Investigation of control opportinities of harmful plants to historical structures

The thesis was carried out to determine control opportunities of plants threaten to historical structures. For this purpose, simultaneous trials were established in Termessos and Perge ancient cities which have different geographical features and located in the province of Antalya. Efficacies of physical, chemical and mechanical control methods on 19 different plant species which were determined as widespread and intense on the walls were investigated. Flaming for physical control and herbicide including glyphosate as active ingredient for chemical control were applied. Cutting or removal was performed for mechanical control. Effectiveness of the applications were evaluated separately for each species taken trial. As a result of the surveys carried out prior to experiment, 74 plant species belonging to 31 families were identified in Termessos ancient city and 82 plant species belonging to 38 families were identified in Perge ancient city on the walls of building. The Hedera helix L. (Ivy) has been the most widespread and overlying species in Termessos with the 100% observation frequency and 9,5% general coverage ratio. The Parietaria judaica L. (Pellitory) has been the most widespread and overlying species in Perge with the 100% observation frequency and 2,6% general coverage ratio. As a result of the studies were carried out for the control of 19 weed species which are harmful for historical buildings, herbicide (glyphosate) application at the recommended dose controlled Carduus pycnocephalus L., Picnomon acarna (L.) Cass, Geranium purpureum Vill, Alcea pallida Waldst & Kit, Knautia integrifolia (L.) Bert., Capparis spinosa L., Parieteria judaica L., Heliotropium europeum L., Euphorbia nutans Lag, Ficus carica L., Phagnalon greacum Boiss, Verbena officinalis L., Seteria virdis (L.) P. Beauv and Amaranthus albus L. species at 100% ratio. But, the effects of the herbicide was not enough for an acceptable control of Ruscus aculeatus L., Hedera helix L., Ephedra campolylopoda C.A. Meyer, Inula viscosa (L.) Aiton and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. species. The flaming application controlled most of the species taken trial too. The flaming was more successful to control of H. helix and R. aculeatus than the chemical control. On the other hand, the flaming was not effective enough to control of F. carica, V. officinalis, S viridis and C. dactylon species. Mechanical control completely controlled the all species except H. helix, C. spinosa, F. carica, I. viscosa and C. dactylon. Especially, C. spinosa has shown great resistance to mechanical combat and it has created huge coverage even more control plants with regenerated very quickly. The results show that, an acceptable broad spectrum weed control is not possible by means of any method when applied alone. Weed species showed different reactions to the applied methods. Which control method is suitable for which weed species was determined by this study. Applicability and effectiveness of flaming for control weeds on historical places were tested first time