SPATIAL ANALYSES OF ASTRAGALUS SPECIES DISTRIBUTION AND RICHNESS IN KAHRAMANMARAŞ (TURKEY) BY GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)

The aim of this study is to determine the species richness of the genus Astragalus in Kahramanmaraş and to present the updated distribution information with the help of Geographic Information Systems in a conservation point of view. In this study, country flora, recently published articles on the province of Kahramanmaraş, checklists, regional flora studies in the province, section revisions of Astragalus and also the plant samples collected from the field surveys in Kahramanmaraş were used. According to the results of the field studies supported by the literature, 95 plant taxa belonging to the genus Astragalus are listed together with their valid names and previous synonyms. The number of endemic taxa in Kahramanmaraş is 37 (with the endemism rate 39%). In the plant list, the largest sections of the genus Astragalus are Rhacophorus with 23 taxa, Onobrychoidei with 8 taxa, Dasyphyllium, Malacothrix, Myobroma, Proselius and Pterophorus with 6 taxa for each. The distribution of the taxa to the phytogeographical regions is as follows; 56 taxa (59%) Irano-Turanian element, 28 taxa (30%) Multi-regional or unknown origin, and the rest; 6 taxa (6%) is an element of the Eastern Mediterranean, 4 taxa (4%) of the Eastern Mediterranean (mountain) element and 1 taxon (1%) of the Euro-Siberian element. IUCN threat categories of endemic taxa were reassessed. As a result, totally 11 taxa are in threatened categories according to IUCN (4 taxa in CR, 2 taxa in EN and 5 taxa in VU categories) and the remaining 26 taxa are in lower threat categories (NT and LR). According to the distributions of species, which produced based on the grid system and the conservation point of view; (J13) in Çağlayancerit, (D4, E4 and G8) in Göksun, (I10) in the place between Ekinözü and central district, and (K10) in the central district of Kahramanmaraş were determined as the richest squares. These areas are very important in terms of conservation A. Uzun et al. / Turkish Journal of Forest Science 3(1) 2019: 37 59 38 biology as they are the most intense areas of steppic conditions, livestock and grazing pressure.

biology as they are the most intense areas of steppic conditions, livestock and grazing pressure.

INTRODUCTION
The genus Astragalus L. (Leguminosae; Fabaceae) is one of the largest genera of the vascular plants in the world and distributed mainly around semi-arid steppe regions (Chamberlain and Matthews, 1970;Davis et al., 1988;Frodin, 2004).It is represented by approximately over 3000 taxa in the Old and New World.The New World representatives (= species from those of American) of Astragalus has almost 550 species, whereas the Old World (= species from those of Asiatic) representatives of the species-rich genus Astragalus has almost 2500 species (Podlech & Zarre 2013) (Figure 1). Figure 1.Major centres of distribution of Astragalus in the World (Podlech & Zarre 2013) In addition, the genus is very important in terms of biodiversity.Major areas of species endemism for this genus occur in Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and China (Ghahreman et al. 2002;Podlech 2001;Mahmoodi et al. 2012).In accordance with the diversity centres of the genus Astragalus, while Turkey (with ca.466 taxa including subspecies and varieties and endemism rate of 47% according to Ekici et al. 2015) is found in front of China (with 388 taxa, endemism 54% according to Wei & Ping 2010), it comes immediately after Iran (with 800 taxa, endemism nearly 50% according to Maassoumi 2005).
The genus Astragalus is the largest genus in Turkey and classified in 63 sections and the sect.Rhacophorus is the richest one with almost 70 taxa (Aytaç et al. 2012).This is also the most species rich genus in Iran, and sect.Hymenostegis (with ca.44 species) is one of its largest sections in Iran (Podlech et al. 2010).Most species grow in semi-arid and arid areas throughout the world, but a few species prefer humid habitats as stressed by Zarre & Azani (2012).Kahramanmaraş is also on the route of semi-arid steppe region, so it has diverse taxonomical richness of Astragalus.
The ecological traits and usages of Astragalus are little known in Turkey, although there are many species.The members of the genus prevent erosion with the deep roots and wide branches covering the soil surface.The roots can reach quite deep and serve as a guard against the sliding of soils.They can also live in all kinds of soil and in severe climatic conditions, so they are important for soil conservation (Kadıoğlu et al. 2008).Most species of the genus have cluster-shaped cushion forms that they are often thorny perennial herbaceous plants as compatible with harsh climates (Aytaç et al. 2012).This genus is also notable for its "gum".Some pharmacological and physiological actions of Astragalus with its dried roots and gum tragacanth as followed: anti-inflammatory, antiphlegmatic, anti-septic, anti-viral, anti-aging, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, cardioprotection, hepato-protective, neuron-protective, carminative, demulcent, desiccative, fattening, glutinous, laxative, refrigerant, resolvent and styptic (Li et al. 2014;Lysiuk & Darmohray 2016).Flowers of Astragalus serve as main source to honey-bees for making honey.Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers.Especially in Şemdinli honey, which is very famous in Turkey.Smell, unique taste and quality are derived from flowers of milkvetch species in the region like Anzer honey from Rize province of Turkey (Karaköse et al. 2018).
Nowadays, because of the rapid increase in technology, using the applications of Geographical Information Systems are increasing steadily.This technology is effective in providing multi-dimensional analysis, time-saving, more accurate results and visual assessment.GIS and its components have become an indispensable tool for spatial inquiry, database creation, managing this database and planning to do things easily.GIS has methods and techniques to determine the spatial data numerically and to work with the data obtained, to save the data in different formats and to perform the subtraction operations on the recorded data, to analyse and model these data and to graph them (Fisher & Nijkamp 1992;Goodchild et al. 1992).Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to transfer the location information of Astragalus taxa in Kahramanmaraş province to digital geographic database to create a dataset.Spatial analyses were also performed from the dataset.

