**2.1. The study area**

This study was conducted in the Çelikli basin, located in Tokat province, which is known as the transitional belt of Turkey. This area is situated between Central Anatolia and Black Sea regions (latitude 40o 06′31″N, longitude 36o 21′40″E). The types of soil in the basin are classified as Entisols, Mollisols, and Alfisols according to Soil Survey Staff [6] and are moderately well to well drained with a slope of 2–12% in the majority of the area. The basin is 1041.2 ha and has an average elevation of 1300 m above sea level. Although native land use of the basin was for pasture and forest, over the last five decades, most of the pasture and forest areas were converted to agriculture. The main crop in the cultivated areas is wheat, which is grown under rainfed conditions. Although 14.07% of the basin is available for agriculture, the dry farming area occupies 67.88% of the basin. The main vegetation type in uncultivated areas is degraded pasture with *Graminea*, *Fabaceae*, and *Labiatae* as the dominant species, occupying 24.86% of the basin. The coverage rate in the degraded pasture areas is about 50%. Other features in the area are shrubs, bare rock, and water surfaces, which make up 5.45, 0.82, and 0.98%, respectively, shown in **Figure 1**. The study area has semiarid climate. The average annual temperature is 8.1°C, and the mean annual precipitation is 535.9 mm, 84.7% of which falls between October and May. The amount of evaporation from Class A pan between March and October is about 900 mm, which is greater than almost two times of the yearly precipitation [7].

**Figure 1.** The location and land-use map of the Çelikli basin.
