DETERMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND INDICATOR SPECIES AFFECTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF Origanum onites L.: A CASE STUDY FROM THE LAKES DISTRICT, TURKEY

Abstract

Factors influencing the distribution of Origanum onites L., (locally known as Turkish oregano) were analyzed on the Lakes District of Turkey, using Two-tailed Wilcoxon's runk sum statistics and Pearson chi-square χ 2 test contained in the SPSS 17.0 package. An inter-specific correlation analysis (ICA) was also applied to determine indicator plant species of O. onites. Analyses performed on environmental factors showed that there is a relatively high correlation between the occurance of Turkish oregano and soil texture. Besides, our results showed that species richness plays a key role in plant distribution. According to ICA, Allium myrianthum Boiss., Astragalus prusianus Boiss., Centaurea cariensis Boiss. subsp. maculiceps (O.Schwarz) Wagenitz, Chondrilla juncea L. var. juncea L., Leontodon asperima (Willo) J. Ball and Putoria calabrica (L.fil) DC., were found as the most positive indicator plant species, and Fontanesia philliraeodies Labill subsp. philliraeodies, Juniperus communis L. var. nana Syme., were found as the most negative indicator plant species for the distribution of Turkish oregano.