POTENTIAL USE OF NATURAL TURKISH SWEETGUM SPECIES IN LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN TURKEY

Abstract

Turkish sweetgum (TSG) trees are endemic to Aegean region (Koycegiz, Fethiye and Dalaman) and to localities between Isparta and Burdur. Once, dense forests of these trees have been diminished to isolated woods in Aegean region. Use of original plant species in urban landscape architecture is increasingly gaining importance worldwide. This study aimed to determine potential areas in Turkey to grow TGS. Monthly maximum and minimum temperatures were interpolated by ordinary kriging (OK) and used with digital elevation values to discretize potential growth areas of TGS across Turkey. The OK performed well in interpolating the monthly means of minimum and maximum temperature. Our results showed that when mean monthly minimum and maximum temperature are used as limiting factor of TSG adaptation, large areas occurred as proper for planting TSG, while use of elevation beside temperature decreased the area substantially. Our results confirmed that TSG can be planted in areas comprised by Black sea, Mediterranean, and central Anatolian regions and that it can survive between elevations of 0 and 800 m (m.t.l) under proper temperature and moisture conditions.