A field assessment of urban biodiversity in Erzincan province found high plant diversity in seven settlements, with the six districts and one town studied achieving an average score of 90.7 under the study’s “Bio-friendly Settlement” criteria. The research, summarized in the abstract of a 2026 article in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, identified 105 plant taxa and 36,799 individual plants across 70 open green spaces in Çağlayan, Çayirli, Kemah, Kemaliye, Refahiye, Tercan and Üzümlü.
The study was conducted between 2022 and 2024. Researchers used field surveys, drone imaging and plant-species identification to examine biodiversity in the selected urban green spaces. They applied the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, the Simpson diversity index and the Biodiversity-Friendly City Criteria to the Erzincan case. Of the 105 recorded plant taxa, 56% were classified as natural and 44% as exotic.
Kemaliye had the highest diversity index, while Çayirli had the lowest. The Shannon–Wiener results for Kemaliye included a high evenness value of E = 0.896, and the same pattern was supported by the Simpson diversity index. The recorded plants comprised 54% edible-leaf broadleaf trees, 19% conifers, with the remainder consisting of edible shrubs, small trees and vines. Although all seven settlements showed high biodiversity characteristics in the Bio-friendly Settlement analysis, the reported 90.7 points represented the average across the districts rather than a separate score for every settlement.
The authors said the findings support conservation measures intended to improve ecological sustainability and preserve biodiversity in Erzincan. They also identified potential in the province’s agricultural landscapes and tourism. The article was described as seeking strategies for biodiversity inventory, conservation and sustainable management in urban areas, as well as greater use of natural plant species in urban ecosystems. Because the supplied evidence consists of the article abstract and publisher page rather than the full text, details of sampling design, index calculations and the criteria used to score individual settlements are not available here.
Subject of Research: Field assessment of plant diversity and bio-friendly settlement characteristics in seven Erzincan settlements
Article Title: Ecological and environmental assessment of Erzincan Districts within the scope of the biodiversity-friendly city approach
Article References: Askan, G., & Yilmaz, H. (2026). Ecological and environmental assessment of Erzincan Districts within the scope of the biodiversity-friendly city approach. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 198(9), Article 1001. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-026-15839-4
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-026-15839-4
Keywords: Erzincan, urban biodiversity, plant diversity, green spaces, ecological assessment, Bio-friendly Settlement, Shannon–Wiener index, Simpson index, field surveys, conservation, Ecological, environmental
Cite Scienmag News
Margaret Porter. (October 20, 2026). Erzincan field assessment finds high plant diversity across seven settlements. Scienmag. https://scienmag.com/erzincan-field-assessment-finds-high-plant-diversity-across-seven-settlements/
Margaret Porter. "Erzincan field assessment finds high plant diversity across seven settlements." Scienmag, 20 October 2026, https://scienmag.com/erzincan-field-assessment-finds-high-plant-diversity-across-seven-settlements/. Accessed 20 October 2026.
Margaret Porter. "Erzincan field assessment finds high plant diversity across seven settlements." Scienmag. October 20, 2026. https://scienmag.com/erzincan-field-assessment-finds-high-plant-diversity-across-seven-settlements/
