Abstract:

Tokat province is located in the Yeşilırmak Basin that is between the Middle Black Sea and the Inner Anatolia regions, and is important in terms of ecosystem and plant biological diversity. Nowadays, researching plant species that are economically important has become a necessity in the province. In this study, the potential of economically important medicinal and aromatic plants of Tokat province was researched by utilizing new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methodologies and questionnaire techniques. The research was completed three main steps. First, an original GIS database for the flora of Tokat province was created by utilizing geo-referenced data collected from the field between 2008 and 2016. Then, a questionnaire prepared by the economists and plant taxonomists were applied to the target audiences selected among the local people and plant sellers in 2016. Finally, the questionnaire results and the GIS database were evaluated together in order to map important plant species areas. According to the questionnaire results, a total of 40 medicinal aromatic plant species were identified as economically important. These medical aromatic plant species have been evaluated as spice (1 species), spice-cosmetic (2 species), herbal tea-spice (2 species), herbal tea (3 species), herbal tea-spice-cosmetic (7 species), herbal tea-cosmetic (10 species) and herbal tea-cosmetic-perfume (15 species) in the study area. After querying the GIS database, 16 of these species were found in the Tokat flora and their locations were mapped. These species can be summarized as Allium sativum L., Calendula officinalis L, Hypericum perforatum L., Laurus nobilis L., Matricaria chamomilla L., Melissa officinalis L., Mentha piperita L., Mentha pulegium L., Mentha spicata L., Nigella orientalis L., Rosa canina L., Thymus leucotrichus Hal., Thymus praecox Opiz, Tilia rubra, Tilia tomentosa, and Trigonella foenum graecum L. These results are important for researchers, plant vendors, farmers and decision-makers.

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