CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF SOME RARE AND ENDEMIC CREPIS (ASTERACEAE) TAXA IN TURKEY

Red Listing is a valuable tool for raising the awareness about those taxa which face the risk of extinction. It is the first step towards highlighting the problem of species decline and loss, as well as encouraging policy makers. In this study, a new or revised threatened status of five rare and two endemic Crepis taxa from Turkey were present� ed, based upon IUCN red list categories and criteria. The following taxa are analysed: Crepis amanica, C. aurea subsp. olympica, C. bithynica, C. dioscoridis, C. foetida subsp. glandulosa, C. rubra, and C. syriaca. The area of occupancy (AOO) has been calculated for each taxon using the software GeoCAT (Geospatial Conservation Assessment Tool) and according to � � � km grid cell si�e. A distribution map has been drawn with ArcGI� ver� sion 10.3. Current IUCN red list categories and criteria were used to assess the conservation status of the taxa. New field observations and the population si�es were presented for each taxon. The taxa were placed into the group of critically endangered or endangered because of their small geographical distribution, narrow habitat specificity and non�abundant within the territory of Turkey. Based on the IUCN categorisation, our results show that all the taxa studied are directly and/or indirectly threatened by human activities, such as tourism, agriculture, gra�ing, pollution or urbanisation and competition with woody or invasive plants.

The objective of this study is to assess the threat category of two endemic and five rare taxa of Crepis in Turkey according to the current IUCN Red List categories and criteria at regional level.

Study area
Turkey is located between 36°-4�°N and �6°-44°E in the northern hemisphere, near the junction of European, Asian and African conti� nents. It is situated in the Mediterranean basin, with a total of 780 600 km 2 land area, and sur� rounded at three sides by water, from the Medi� terranean, the Aegean and the Black �ea. Turkey is in the temperate �one with various climate types in different regions. A continental climate prevails in inland regions, a semi�arid climate in Central and �outheastern Anatolia, a temperate climate with high precipitation in every season along the Black �ea coast and a Mediterranean climate in the Mediterranean and Western Ana� tolian regions of Turkey (Akman, 1990;Avcı, �005;Türe & Böcük, �010).

Floristic studies
The floristic data were mainly obtained from field studies undertaken between �011 and �015 as a part of the taxonomic revision of Crepis in Tur� key. During the extensive field surveys, the type and other known localities of the studied taxa, as well as a number of other potential distribution sites, were visited. The data on habitat, popula� tion si�e, distribution, the number of mature indi� viduals, phenological and ecological features, GP� co�ordinates, and threat factors were recorded in the field. The herbaria ANK, BULU, EGE, GAZI, HUB, I�TE, I�TF, and VANF were also visited for possible records of the studied taxa in Turkey. The individuals of the studied taxa were collected in the field from native populations in Turkey. At the same time, general and detailed digital pho� tographs of each taxon were taken in the habitat (Fig. 1). Vouchers were deposited in the herbarium at the Karadeni� Technical University, Department of Biology (KTUB).
The threat categories of seven Crepis taxa were revised and reassessed according to the re� cent version of the IUCN Red List Categories, version 13 (IUCN, �017), based on field surveys, newly discovered localities, all relevant literature and the data from herbarium collections. The AOO was calculated for each taxon using the software GeoCAT (Geospatial Conservation Assessment Tool, according to Bachman et al.,�011), available in http://geocat.kew.org/ and the IUCN recom� mended grid cell si�e � � � km.
The distribution of native vascular plants was described by the Grid �ystem of Davis  for the first time in the Flora of Turkey. �ince then, all floristic and systematic studies have been based on this system (Türe & Böcük,�010). In the current study, the same system has been used due to the ease of data integration. Distribution maps have been drawn by ArcGI� version 10.3 software (Fig. �). The details of the threats have been presented for each taxon.

