Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
same period, although the human population remained unchanged, sheep and goat
numbers increased almost four-fold. The latter increase explains why Psilorites was
dominated by open and very open shrublands, which are degraded ecosystems com-
posed of phryganic species that are unpalatable to livestock (Bankov, 1998). This
represents an example of intensification of animal production in mountain areas
leading to severe vegetation and land degradation. Thus livestock husbandry helped
to maintain a relatively stable population in Psilorites but at the expense of the en-
vironment (Lyrintzis
et al.,
1998).
8.4.7 Turkey
Most of the studies in Turkey report a small decline in forest cover suggesting
that people are still in the mountains although some emigration has already started
(Cakir
et al.,
2007; Kadiogullari and Baskent, 2008; Gunlu
et al.,
2009). An op-
posite trend, namely a net 19.9% increase of the total forest area, was recorded in
the Torul state forest between 1984 and 2005 due to the implementation of regen-
eration activities by the Forest Service and the emigration of the local population
(Kadiogullari
et al.,
2008). In the Mediterranean part of Turkey, traditional activi-
ties, especially farming, have started to be abandoned due to touristic development
(Onur
et al.,
2009). However, in the Mediterranean mountains, such as the Taurus,
the traditional human practices, especially livestock husbandry, are still very active
(Kaniewski
et al.,
2007) (Figure 8.5).
Figure 8.5
A pastoral landscape in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey (photo by the author)
