Having become the symbol of our University campus with their cute and active nature, the population of Spermophilus has decreased in recent years. As a result of examinations conducted by the Spermophilus Monitoring Committee, affiliated to the Rectorate, possible factors causing the decrease in the Spermophilus population were identified and solutions were proposed.

According to the last report of Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), for the first time in the time period of human history, 1 million living species are in danger of extinction on Earth. According to the report, the biggest causes of biodiversity loss are listed as climate change, consumer preferences, urbanization, changes in demographics, changes in land use, water pollution, cutting trees, mining, overfishing and the expansion of residential areas. Having become the symbol of our University campus with their cute and active nature, the population of Spermophilus has decreased in recent years. The decrease in the population of the Spermophilus, also known as the Anatolian squirrel, having a large number of nests on the campus of our University, has alarmed our University. At the meeting held last week, possible factors causing the decrease in the Spermophilus population and solution proposals were reported as a result of the examinations conducted by the Spermophilus Monitoring Committee, including expert scientists in the field.

Possible factors causing the decrease

In the report, it was emphasized that the population of Spermophilus was damaged due to the lack of nutrition resulting from the drought and vegetation deficiency caused by global warming and climate change, and it was stated that the infections caused by pathogens, which are microorganisms that cause diseases and infections, may also be effective in the decrease in the population of Spermophilus that continues to exist outside the campus area. The findings of the study revealed the negative effects of the heavy burden and complications caused by unplanned urbanization and constructions, the remarkable increase in the number of cats and dogs left on the streets during the Covid-19 pandemic process, the negative effect of the rainy and cold spring season in 2022 on the offspring growth in the Spermophilus population, the negative impact of possible circadian cycle fluctuations caused by shifting seasons on the breeding periods of Spermophilus, and the negative effects of the increase in recreation and landscape work areas. According to the report, it has been noted that in order to hunt Spermophilus or use them as food, birds, foxes, snakes, domestic cats and dogs which can exhibit hunting behaviors towards Spermophilus population, one of the living things that constitute the most disadvantageous group in the food chain, directly have negative effects on them. The negative impact of the applied irrigation and mowing programs on Spermophilus population and the expansion of the grass planting areas in the campus ecosystem against the other seed natural plants, the main food preference of Spermophilus, were listed as other factors that negatively affect the population dynamics.

Solution Offers

International roadmaps such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity play a major role in the protection of nature's life cycle and biodiversity. Suggestions for a sustainable future in Spermophilus population were made by the Spermophilus Monitoring Committee of our university. Within the scope of solution proposals in the report, the following statements were included: “Programming night-time irrigation, not creating new grass areas in additional landscaping works to be carried out, protection of the vegetation cover with seeded plants in the existing steppe areas in such a way as to guarantee the future of Spermophilus population, following the June solstice until October, the seed plants in the campus ecosystem should not be mowed during the seed holding period and then until Spermophilus enter the feeding and hibernation period, determining the habitats of existing colonies, determination of population size based on current active Spermophilus nest numbers, and marking these identified areas with directional signs and warning signs and leaving grains such as barley, wheat, oat and corn near the nests detected in these areas.”

“New generation projects should be developed”