Nature — Species Distribution
Antalya hosts one of Turkey's richest ecosystems — from coastal wetlands to Taurus mountain forests. This map charts sighting and habitat zones for documented endemic and native species.
Indicative habitat zones — data from field surveys and published literature.
The Antalya basin is part of the Eastern Mediterranean phytogeographic region, harbouring over 9,000 vascular plant species — nearly one third of Turkey's entire flora. Endemic genera such as Tulipa sprengeri, Origanum minutiflorum and Cyclamen alpinum are restricted to very limited elevation zones in the western Taurus.
Vascular Plants
9,000+
In Antalya province
Endemic Species
~650
Regionally restricted
Natura 2000 Sites
14
Protected zones
The Taurus mountains provide critical corridors for large predators including wolves, brown bears and leopards. Antalya's diverse altitudinal gradient — from sea level to 3,000 m — supports breeding raptors such as the Bonelli's eagle, short-toed snake eagle and Eurasian sparrowhawk.
Antalya Bay and the adjacent Finike-Kaş shelf are among Turkey's most biodiverse marine zones. Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting beaches at Patara, Belek and Kumluca are internationally significant. Sperm whales, striped dolphins and Atlantic bluefin tuna regularly transit the Gulf.
Habitat fragmentation from coastal urbanisation, illegal hunting and freshwater extraction from endemic fish streams present the most immediate threats. Pseudophoxinus antalyae (Antalya spring minnow) and Neurergus strauchii (Lycian salamander) face critical population pressure from groundwater depletion.
A species lost from a watershed is a signal the entire system is under stress — not just a biodiversity statistic.