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Conservation Biology Volume 27, Number 6, December 2013 Featur ed Paper… ©Münir Hançer
21

A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Sep 09, 2014

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Page 1: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Conservation Biology

Volume 27, Number 6, December 2013Featured

Paper…

©Münir Hançer

Page 2: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

a photo essay…

Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity

Across Turkish Provinces

Contributed Paper by Burak K. Pekin

Conservation Biology December 2013

Mark Burgman, Editor-in-Chief

www.conbio.org

Published by Wiley

Page 3: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

©DKM Archive

Researchers surveying butterflies in Central TurkeyResearchers surveying butterflies in Central Turkey

Page 4: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

In addition to being highly sensitive to environmental

change, butterflies are also highly representative

of biodiversity at large spatial scales. They are

thus a good indicator group with which to

assess regional biodiversity losses.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 5: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

A sub-adult female polar bear on a frozen lake along the shore of Hudson Bay. Small bears like this are usually wary of adult males which can be predatory.

Rapid Ecosystem Change and Polar Bear ConservationConservation Letters

Wiskott’s Marbled White (Melanargia wiskotti) is endemic to the Mediterranean

Region of Turkey where it is threatened by agricultural intensification and urban

development.

©Fatih Köleli

Page 6: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Thirty-seven of Turkey's 373 species have a near threatened

(NT), vulnerable (VU), endangered (EN), or critically

endangered (CR) classification…

Accordingly, I calculated threatened butterfly richness

for each province as the number of species with an NT, VU, EN, or CE classification.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 7: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

7 - 52

53 - 97

98 - 143

144 - 188

189 - 234

All species

0 - 3

4 - 6

7 - 9

10 - 12

13 - 15

Threatened species

Butterfly species richness across Turkish Provinces

©Burak Pekin

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 8: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

A four month old cub caught in the Beaufort Sea with its mother. Studies showing reduced body condition, declining reproduction, and lower survival have been correlated with reduced availability of sea ice.

Rapid Ecosystem Change and Polar Bear ConservationConservation Letters

Once considered too dry to farm, the

habitat of the endangered

Levantine Silver-line (Apharitis cilissa) has

been largely converted into

irrigated commercial farmland following

construction of several large dams in southeastern Turkey.

©Ali Atahan

Page 9: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

My results revealed substantial differences in butterfly

composition among Turkish provinces within the same geographic region...The

compositional differences between provinces in the same

region were largely explained by their area of natural land cover and agricultural chemical use.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 10: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

©Burak Pekin

Traditional agricultural lands in Turkey are often scattered across small fertile valleys

nestled within a largely mountainous landscape..

Page 11: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

The strength of the effect of pesticide use on the relative

number of threatened butterfly species was more

than twice that of natural land cover and precipitation seasonality (Table 1)…

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 12: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

…threatened butterfly richness decreased most strongly with pesticide use and increased nearly as strongly with natural land cover

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 13: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

A typical ringed seal pup kill site in the Beaufort Sea in spring. Ringed seal females give birth to pups under snow along the ridged ice and polar bears hunt these areas for vulnerable pups and their mothers.

Rapid Ecosystem Change and Polar Bear ConservationConservation Letters

©Burak Pekin

Mixed-use landscapes that include human habitation, orchards,

agricultural fields, grazing pastures, and natural vegetation cover are

common features of traditional Turkish villages.

Page 14: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

My results also suggest that agricultural intensification, reflected in pesticide use, poses as great of a

threat to butterfly conservation as loss of natural land cover in Turkey

because threatened butterfly species (both total richness and relative

number of species) decreased most strongly as pesticide use increased.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 15: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

…increased availability and widespread use of agricultural

chemicals and other industrialized farming techniques are likely to

make traditional farming practices obsolete. The loss of traditional agriculture and the associated

migration of rural populations to cities pose an imminent threat to the cultural as well as biological diversity

of Turkish landscapes.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 16: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

PHOTO: A sub-adult polar bear wandering the shores of Hudson Bay waiting for the return of winter. Delayed freeze-up is causing increased risk of starvation in the population.

©Burak Pekin

Village homes in rugged southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border

Page 17: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Mitigating agricultural intensification in Turkey is important for conserving the biodiversity of Turkey and Europe as a whole because Turkey harbors

many of Europe's rare species.

(Pekin, 2013)

Effects of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity Across Turkish ProvincesConservation Biology

Page 18: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Villagers haying a meadow of wild flowers by hand scythe. Such meadows provide important habitat for butterflies and other wildlife.

©Hilary and Geof Welch

Page 19: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

Livestock like sheep play an important role in traditional agriculture in Turkey

© Mark Day

Page 20: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

PHOTO: Adult males play fighting along the coast of Hudson Bay, Canada. Without access to food while on land, adult males can be social and play fighting is thought to allow skill development for future competition for mates or food.

©Burak Pekin

Coastal communities in western Turkey often support both agriculture and tourism related activities.

Page 21: A Photo Essay: Effect of Widespread Agricultural Chemical Use on Butterfly Diversity across Turkish Provinces

PHOTO: A sub-adult polar bear wandering the shores of Hudson Bay waiting for the return of winter. Delayed freeze-up is causing increased risk of starvation in the population.

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©Münir Hançer