Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi / Faculty of Letters and Science

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11727/1396

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Author: search.filters.author.Peksen, Cigdem AkinSubject: search.filters.subject.Turkey

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    Unsustainable harvest of water frogs in southern Turkey for the European market
    (2021) Cicek, Kerim; Ayaz, Dincer; Afsar, Murat; Bayrakci, Yusuf; Peksen, Cigdem Akin; Cumhuriyet, Oguzkan; Ismail, Ilhan Bayram; Yenmis, Melodi; Ustundag, Erdal; Tok, Cemal Varol; Bilgin, C. Can; Akcakaya, H. Resit; ABC-7273-2020
    Frogs have been harvested from the wild for the last 40 years in Turkey. We analysed the population dynamics of Anatolian water frogs (Pelophylax spp.) in the Seyhan and Ceyhan Deltas during 2013-2015. We marked a total of 13,811 individuals during 3 years, estimated population sizes, simulated the dynamics of a harvested population over 50 years, and collated frog harvest and export statistics from the region and for Turkey as a whole. Our capture estimates indicated a population reduction of c. 20% per year, and our population modelling showed that, if overharvesting continues at current rates, the harvested populations will decline rapidly. Simulations with a model of harvested population dynamics resulted in a risk of extinction of > 90% within 50 years, with extinction likely in c. 2032. Our interviews with harvesters revealed their economic dependence on the frog harvest. However, our results also showed that reducing harvest rates would not only ensure the viability of these frog populations but would also provide a source of income that is sustainable in the long term. Our study provides insights into the position of Turkey in the 'extinction domino' line, in which harvest pressure shifts among countries as frog populations are depleted and harvest bans are effected. We recommend that harvesting of wild frogs should be banned during the mating season, hunting and exporting of frogs < 30 g should be banned, and harvesters should be trained on species knowledge and awareness of regulations.
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    Extremely low mitochondrial DNA diversity in a near threatened species, the Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in Turkey
    (2019) Cakmak, Emel; Peksen, Cigdem Akin; Kirazli, Cihangir; Yamac, Elif; Bilgin, C.Can; ABC-7273-2020
    The Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus is a near threatened raptor that occurs in isolated populations across its range. The only comprehensive genetic study performed so far excluded samples from Turkey, although this area forms a significant part of the species' range. In this study, we used 311 bp long sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 58 Turkish individuals to assess genetic diversity and phylogeny, and to determine if any signals for population expansion exist. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that the Turkish birds hold, along with those from the Caucasus, an intermediate position between European (Balkan and Iberian) and North Asian (Mongolian) lineages. Our findings also demonstrate extremely low mitochondrial diversity and suggest no population expansion. Despite the low genetic diversity found in this study, other mtDNA gene regions and other nuclear markers should be evaluated together with the current results, before any kind of conservation action plan of this species is applied.