Boundaries

This ecoregion comprises the drainages of north-central and western Anatolian Turkey, from the Sakarya basin in the west to the Kizil and Kelkit basins in the east. The ecoregion is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Western Transcaucasia ecoregion [433] to the east, the Upper Tigris-Euphrates [442], Southern Anatolia [432], and Central Anatolia [431] to the south, and Western Anatolia [429] and Thrace [423] to the west. 

Topography

The ecoregion lies on the Anatolian Plateau, incised by rivers along minor coastal plains. The coast is steep and rocky and rivers cascade through the coastal range of the Pontus, which forms an interrupted chain paralleling the coast, rising eastwards to more than 3500 m. Between the Sakarya and Kizil rivers lie four main ridges of the western Pontic Mountains: Küre, Bolu, Ilgaz, and Koroglu mountains. The Kizil and Yesil Irmak rivers have built up deltas in the sea from their heavy silt load.

Freshwater habitats

Large and minor rivers follow tortuous courses to the sea. There is an absence of lakes compared to ecoregions to the south in Anatolia.

Terrestrial habitats

The ecoregion is densely wooded with deciduous trees on the coast and mixed forest inland; this comprises more than a quarter of Turkey’s forests. The vegetation becomes sparser further inland as one moves away from coastal rains.

Description of endemic fishes

The ecoregion contains two endemic species:  Aphanius villwocki (Cyprinodontidae) and Alburnus escherichii (Cyprinidae).

Other noteworthy fishes

Endangered sturgeons and gobies are some of the large number of species having a marine origin or marine element in their life cycle. 

Justification for delineation

The diversity and species composition separates this fauna from those of neighboring basins. The Kizil Irmak delta and Seyfe Lake are Ramsar sites. Sturgeons, the clupeids Alosa fallax and Clupeonella cultriventris, the cyprinodont Aphanius anatoliae, the cyprinid Petroleuciscus borysthenicus, and the balitorid Seminemacheilus lendlii are in the Red List (IUCN 2009). 

Level of taxonomic exploration

 Good