Page 208 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Use of Climate-Resilient Plants in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands

The application of plant selection criteria is not only applicable to the
areas where planting activities will be carried out in improvement studies but
also to the establishment of local field trials and gene bank gardens in plant
adaptation studies.

3.3. Conducting Studies on Adaptation, Identification, and Implementation
of Certain Plant Species

3.3.1. Local Field Trials in Plant Adaptation and Identification
The sensitivity of ecosystems in problematic areas necessitates prioritizing
resilient natural and native species for the revegetation of the site, while also
incorporating adaptable exotic species (Evans and Turnbull, 2004). The identification
of usable species and origins, as it reveals those tested and successfully adapted
under stress factors (low precipitation, water scarcity, high temperatures and
evaporation, insufficient soil moisture and nutrients, salinity, alkalinity, etc.), will
increase the potential for transformation by prioritizing these species in future
revegetation efforts. Although a list of plants that can be used based on general
regional conditions may be prepared, species that have undergone adaptation and
identification studies under the specific climate and soil conditions of the local site
to be revegetated must be considered.
Due to the abundance and increasing prevalence of saline areas in our country,
studies are being conducted to identify and adapt resilient plants to cultivate
alternative species for utilizing these areas and to carry out improvement efforts
aimed at combating drought, erosion, desertification, and barrenness. Between
2014 and 2018, the “Project on the Identification and Adaptation of Certain Plant
Species Suitable for Saline and Alkaline Areas” was implemented on the lands of
the Malya Agricultural Enterprises Directorate in Kırşehir Province, characterized
by arid climate and barren (saline-alkaline) soil properties, in collaboration with
ÇEMGM, Ankara University, the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ),
the General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises (TİGEM), the General Directorate
of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM), the Soil, Water and Combating
Desertification Research Institute Directorate, and the Central Anatolia Forestry
Research Institute Directorate. The total land holdings of the Malya Agricultural
Enterprise are 209,525 decares, with 151,545 decares under cultivation and 57,980
decares of uncultivated land. With an average annual precipitation of 278 mm over
20 years, this area, which is extremely arid, has a serious level of soil salinity and
alkalinity problems on 48,988 decares of land. In such soils, it is recommended to use
salt-tolerant forage plants and salt-resistant shrub-like plants that can create food
and feed sources, cover the soil surface to reduce soil erosion, penetrate deeply
with their roots, and lower the groundwater level. The experiment was conducted
at a saline point on the Kırşehir Malya Agricultural Enterprise land. According to

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Special Issue / 2024