LTER site established at 2015
Site manager: Nitzan Segev
Contact: Nitzan Segev
Operating Organization KKL
General Site Description:
A small watershed that collects floods and run-off. The lowest place is home to a (relativity) dense Acacia savana. The slopes are completely bare. The wadi is covered with alluvium resting on a 6 m layer of red surface of late Pleistocene, which includes silt, clay and fine sand. Rainfall is 30 mm
Purpose of Site:
The study of climate change on Acacia trees and their food-web and understanding the hyper-arid desert ecosystem
Sub – goals
History of site:
Monitored parameters:
Biodiversity of – Butterflies, Birds, Scorpions, Reptiles, Insects, Plants
Hydrology – Rain, Floods, Surface runoff,
Meteorology – Air humidity, Air temperature
Ground water – Level
Soil – Soil temperature, Soil moisture
Trees – Growth, Diameter, Greenness, Distribution, C-N ratio in leaves
Plants – Cover, Biodiversity
Publications:
- Benyamini, D. (2017). A swarm of millions of Vanessa cardui ( L innaeus , 1758 ) in winter-spring 2015-2016 in the south-east Mediterranean – The missing link. Atalanta 48, 103–128.
- Breslau, B., Polak, T., Shalmon, B., & Groner, E. (2020). Evidence of browsing pressure on the critically endangered Acacia gazelle (Gazella acaciae). J. Arid Environ. 173.
- Silver, M., Tiwari, A., & Karnieli, A. (2019). Identifying vegetation in arid regions using object-based image analysis with RGB-only aerial imagery. Remote Sens. 11.
- Stavi, I., Shem-Tov, R., Gourjon, E., Ragolski, G., Shlomi, Y., & Ginat, H. (2016). Effects of ‘red unit’ deposit on Acacia trees in the hyper-arid southern Israel. Catena 145, 316–320.
- גרונר, א., רפפורט, ע., שגב, נ., רגולסקי, ג., נלביצקי, ר., אלכסנדר, ק., רבינוביץ’, א., גרנפלד, מ., שלמון, ב., צוער, א., איזיקסון, ס., משה, י., & וינטרס, ג. (2017). תכנית ניטור שיטים אחידה בערבה. מחקרי ים המלח והערבה 9, 1–14.