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Biomes and Ecosystems

Anatolian Steppe, Central

by Bill Kte'pi

Category: Grassland, Tundra, and Human Biomes.

Geographic Location: Middle East.

Summary: The central Anatolian steppe is a varied ecosystem that is home to a variety of unique halophytic flora.

Anatolia is a geo-historical term denoting the westernmost region of Asia on the Mediterranean coast, which has historically been home to Hittite, Persian, Greek, Assyrian, Armenian, Seljuk Turk, and Ottoman civilizations, and is currently composed primarily of the Republic of Turkey. The region is topographically diverse, including conifer and deciduous forests, temperate broadleaf mixed forests, sclerophyllous and mixed forests, and the montane conifer and deciduous forests around the Taurus mountains in the south.

The central Anatolian steppe is an ecosystem that includes marshes, rivers, freshwater and saline bodies, salt steppe, and halophytic vegetation (vegetation adapted to saline conditions). It is one of the major centers of endemic (adapted to specific local biome niches) plant species in Turkey and includes 10 separate Important Bird Areas designated by BirdLife International as being important to a threatened-bird species. There are no highlands or mountains; the altitude averages 3,281 feet (1,000 meters), while plains and river basins are the dominant land formations. The prevailing climate is characterized by cold winters and long, hot, dry summers.

The photo shows the scale-like leaves and many-branched stems of Salicornia europaea (common glasswort). This type of halophyte, which is vegetation that has adapted to saline conditions, covers 95 percent of the ground in parts of the Anatolian steppe.

AnatolianSteppeCentral.jpeg

(Wikimedia/Kristian Peters)

Three separate areas of steppe vegetation make up the ecoregion: Tuz Lake, the Karapinar Plain, and the combined Porsuk and Sakarya River basins. Tuz Lake, at the center of the region, is the second-largest in central Anatolia. The Kizilirmak River, the longest river fully contained within Turkey's boundaries, provides the northern and eastern borders of the Tuz Lake area as it flows along a very roundabout route into the Black Sea. The Karapinar Plain lies south of Tuz Lake, beyond the Obruk Plateau. The Haymana and Cihanbeyli plateaus separate Tuz Lake from the Porsuk and Sakarya Rivers. The entire steppe region is in turn surrounded by deciduous forest ecoregions. Very little woody vegetation grows in the central Anatolian steppe; the soil and water are too saline here, and the local flora is well adapted to the salt levels.

Tuz Lake is home to 12 endemic vascular plant taxa. In the summer, much of the lake dries up, exposing a thick layer of salt more than one foot (three meters) deep. Salt concentrations decrease the further one is from the lake, so different ranges of species have developed in concentric circles around the lake, in bands of decreasing salinity. Nearest the lake, where the water has most recently receded, is Salicornia europaea, which covers 95 percent of the ground in some parts of the steppe. This species is better known as common glasswort, and like other species of Salicornia (sometimes known as samphire or sea bean), it is a succulent halophyte with small, scale-like leaves on jointed stems with many small branches. Glasswort is used as a food plant by both animals and humans, and is noticeably salty and crisp.

Moving farther from the water, the next plant species is Halocnemum strobilaceum, which covers much of the ground in its band, followed by patches of Atropis distans, Limonium gmelinii, L. globuliferum, Juncus maritimus, and Plantago crassifolia, mixed in with more patches of glasswort and Halocnemum. The next vegetation band, in muddy, sandy soils, is a mix of Petrosimonia birandii and other Salicornia species. Beyond that, on the slopes around the lake, are Frankenia hirsuta, Kochia prostrata, Petrosimonia brachiata, Atriplex tatarica, and Salsola vermiculata. Finally, at the least-saline fringes, are more than a dozen additional salt-tolerant species, such as Salsola inermis, Aelropus lagopoides, Camphorosma monspeliaca, and Limonium iconium.

In the Karapinar plains, the soil is less saline, and Limonium anatolicum is dominant. Marsh meadows are formed with Juncus maritimus, Limonium globuliferum, and Tamarix gracilis, and reeds and cyperus dominate in the freshwater areas. Many of the cyperus communities have a large number of endemic species. Where the water table is high, Juncus heldreichanus, Aeolropous litoralis, and Pucinella convulata thrive.

Threatened Species

Threatened avian species in this biome include both the great and little bustard. Larks are common, represented in at least six species, of which the Asian short-toed lark (Calandrella cheleensis) is restricted to the fringes of the salt lakes in the central plateau. Birds living in one of the region's 10 Important Bird Areas and key to conservation include the pygmy cormorant, white pelican, Dalmatian pelican, little bittern, squacco heron, purple heron, glossy ibis, greater flamingo, spoonbill, marbled teal, red-crested pochard, ferruginous duck, white-headed duck, pallid harrier, lesser kestrel, crane, collared pratincole, kentish plover, greater sand plover, spur-winged plover, gull-billed tern, and little tern.

Threatened nonavian fauna species include the marbled polecat. Other mammals that range here include the golden hamster, badger, and gray wolf. Dominant reptiles are Agama stellio, Mabuya aurata, Typlops vermicularis, Coluber najadum, and C. numnifer. Phoxinellus crassus is an endemic fish of the Tuz Lake basin, living in the streams that feed into the lake.

The major threat to the ecological sustainability of many of these species and the region as a whole is the overconsumption of freshwater resources. Hydroelectric dam construction and diversion of water for agricultural irrigation and civil engineering use has made an increasing impact across the region.

Further Reading

1 

Finncioglu, Huseyn K., Steven S. Seefeldt, and Bilal Sahin. “The Effects of Long-Term Grazing Exclosures on Range Plants in the Anatolian Region of Turkey.” Environmental Management 39, no. 3 (2007).

2 

Isik, Kani. “Seasonal Course of Height and Needle Growth in Pinus Nigra Grown in Summer-Dry Central Anatolia.” Forest Ecology and Management 35, no. 3–4 (July 1990).

3 

Kirwan, Guy, Barbaros Demirci, Hilary Welch, Kerem Boyla, Metehan Ozen, Peter Castell, and Tim Marlow. The Birds of Turkey. New York: A&C Black, 2009.

4 

Ocel, Isil, Ender Yurdakulol, Yuksel Keles, Latif Jurt, and Atilla Yildiz. “Role of Antioxidant Defense System and Biochemical Adaptation on Stress Tolerance of High Mountain and Steppe Plants.” Acta Oecologica 26, no. 3 (December 2004).

Citation Types

MLA 9th
Kte'pi, Bill. "Anatolian Steppe, Central." Biomes and Ecosystems, edited by Robert Warren Howarth, Salem Press, 2013. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=BIOMESECO_101536901079.
APA 7th
Kte'pi, B. (2013). Anatolian Steppe, Central. In R. W. Howarth (Ed.), Biomes and Ecosystems. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Kte'pi, Bill. "Anatolian Steppe, Central." Edited by Robert Warren Howarth. Biomes and Ecosystems. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2013. Accessed September 24, 2026. online.salempress.com.