Results and Discussion
Crepis amanica Babcock Distribution in Turkey: � and �W of Turkey. Crepis amanica is endemic to Turkey (Lamond, 1975), and it is a rare species. It has been known so far only from two localities.   Phenology: Flowering -from early May to early June and fruiting -June.
Population information: The populations in Misis Nur Dagi (province of Adana) as well as in the province of �anlıurfa are estimated to a few hundred individuals, while the population in Amanus has not recently been checked in the field.
Threats: The main threats to this species are gra�ing which leads to habitat degredation, as well as soil pollution, e.g. due to pesticide use.
Criteria applied: Criterion B: AOO: 8 km 2 . a) Number of locations: Two locations (Adana: Misis Nur Dagi and �anlıurfa) b) Decline is estimated in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), number of subpopulations (iv) and number of mature individuals (v) and expected to continue in the future.
Phenology: Flowering -from early to late June and fruiting -July.
Population information: This taxon is known only from the type locality in Uludag National Park, Bursa. The population si�e of C. aurea subsp. olympica is very small and consists of less than 50 individuals.
Threats: It is threatened by trampling, gra�ing, degradation and fragmentation. Despite the fact that the habitat of C. aurea subsp. olympica is found in Uludag National Park, its population is prone to extinction in the near future, unless in situ and ex situ conservation strategies are established as soon as possible.
Previous assessment: It was assigned to the category Endangered (EN) in the Red Data Book of Turkish Plants at regional level (Ekim et al., 2000). b) Decline is estimated in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), number of subpopulations (iv) and number of mature individuals (v).
Phenology: Flowering -from early to late April and fruiting -May.
Population information: �ome specimens of C. dioscoridis from Mugla province have been collected, while not any specimen could be collected from Antalya province during the field studies. The populations of this species in Mugla are represented by not more than 100 individuals, covering an area of a few square metres at one single locality.
Threats: Urbanisation, gra�ing and tourism development lead to the disturbance and draining of habitats, which has a negative impact on the populations of this species.
Previous assessment: No assessment has been found for this species at either global nor regional level.
b) Decline is estimated in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), number of subpopulations (iv) and number of mature individuals (v).
Population information: The population si�e is very small and consists of less than 50 individuals, the covering area of a few square metres.
Threats: This taxon is threatened by habitat loss due to competition from woody plants. The population of Crepis foetida subsp. glandulosa is prone to extinction in the near future, unless in situ and ex situ conservation strategies are established as soon as possible.
Previous assessment: This taxon had not been evaluated previously at either global or regional level.
Criteria applied: Criterion B: AOO: 4 km 2 . a) Number of locations: One location (Antalya). b) Decline is estimated in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), and number of mature individuals (v).
Distribution in Turkey: NW of Turkey, the region of Canakkale (Lamond, 1975). Crepis rubra is a rare species in the Turkish flora (Lamond, 1975). A1 (A) Canakkale: Erenkoy, 1856, Kirk. However, not any specimen could be collected from Erenkoy in the province of Canakkale during our field studies. We observed that urbanisation and agriculture activities were common in that area.
Phenology: Flowering -from early April to early May and fruiting -May.
Habitat: It grows in meadows, wet places and woodland, 160 m a.s.l.
Population information: The population si�e is very small and consists of less than 50 individuals, the covering area of a few square metres.
Threats: It is threatened by conversion of natural habitats into arable land, as well as competition from woody plants. The population of this species is prone to extinction from the Turkish flora in the near future, unless in situ and ex situ conservation strategies are established as soon as possible.
Criteria applied: Criterion B: AOO: 4 km 2 . a) Number of locations: One location (Canakkale). b) Continuing decline has been observed in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), and number of mature individuals (v).
Distribution in Turkey: � of Turkey. Distribution of C. syriaca is very local in Turkey. One locality for the species has been recorded in the Flora of Turkey (Lamond, 1975 (Fig. 1E, Fig. �).
Phenology: Flowering -from early to late May and fruiting -June.
Population information: The population is represented by several hundreds of individuals that grow in dense, but distant and fragmented subpopulations.
Threats: This species is threatened by habitat loss due to competition from woody and invasive plants.
Previous assessment: At regional level, the species was assigned to Vulnarable (VU) in Turkey (Ekim et al.,�000).
Criteria applied: Criterion B: AOO: 4 km 2 . a) Number of locations: One location (Kahramanmaras). b) Decline is estimated in the area of occupancy (ii), extent and quality of habitat (iii), number of subpopulations (iv), numbers of mature individuals (v).

Conclusions
The present results reveal that the studied taxa of Crepis are critically endangered (CR) or endangered (EN) in Turkey because of their small geographical distribution and narrow habitat specificity. In addition, all the taxa studied are directly and/or indirectly threatened by several antropogenic pressures such as tourism, agriculture, gra�ing, pollution or urbanisation, and competition with woody or invasive plants. Besides, our findings show that C. aurea subsp. olympica and C. foetida subsp. glandulosa are prone to extinction in the near future unless in situ and ex situ conservation strategies are established as soon as possible.