AN EVALUATION ON THE LAWNS ALONGSIDE ROADS IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVE NATURE CONSERVATION IN CITIES

Abstract

Green areas alongside roads, which are an important component of the urban green system, are potential areas that may function as ecological corridors and stepping-stones while providing various ecosystem services. Particularly in the last decade, these areas have begun to be designed mainly as lawns for the sake of their clean and aesthetic looks. However, the importance of nature conservation in roadsides became a current issue, since lawns provide habitats away from naturalness and rather poor in terms of biodiversity in addition to their negative environmental and economic effects such as excessive water consumption, use of chemical pesticides and high maintenance costs. In this study, we mainly aimed to assess lawns in terms of nature conservation. The study area is the green areas on the roadsides of Istanbul TEM Highway. The plantings in these areas, the change in recent years, the amount of lawn area covered, the amount of water used in irrigation, and maintenance operations are the subjects of the study. A total of five roadside green areas were identified, two of which are without any particular planting design close to the eastern and western borders of the city and three of which are with spectacular planting arrangements close to the settlements. The study results show that the areas preserving their natural structure are gradually decreasing, and the plantings using lawn as ground cover are rapidly becoming widespread. As a result, it was suggested to form a vegetation cover on roadsides by plant communities composed of natural trees, shrubs and herbaceous species adapted to local conditions, thus ensuring a mosaic structure that will provide habitat diversity.

Keywords

• Roadside vegetation,
• nature conservation,
• lawns,
• plant communities,
• habitat provision

KENTLERDE ETKİN DOĞA KORUMA İÇİN YOL KENARLARINDAKİ ÇİM ALANLAR ÜZERİNE BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Abstract

Kent içi yeşil alan sisteminin önemli bir bileşeni olan yol kenarlarındaki yeşil alanlar, ekolojik koridor ve adım taşı özelliği gösterebilecek ve çok çeşitli ekosistem hizmetleri sunabilecek potansiyel alanlardandır. Özellikle son yıllarda ülkemizde ve dünyanın birçok bölgesinde bu alanlar temiz ve estetik görünmeleri için ağırlıklı çim alan olarak düzenlenmeye başlamıştır. Ancak çim alanların fazla miktarda su tüketimi, kimyasal ilaç kullanımı ve yüksek bakım giderleri gibi olumsuz çevresel ve ekonomik etkilerinin yanı sıra doğallıktan uzak ve biyolojik çeşitlilik açısından oldukça fakir yaşam alanları sunmaları, yol kenarlarının düzenlenmesinde doğa korumanın önemini gündeme getirmiştir. Bu çalışmada temel olarak çim alanların doğa koruma açısından değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma alanı olarak seçilen TEM Otoyolu olarak da bilinen İstanbul O-2 ve E80 Otoyolu kenarındaki yeşil alanlarda benimsenen ağırlıklı bitkilendirme anlayışı ve son yıllarda görülen değişim, çim alanların bu düzenlemelerde kapladığı alansal büyüklük, sulamada kullanılan yaklaşık su miktarı ve bakım işlemleri araştırmanın konusu olmuştur. Çalışmada, şehrin batı ve doğu sınırına yakın kesimlerde herhangi bir düzenleme yapılmadan kendi haline bırakılan iki tip, yerleşimlere yakın kesimlerde ise gösterişli bitkisel düzenlemenin yapıldığı üç tip olmak üzere toplamda 5 adet yol kenarı yeşil alan tipi belirlenmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları nispeten doğal yapısını korumuş alanların gittikçe azaldığını, yer örtücü olarak çimin kullanıldığı düzenlemelerin hızla yaygınlaştığını ortaya koymuştur. Sonuç olarak, çim alan yerine yol kenarlarındaki vejetasyon yapısının doğal ağaç, çalı ve yer örtücü türlerin lokal koşullara uyumlu topluluklar oluşturacak şekilde oluşturulması ve böylece yaşam alanı çeşitliliği sunan mozaik bir yapının sağlanması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• Yol kenarı vejetasyonu
• doğa koruma
• çim alanlar
• bitki toplumları
• yaşam alanı sunma

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