Forestland around Mount Uludağ under threat: Study

The rate of residential areas and bare rocks in Turkey's Mount Uludağ National Park has increased from around seven percent to 13 percent in the last three decades, according to a study.

The research carried out by Gökhan Özsoy, an academic from Uludağ University in the northwestern province of Bursa, reveals how the ecological balance in the region has been destroyed in 35 years.

Showing that there is an increase in bare rock formation near the summit of the mountain, the comprehensive research also underlined that severe erosions have occurred in the region over the years.

In the analysis made using satellite data and algorithms of geographic information systems, serious decreases were found in vegetation due to urbanization and erosion increase in the ski center and its immediate surroundings within the borders of the national park.

The research revealed that the rate of the area covered by bare rocks, settlements, and severe erosion surfaces in the Mount Uludağ National Park lands increased from 7.8 percent to 13.3 percent in 35 years.

Having covered 18.7 percent of the region once, the rate of alpine meadows decreased to 16.6 percent during the same time period. A total of 137 endemic species, 30 of which are Mount Uludağ endemic, were identified and 54 of these species were determined to be endangered in the research.

Mapping the traces of the intense human impact in the national park, the study also included a determination that the highway that provides access to the ski center has become more prominent over time with road widening works and intensive use.

"It can be easily observed that the majority of the land adjacent to the road, which was classified as the forest on both sides of the highway in...