Phytosociological investigations of steppe and steppe forest vegetation in the south-east part of Central Anatolia of Turkey

To gain a better understanding of the ecological systems, it is necessary to study the development,composition, and classification of the steppe and steppe forest communities, which are the primary components ofphytocoenoses in semi-arid environments. therefore, this study was aimed to contribute to a syntaxonomicclassification of the central anatolian steppe and steppe forest vegetation. the braun–blanquet approach was used toanalyze the vegetation of the study area in göllüdağ (2172 m a.s.l.) located in the north of niğde province. thevegetation data were analyzed using cluster analysis and detrended components analysis. the relationships betweenthe communities and certain environmental factors were examined by principal components analysis. two newsteppe and steppe forest communities in central anatolia were classified in this study. the steppe communities wereincluded in agropyro tauri-stachydion lavandulifoliae and astragalo-brometalia, whereas the steppe forestcommunities were classified as quercion anatolicae and querco cerridis-carpinetalia orientalis.