Abstract—Biodiversity represents the basis of all life on our planet or in a specific area. It is clear that natural resources do not last forever. Turkey is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the temperate zone. More than one third of species found in Turkey are endemic, native to the region. So Turkey is like a kind of small continent in terms of biodiversity. It is also rich as biodiversity with 120 mammals, 469 bird species, 130 reptiles, 400 fishes and 4000 endemic of 11000 plants species. However, this gene pool is threatened by genetic erosion as in some other parts of the world. The primary objective of germplasm conservation depends on genetic diversity. The importance of biodiversity is highlighted.

Index Terms—Diversity, environment, germplasm, species extinction, protection.

A. Kahraman, M. Onder, and E. Ceyhan are with Field Crops Department, University of Selcuk, Faculty of Agriculture, Konya, CO: 42075 TURKEY (corresponding author to provide phone: 0090 332 223 28 84; fax: 0090 332 241 01 08; e-mail: kahramanali@selcuk.edu.tr)

Cite: A. Kahraman, M. Onder, and E. Ceyhan, "The Importance of Bioconservation and Biodiversity in Turkey," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 95-99, 2012.