Floristic Characters of Kayseri Province Rangelands Bilal Şahin1, Ziya Mutlu2, Sabahaddin Ünal3, Metin Aydoğdu3, Öztekin Urla3, Ediz Ünal3, Kadir Aytaç Özaydın3, Hakan Yıldız3 1: Çankırı Karatekin University, Yapraklı Vocational School, Çankırı, Turkey, bilalsahin@karatekin.edu.tr 2: Central Research Institute for Field Crops, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ankara, Turkey 3: Eymir mh., Çoruh sok., No: 3/21, Gölbaşı,Ankara, Turkey INTRODUCTION It is necessary to identify both floristic diversity of natural steppes and its habitat that animals depend on as well. It is important to classify the eaten and inedible plants (barbed, poisonous, fragrant, etc.) of rangelands to prepare apropriate grazing plans. However, studies that examine plant diversity of Turkey’s rangelands are not sufficient. In this study, the floristic characteristics of rangelands in Ankara province were examined. The study was carried out by implementing wheel-point method over 200 m transects at four compass direction with 400 readings in total in each survey location. During the field studies, 24000 points were surveyed in 2008 and 2009. Figure 1: Recurrence of Families Photo 1: General view of Kayseri Rangelands Photo 2: General view of Kayseri Rangelands Figure 3: Recurrence of Species by Impact Groups Figure 2: Recurrence of Species Figure 4: Recurrence of Species by Life Span Figure 5: Genera Containing the Most Species Photo 3: General view of Kayseri Rangelands Photo 4: General view of Kayseri Rangelands RESULT In the surveyed locations, the 252 species collected were assigned to 44 families. Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Lamiaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Brassicaceae, Boraginaceae, Apiaceae and other families were 43, 42, 28, 22, 19, 13 and 85 of plant species numbers, respectively. According to results, average bare ground percentage of rangelands was %42.1. The canopy cover of families of Poaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae and other families were %19.9, %9.5, %7.9, %5.3 and %15.3, respectively. The highest coverage rates belong to species of Thymus sipyleus Boiss., Poa bulbosa L., Bromus tomentellus Boiss., Convolvulus assyricus and Festuca valesiaca Schleicher Ex Gaudin with figures of %6.7, %4.7, %4.6, %3.7 and %3.5, respectively. The highest covering areas of 20 species were 8, 3, 2, 1 and 4 species in Poaceae, Fabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Lamiaceae and other families, respectively. As the numbers of species in the rangelands varies between 6-41, the mean number of species was 26 (standard deviation:6.5). The most frequent genera were found in Astragalus, 18; Alyssum and Trigonela, 7; Centaurea, 6 and Salvia, 5. While Poaceae family appears apparently dominant in Kayseri province, other families have a relatively stable distribution. However, floristic biodiversity is poorer than provinces of Sivas, Nevşehir and Çankırı. 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