IDENTIFICATION OF DRIVING FACTORS FOR PRESENCE OF ENDEMIC SPECIES IN THE AGLASUN DISTRICT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION, TURKEY

This study was addressed to environmental factors significantly influencing the habitat preferences of endemic species and to obtain a model of their common habitat preferences in the Aglasun district. The district, covering an area of 55,000 hectares, is located in the lakeland subregion of the Mediterrranean region, Turkey. Data were collected from 199 sample plots (20 x 20 m) and in total 40 endemic taxa was recorded in 124 plots which include minimum one endemic species. Wilcoxon rank-sum statistic and Pearson chisquared tests were used for continuous and categorical explanatory variables, respectively. The factors playing important roles in habitat preferences of endemic species were following: altitude, radiation index, soil texture, landscape position and landform. Generalized additive model was used for modelling the habitat preferences of endemic taxa. To obtain the best model, all significant environmental factors were evaluated by selecting stepwise option. Finally, the best model was obtained (training AUC = O.816, and cross-validation AUC = 0.800) by using altitude and landform variables.