Preparation of the grid system map for the plant species distribution pattern
Since the plant species localities in the references were not specified as coordinates, the locations were processed using the WGS84 coordinate system using the Google Earth program.These coordinates were then entered into Arc-GIS and created a point layer.In this study, since plant locations were coordinated by using Google Earth program, digitization was done by using the boundaries in Google Earth program for Kahramanmaraş province and the district boundaries.For the spatial analysis of the plants whose coordinates are processed, the grid system was applied within the provincial boundary.Due to its suitability for our study, a 10 km x 10 km grid system has been prepared.This is done by using the Create fishnet feature in the data management tools section of the Arc-Toolbox window using Arc-GIS 10.3 software (ESRI 2011) (Figure 2).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
According to the database, 95 Astragalus taxa whose valid names are investigated using Güner et al. (2012), are listed for the province of Kahramanmaraş.This number constitutes 20% of the total Astragalus taxa (one fifth of the total number) in Turkey.Totally, 37 Astragalus taxa (39 %) are endemic for Kahramanmaraş (Figure 3).Nine (9) of them (which indicated with asterisk in the appendix) are unique to this province.Astragalus taxa are represented by 30 sections in Kahramanmaraş.This number constitutes almost half (48%) of the total sections in Turkey.Within the plant list, the largest sections are Sect.Rhacophorus with 23 taxa (from 49 for Turkey), Sect.Onobrychoidei with 8 taxa (from 31), Sect.Dasyphyllium with 6 taxa (from 14), Malacothrix with 6 taxa (from 10), Sect.Myobroma with 6 taxa (from 13), Sect.Proselius with 6 taxa (from 22) and Sect.Pterophorus with 6 taxa (from 22), and the remaining sections have less than 4 taxa for each (Figure 4).The distribution of phytogeographical elements of the Astragalus taxa in the plant list; 59 % (56 taxa) for Irano-Turanian elements, 30 % (28 taxa) for Multi-regional or unknown and the remaining; 6 % (6 taxa) for East Medit.element, 4 % (4 taxa) East Medit.(mt.) element and 1 % (1 taxon) Euro-Siberian element (Table 1, Figure 5).

CONCLUSIONS
Kahramanmaraş (in Turkey) has a very rich plant biodiversity because of its different climatic zones over the rough and mountainous terrains.Existing biodiversity needs to be protected.In order to protect the plant species resources, planning and management are necessary.Considering the benefits and facilities of the GIS mentioned above, it is appropriate to use it in planning methods to protect biodiversity.It is possible to perform an in-depth analysis by combining several data layers with GIS.For example, when planning a conservation plan for an endangered plant, it is not enough to know the botanical characteristics of a current plant species.Therefore, a more accurate result will be obtained if a conservation plan is made by adding such ecological characteristics (temperature, precipitation and soil), spatial information and threats to the endangered plants.As a result, using GIS, a multidimensional analysis can be performed by adding more data layers in a targeted study.Furthermore, it is recommended that local establishments take care of areas with endemic plant density especially in their planning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In this study, we thank the scientists who contributed to the flora studies that constitute a part of the plant dataset.We would also like to thank (Professors) Dr. Zeki Aytaç, Dr. Murat Ekici and Dr. Hayri Duman (Gazi Univ.) for their kind help in identification of some Astragalus plant specimens.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Arc-GIS menu used and 10 km x 10 km grid system

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.Comparison of Kahramanmaraş with Turkey in terms of the number of taxa.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Distribution of Astragalus species in Kahramanmaraş

Table 1 .
The distribution of phytogeographical elements of the Astragalus taxa
Previous taxonomic studies related to flora of Kahramanmaraş have resulted with the discoveries of some new Astragalus species (such as A. dumanii M. Ekici & Aytaç, A. akmanii Aytaç & H. Duman, A. ekimii Zarre & H.Duman and Astragalus lineatus var.bibracteolatus