Lake Amik - Ecology

Ecology

Lake Amik was an extremely valuable habitat on the migratory routes of waterfowl and other birds, especially White Storks and pelicans, and was noted for an isolated breeding population of the African Darter. It also supported populations of endemic birds; a possible distinct subspecies of the Black Francolin (Francolinus francolinus billypayni) and the similarly distinct Southern Turkish Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus kosswigi). A Ray-finned fish species Hemigrammocapoeta caudomaculata was only known from Lake Amik, while cyprinid Barbus canis (Tor canis) was found nowhere else in Turkey.

With the draining of the lake, the endemic bird and fish species have become extinct; the region's biodiversity was further harmed by the fact that one of the few similar habitats, Lake Hula in northern Israel, was also drained in the 1950s.