This research describes fish assemblages and associated aquatic ecosystem degradation patterns in the Büyük Menderes River, one of Turkey’s most important Anatolian basins. Using standard electrofishing, 44 river sites were sampled throughout the basin accounting for the distribution and abundance of 20 native and seven non-native species, totaling 13,535 fish specimens. At each sampling site, anthropogenic pressures were assessed, and information was gathered to determine the degree of human-induced degradation that may affect fish and their habitats; each site was scored on the basis of a site quality index (SQI). Using the best-available relatively less-degraded river sites, cluster analyses of the samples defined six fish assemblage river types. Further classification of all fish samples utilizing bipartite network analysis resulted in comparable assemblage groupings. The European Fish Index (EFI+) with minor adaptations was applied for assessing river ecological integrity at all sampled sites in order to explore the utility of this widely used index. The EFI+ index results correlated with scores of the SQI but provided a very narrow assessment range, thus failing to accurately and consistently assess the severity of anthropogenic degradation. We recommend a new multimetric index to be developed for the Western Anatolian Ecoregion, of which this basin is a part. The data and insights gained from this exercise may help continue fish-based indicator development for policy-relevant management and conservation in Turkey’s rivers.

Formica pratensis (Hymenoptera: Formiciadae) is one of the members of the wood ants group and is represented in Europe with the hairy N morph common in the south and the less hairy P morph common in the north. The species is naturally distributed in European part of Turkey (Thrace Region) and in the neighboring parts of Bulgaria. Former studies of Bernhard Seifert showed that the N morph is the dominant morph in south Bulgaria, but the situation in Turkey is not known. In the present study, we sampled workers from some colonies of F. pratensis in Turkey and Bulgaria and obtained a pilosity data for each colony in the two countries. The comparison of our data with that of Seifert showed that the Bulgaria samples well fit with the pilosity data of P morph and Turkey samples were apparently less hairy but hairs are longer than all other populations. The results helped us to show that F. pratensis can have ecomorphological traits other than that fitting the definition of N and P morphs and that traits may differ from one to another population distributed even along in a small scale of area. Formica pratensis (Hymenoptera: Formiciadae) orman karıncaları grubunun bir üyesidir ve Avrupa’da güneyde daha yaygın olan kıllı N morf ile kuzeyde daha yaygın olan daha az kıllı P morf ile temsil edilmektedir. Tür Türkiye’de Trakya Bölgesinde ve Bulgaristan’ın bu bölgeye komşu sınır alanlarında doğal olarak yayılış göstermektedir. Bernhard Seifert’in daha önceki çalışmaları güney Bulgaristan’da türün N morfunun baskın olduğunu göstermişken Türkiye’deki durumu bilinmemektedir. Bu çalışmada Türkiye ve Bulgaristan’dan bazı F. pratensis kolonilerinden işçi sınıfına giren karıncalar örneklenmiş ve her iki ülke örnekleri için bir kıllılık veri seti oluşturulmuştur. Elde edilen veri setinin Seifert’in bulguları ile karşılaştırılması Bulgaristan’daki örneklerin P morf ile uyuştuğunu, Türkiye örneklerinin ise belirgin şekilde daha az kıllı olduğunu ancak bu kılların diğer tüm populasyonlardakinden daha uzun olduğunu göstermiştir. Sonuçlar F. pratensis’in N ve P morf tanımlarına uyanlar dışında ekomorfolojik özelliklere sahip olabileceğini ve bu özelliklerin çok dar bir alanda dağılım gösteren populasyonlar arasında dahi farklılık gösterebileceğini göstermemize olanak tanımıştır.