ECOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF RANGELAND CONDITION OF SOME VILLAGES IN KIRIKKALE PROVINCE OF TURKEY

This study was undertaken to determine rangeland condition in three selected villages of Kirikkale province in the highlands of Central Anatolia and to identify the common management techniques for the dominant steppe vegetation of these villages, in which rangeland deterioration is a serious problem because of long term over-grazing. The rangeland conditions of units called Karake^ili, Mahmutlar Sarklisi and Pazarcik were found as poor (20.00 %), fair (40.03 %), and good (52.00 %), respectively. However, the rangeland health of villages were unhealthy. Indirect gradient analysis with Correspondence Analysis produced that the four axes have explained 71.2 % of the variance of species data and direct gradient analysis with Canonical Correspondence Analysis produced that the four axes have explained 57.5 % and 96.5 % of the variance of species data and of species-environment relationship, respectively. Each unit or village was placed in a different area on the biplot graph and a triplot showed that altitude and aspect had a negative correlation. However, grazing intensity, erosion and slope had the same dimensions and the similar relationships.