مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - EFFECTS of MARITIME and CONTINENTAL CLIMATES on VEGETATION and SEASONAL PERIODS: The CASE of NORTHEASTERN TURKEY

Abstract :

The study field is located in the boundaries of two regions in the northeast of Turkey. These regions are the Black Sea Region where the maritime climate is dominant and the East Anatolian Region where the continental climate is dominant. The study area includes Trabzon and Rize from the coastal stations, and Erzurum, Kars and Ardahan from the midlands. These stations were torn by Çoruh depression and divided from each other by East Black Sea mountain ranges. Consequently, maritime effect cannot infiltrate into the midlands. Limitation of maritime effect in the coastal region because of high mountain ranges caused climatic features of these stations to be very different from each other. Furthermore, in contrast to the global tendency, the intensity of continentality caused an increase from the north to south. Great differences on climatic season duration and vegetation periods have been determined in the field of study where continental effects increase from north to south and from west to east. While winter season covers five months and summer season extends up to four months in coastal regions of Trabzon and Rize, transition seasons are nearly 45 days. The duration of winter season in inland stations of Erzurum and Kars is nearly eight months and other seasons are nearly 45 days. In Ardahan, where continentality is dominant, summer season is not experienced literally and it is determined that winter season covers a period of nine months and there are transition seasons lasting up to 45 days. The conditions of maritime and continentality have influenced vegetation periods and while plants can show a development in the coast for a long period of the year, the vegetation period in midlands is 100 days shorter with respect to the coast