unknown. 22 of the collected taxa are endemic and endemism ratio is %3,54. The families that have the most taxa are as follows: Asteraceae 60 taxa, Fabaceae 59 taxa, Lamiacea 38 taxa, Rosaceae 37 taxa, Orchidaceae 33 taxa, Brassicaceae 24 taxa, Poaceae 21 taxa, Caryophyllaceae 20 taxa, Boraginaceae 19 taxa, Ranunculaceae 17 taxa. According to Raunkiaer's life form of the plants, there are 98 Phanerophytes, 16 Chamaephytes, 283 Hemicryptophytes, 94 (90+4) Cryptophyte Geophytes + Hydrophyte and 131 (%24,37) Therophytes. As a result of vegetation analyses that were done by using TURBOVEG and JUICE programs, 21 plant communities, from which 12 associations are new, were determined from forest, maquis, meadows and rock vegetation types.