Syntaxonomy and synecology of Uludağ (Bursa) forest vegetation

The thesis research was conducted in Uludağ, which is the highest mountain mass in the Marmara region and is also home to the Uludağ National Park. Extending in a southeast-northwest direction, it has a length of 40 km and a width ranging between 15 and 20 km. Uludağ is considered an example of Mayr's zones. Mayr classified the northern slope of Uludağ into five zones from lower to higher elevations: Lauretum, Castanetum, Fagetum, Abietum, and Alpinetum. The present study covers all of these zones except for the Alpinetum. This research aims to investigate the area from a syntaxonomic and synecological perspective, to identify its vegetation, and to contribute to the scientific literature. During the research period, fieldwork was conducted in 272 relevés within the forest zone of Uludağ (Bursa), selected based on homogeneous structure and ecological characteristics, in accordance with the Braun-Blanquet method. Taxa and vegetation data were collected from these relevés. The collected data were analyzed using both the Braun-Blanquet method and numerical techniques to determine the vegetation. For the numerical analyses, the software programs Turboveg and JUICE were used. As a result of identifying the plant specimens collected during field studies, a total of 168 taxa at the species and infraspecific levels, belonging to 111 genera and 48 families, were recorded in the sampling areas. Using the Juice program, a Modified TWINSPAN clustering analysis was performed on the data. The Crispness of Classification, which operates in integration with the Juice program, was applied to the clustered data, and values for each group division from 2 to 9 were obtained. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was used as the ordination analysis. Using the Braun-Blanquet method, a total of eight plant associations were identified, three of which are new records. In contrast, the numerical method yielded nine units, consisting of eight associations and one plant community. Some of the plant community and associations identified in the study belong to the Mediterranean phytogeographical region, while others belong to the Euro-Siberian phytogeographical region. The systematic units to which the identified plant communities and associations belong are as follows: Pinetea halepensis Bonari ve Chytrý, Bonari et al. 2021. Pinetalia halepensis Biondi, Blasi, Galdenzi, Pesaresi and Vagge, Biondi et al. 2014. Pinion brutiae Feinbrun 1959. Phillyreo latifoliae-Pinetum brutiae Özen and Kılınç 1995. Carpino-Fagetea sylvaticae Jakucs ex Passarge 1968 Carpinetalia betuli P. Fukarek 1968 Trachystemono orientalis-Carpinion betuli Çoban and Willner 2019 Fago orientalis-Castanetum sativae Kutbay and Kılınç 1995 Rhododendro pontici-Fagetalia orientalis Passarge 1981 Fagion orientalis Soó 1964 Carpino betuli-Fagetum orientalis Yarcı 2002 Erico-Pinetea Horvat 1959 Erico-Pinetalia Horvat 1959 Cisto laurifolii-Pinion pallasianae Akman et al. ex Quézel et al. 1992 Doronico orientali-Pinetum pallasianae ass. nov. Cisto laurifolii-Pinetum pallasianae Uğurlu 2005 Querco cerris-Pinetum pallasianae Quercetea pubescentis Doing-Kraft ex Scamoni et Passarge 1959 Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae Klika 1933 Quercion confertae Horvat 1958 s.lat. Trifolio repenti-Quercetum ibericae ass. nov. Vaccinio-Piceetea Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et al. 1939 Abieti nordmannianae-Piceetalia orientalis Çoban and Willner 2019 Abietion equi-trojani Kavgacı et al. 2023 Vaccinio myrtillo-Abietetum equi-trojanii ass. nov.