Potential Usage of Some of the Ground-Cover Vegetation for Ecosystem Restoration Practices in Central Anatolian Region of Turkey

Long-term animal grazing and agricultural practices have disturbed the vegetation cover and rendered the sites prone to erosion in Central Anatolia Region. Plantation practices have been carried out for about six decades in the region. However, tree-oriented plantation practices have not shown promising results. Thus, experimental data gathered in the region using new approaches with different plant species are urgently needed. The aim of the current study is to evaluate potential usage of some of the ground-cover species for ecosystem restoration in the region. Seeds of fifteen local species were collected during extensive field surveys during summer and early fall of 2012 and 2013. Five sites scattered on the basin were chosen as experimental blocks. The area covers the driest part of the region with less than 300 mm annual precipitation and 11C0 average temperature. Soil texture for the first-20-cm soil depth in the experimental units ranges from clay to sandy clay loam with a high lime content. In October 2012, April 2013, October 2013 and April 2014 seeds of these fifteen species were sown on three 40 cm x 600-cm beds. In the spring and summer of 2013 and 2014, sites were visited, and field emergence rates and seedling growth were recorded. Atriplex hortensis (L.), Peganum harmala (L.), Glaucium corniculatum (L.), Marrubium parviflorum (Fisch.&C.A.Mey.), Onobrychis tournefortii ((Willd.) Desv.), Reseda lutea (L.), Stachys cretica (L.), Teucrium polium (L.) and Vicia cappodicica (Boiss. & Bal.) appear to be the most promising ground-cover species for ecosystem restoration in the region.