Evaluation of insects as bio-indicators for sustainable land use in Çukurova Delta

ABSTRACTPhD THESISEVALUATION OF INSECTS AS BIO-INDICATORSFOR SUSTAINABLE LAND USE IN ÇUKUROVA DELTAGökhan AYDINUNIVERSITY OF CUKUROVAINSTITUTE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCESDEPARTMENT OF PLANT PROTECTIONSupervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz KAZAKYear: 2006, Pages: 269Jury: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz KAZAK: Prof. Dr. Nedim UYGUN: Prof. Dr. Ismail KARACA: Prof. Dr. Neset KILINÇER: Prof. Dr. M. Rifat ULUSOYIn this research was conducted to use insects as indicator for habitat description,environmental impacts and different human activities within the Çukurova Delta between2003 and 2004. Hence sand dune (Km) , salt marsh (TB) and salt meadow (TÇ) , forest withPinus sp. (Or), afforestation area with Eucalyptus sp. (A), aquatic (S) and beach (Ky)biotopes were evaluated in Çukurova Delta. Natural, semi-natural and unnatural habitatswere chosen as 3 different human activity levels under each biotope and sampling methodswere used in all sampling areas according to habitat properties. The data included 709species and 86958 individuals of beetles collected during two years using pitfall trap, sweep,insect net and light trap sampling methods. Indicator species analysis produced to findindicator species for habitat description. In this respect some insect species Platycnemisdealbata , Trithemis arterosia, Ischnura elegans enberi, Lestes barbarus, Trithemis annulataand Orthetrum sabina were most abundant in aquatic biotope, Megacephala euphraticaeuphratica was most abundant in salt marsh biotope, Siagona europaea, Scarites planus, S.subcylindricus, Acinopus megacephalus and Idaea aversata were most abundant in saltmeadow biotope, Pimelia bajula solieri was most abundant in afforestation biotope,Zophosis dilatata was most abundant in sand dune biotope and Lophyridia concolor wasmost abundance in beach biotope showed a significant indicator level for habitat description.The analyses of Binomial (present-absent) and Guassian were used by generalized linearmodelling produced to find indicator species for human activities. In this respect; 20 speciesfrom Coleoptera, 1 species from Hymenoptera, 5 species from Lepidoptera and 4 speciesfrom Odonata showed a significant indicator level for human activities such as cattle andsheep/goat grazing (Km, TB, TÇ, A), agriculture land (TB, TÇ, S), tourism (OR, A, Ky),garbage dump (TÇ), cutting and burning plant (Km).Key Words: Biodiversity, bioindicator, Çukurova Delta, human activitiesII