A methodical approach to the mapping of biotope types by using GIS based remote sensing techniques (Köprülü Kanyon National Park Case / Turkey)

10.31195/ejejfs.471536 Eurasian Journal of Forest Science 2018 6(3): 111-127 http://dergipark.gov.tr/ejejfs A methodical approach to the mapping of biotope types by using GIS based remote sensing techniques (Köprülü Kanyon National Park Case / Turkey) Cumhur Güngöroğlu*,1, Renate Bürger-Arndt2 *1 , ) Department of Soil Science and Ecology, Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Karabük University, 78050, Karabük, Turkey 2 ) Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Göttingen University, 37077, Göttingen, Germany Corresponding author: Abstract The objectives of nature conservation focused on the protection of selected animal and plant species and individual ecosystems through conservation. The basic components of nature conservation are flora and fauna including their habitats, biodiversity, performance and functionality of the natural environment. These can be directly linked to the goals for ecosystem, species and biotope protection. The main objective of this study is the development of an efficient nation-wide procedure for biotope type mapping. This requires the methodical development of a systematic biotope type mapping. In preparation an exemplary region was chosen the Köprülü Canyon National Park, which covers an area of 35,672.72 ha, The biotope types in the area were recorded, classified and mapped using GIS-supported remote sensed technology. Methods of digital classification were utilized in determining forest types and maquis. The remotely acquired information and the classes had to be combined with other information in order to be processed via GIS. The analysis and evaluation using GIS was the basis for establishing the biotope types. The GIS analysis served to place the polygon and object classes which were classified by visual or digital image evaluation on the biotope type layer. Thus the biotope type layer is a final layer for all biotopeforming shape files that serves the transferring of adjoining polygon classes. The biotopes were classified by coding the homogenous biotope surfaces according to their characteristics. This made it possible to address the biotope types via their properties in various hierarchical levels. The typification and description of biotopes achieved through hierarchic classification. Thereafter, the biotope types were presented as a list together with their descriptions, which contained information used during classification. The characteristics for classification are distinguished by hierarchical level which entails a discreet description of the particularities and characteristics. The biotope types were mapped for each layer in a hierarchical level. Keywords: Biotop types, mapping, GIS, Remote Sensing, Turkey Introduction The basic components of nature conservation are "flora and fauna including their habitats and habitats in the aspect of biodiversity" and "performance and functionality of the natural environment". These can be directly linked to the goals for ecosystem, species and biotope protection. Initially, the tasks and objectives of nature conservation focused on the protection of selected animal and plant species and individual ecosystems through conservation and conservation strategies (Erz 1980, Plachter 1991). The tasks of nature conservation in new approaches were no longer described as merely conventional, conservative and protective, but also as preservative and planned-formative. Such approaches have been 111 Eurasian Journal of Forest Science - A methodical approach to the mapping of biotope by Güngöroğlu and Bürger-Arndt 6(3) 2018 published in terms of country level (Deixler 1982) and forest biotope mapping (Ammer and Utschik 1982). This required a broader definition of nature conservation. It was from Plachter (1991) formulated as follows: "All measures for the conservation and aid of plants and animals of wild species, their communities and natural livelihoods as well as for protecting landscapes and landscape parts under natural conditions". According to Plachter (1991), with biotope mapping has been provided for the first time a thorough overview of the existence and condition of certain biotope types in Germany. This initial biotope mapping indicated the status and distribution of the most valuable and vulnerable habitats, and as a result, a regionalized evaluation was carried out to derive differentiated protection and development objectives. In recent years, biotope mapping has no longer concentrated solely on natural or semi-natural habitats, but also on the systematic inventory of semi-natural or land-use cultural landscapes serving a purpose-based integrated nature conservation. The mapping of the biotope types allows a nature conservation evaluation of the Wildlife habitats as a planning basis for habitat protection. The protection of biotopes is a central task of nature conservation, which results from the synthesis between the two fields of species and site protection (Erz 1980), Thereafter, the preservation and development of life opportunities for the flora and fauna throughout the landscape (from the natural to the urban and industrial landscape) must be ensured. The term of biotope in this definition is usually not strictly used in the sense of ecology as "habitat of a biocenosis of a certain minimum size and uniformly distinguishable from its environment", but according to Erz (1980) more or less in the sense of the location term as "the totality of the environmental factors acting on the place of residence of an organism". By mapping the biotopes, a sufficiently flexible database can be provided for the needs of the specific conservation plans relevant to nature conservation in order to fulfill legal mandates (Hmuelv 1995). The fields of application of biotope maps are distinguished on the basis of the methodological procedures for mapping the biotopes from a nature conservation point of view. It is important to mention three practical procedures for detecting biotope types: a) The selective biotope mapping, which includes a targeted collection of protected or legally protected biotopes and forms the basis for (Lanuv 1982, Drachenfels 1993, Ssymank et al. 1993, Hmuelv 1995, Knickrehm and Rommel 1995, Lua 2002): - the collection of the protected or legally protected biotopes of the countries - the designation of valuable nature conservation areas - the preparation of decisions on protected area designations and the Development of protected area systems and their monitoring in the context of the implementation of the Habitats Directive b) Representative biotope mapping is based on a selective or area-wide biotope mapping and provides a more detailed picture of this through studies on the flora, vegetation or fauna and on site and habitat qualities on selected test areas in a random sampling theory (Hondong, 2002). Representative biotope mapping is used in urban biotope mapping, conservation and development planning (...truncated)