A New Recommended IUCN Threat Category for Campanula aghrica (Campanulaceae)
The family Campanulaceae Juss. (Asterales) is a cosmopolitan family with 84 genera and approximately 2400 species worldwide. The genus Campanula is the largest genus in the Campanulaceae family in terms of taxa number. Campanula aghrica Kit Tan & Sorger is a local endemic species distributed in Doğubeyazıt district of Ağrı province. It was introduced to the scientific world in 1984. Diagnostic characters and an extended full description are given here. Based on morphological characteristics, C. aghrica belongs to the Campanula subgen. Campanula sect. Rupesters. One of the reasons for the high endemism of sect. Rupestres is that its distribution area is limited because it is mostly casmophytic. C. aghrica is a rather isolated species, and it has no close relatives. It is a rather characterised species with its greyish appearance due to its rather receding and flat, densely tomentose hair structure, numerous sterile rosettes on its stems, rather small rosette leaves, distinct lignification of the base, rather fragile and flexible stems and small flowers. Although the only known locality of this species to date is the type locality, in the “Türkiye Bitkileri Kırmızı Kitabı”, the species was evaluated as VU endangered category. In this study, the IUCN category of the species was redefined and updated as Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+B 2ab (i,ii,iii,v)] according to the most recent IUCN criteria.
Campanula aghrica (Campanulaceae) için Yeni IUCN Tehlike Kategorisi Önerisi
Campanulaceae Juss. (Asterales) ailesi dünya genelinde 84 cins ve yaklaşık 2400 türü barındıran kozmopolit bir ailedir. Camapanula cinsi Campanulaceae ailesinin takson sayısı bakımından en büyük cinsidir. Campanula aghrica Kit Tan & Sorger Ağrı ili, Doğubeyazıt ilçesi sınırlarında yayılış gösteren lokal endemik bir türdür. C. aghrica, 1984 yılında bilim dünyasına tanıtılmıştır. Diyagnostik karakterler ve genşletilmiş tam betim burada verilmiştir. Morfolojik özelliklere dayanarak, C. aghrica Campanula subgen. Campanula sect. Rupesters’e aittir. Rupestres’in endemizmi oldukça yüksek olmasının sebeplerinden biri çoğunlukla kazmofitik olmasından dolayı yayılış alanının sınırlı olmasıdır. Oldukça izole bir türdür, yakın akrabası bulunmaz. Oldukça geriye yatık ve basık, yoğun tomentoz tüy yapısı nedeniyle meydana gelen gri’msi görüntüsü, gövdelerinin çok sayıda steril rozet taşıması rozet yapraklarının oldukça küçük oluşu, dip kısmının belirgin odunsulaşmış oluşı, oldukça kırılgan ve fleksouz gövdeleri ve küçük çiçekleri ile, oldukça karakterize bir türdür. Bu türün günümüze kadar bilinen tek lokalitesi tip lokalitesi olmasına karşın Türkiye Bitkileri Kırmızı Kitabında tür “Duyarlı” olarak VU tehlike kategorisinde değerlendirmişlerdir. Fakat, türün IUCN kategorisi bu çalışmada yeniden belirlenerek en güncel IUCN kriterlerine göre Kritik düzeyde tehlikede [CR B1ab(ii,iii,v)+B2ab (ii,iii,v)] olarak güncellenmiştir
The Campanulaceae Juss. (Asterales) family is a cosmopolitan family with 84 genera and approximately 2400 species worldwide. The genus Campanula is the largest genus in the Campanulaceae family in terms of taxon number. There are approximately 450 species worldwide, mostly distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, South Asia and Central Africa. The gene centre of the Campanula genus is the mountainous areas of the Mediterranean and Caucasus regions and is represented by approximately 150 species in these regions. Campanula is represented over 140 species in Turkey, and more than 50% of them are endemic. The genus Campanula is a group that attracts the attention of almost all taxonomy researchers, with its mostly locally distributed taxa and especially with its beautiful flowers. The most comprehensive study on Campanula taxa was the revision of the genus Campanula in the 6th volume of Flora of Turkey edited by P.H. Davis in 1978 by Damboldt. After this comprehensive study, many new taxa have been defined and continue to be defined under this genus in Türkiye. Many species under the Campanula are morphologically very similar to each other, the number of newly discovered species is increasing and the potential for new species that have not yet been discovered is high, making it a taxonomically quite complex group. Endemic species of the Campanula genus are found mostly in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Türkiye. Campanula aghrica Kit Tan & Sorger is a locally endemic species spreading in Doğubeyazıt district of Ağrı province. C. aghrica was introduced to the scientific world in 1984. The morphology of C. aghrica was examined under a stereo-binocular microscope, and the measurements of these samples were made with a millimetre ruler. The diagnostic characters and an extended full description are given here. Based on morphological features, C. aghrica belongs to the Campanula subgen. Campanula sect. Rupesters. It is seen that the taxa under the Rupestres section consist of perennial polycarpic or perennial monocarpic species. In addition to the forms that mostly find a chance to live in the main rock cracks and adapt to these difficult conditions, there are also taxa that live on soils such as gypsum and marl among dense calcareous soils. One of the reasons for the high endemism of Rupestres is that its distribution area is limited because it is mostly casmophytic. It is a rather isolated species and has no close relatives. It is a quite characterised species with its greyish appearance due to its dense tomentose hair structure, its stems bearing numerous sterile rosettes, its rosette leaves being quite small, its base being distinctly lignified, its rather fragile and flexible stems and small flowers. This study was carried out with the materials obtained within the scope of the TUBITAK 1001 project titled “Taxonomic Revision and Phylogenetic Relationships of Sections Symphyandriformes (Fomin) Charadze., Rupestres Boiss.) Charadze., Scapiflorae (Boiss.) Charadze., Saxicolae (Boiss.) Charadze., Tracheliopsis (Buser) Damboldt., Dictyocalyx (Fed.) Damboldt. and Platysperma Damboldt. in the Subgenus Campanula of Campanula L. (Campanulaceae) Distributed in Turkey” conducted between 2014 and 2018 under the supervision of the first author of the article, with the aims of contributing to the description of this species, revealing its intraspecific variation and re-determining the IUCN threatened category of the species. Although the only known locality of these species to date is the type locality, its current threat category is VU. However, Kalus village near Doğubayazıt of Ağrı province is under intense quarry pressure. This species, known only from a single point, is in danger of extinction because of the pressure that will occur in its habitat. For this reason, the IUCN category was redefined and updated in this study as Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+B2ab (i,ii,iii,v)] according to the most recent IUCN criteria.