<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The EBONE (European Biodiversity Observation Network project) asked the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to test methodology correlating patterns of species distribution with habitat in arid regions. A test of this methodology was conducted at the Avdat LTER site in the Negev Desert. Four square kilometers were mapped using the EBONE system of structural habitat mapping. Samples of vegetation, reptile and arthropod communities were taken using stratified random sampling of the mapped habitat polygons. Habitat type correlated poorly with species richness, but correlated well with community composition across all the taxonomic groups. We also found that the correlation of species composition to habitat type coincided with a gradient of substrate texture, from fine silt, sand, gravel and stones to large boulders and bedrock outcrops.</p></abstract>

The EBONE (European Biodiversity Observation Network project) asked the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to test methodology correlating patterns of species distribution with habitat in arid regions. A test of this methodology was conducted at the Avdat LTER site in the Negev Desert. Four square kilometers were mapped using the EBONE system of structural habitat mapping. Samples of vegetation, reptile and arthropod communities were taken using stratified random sampling of the mapped habitat polygons. Habitat type correlated poorly with species richness, but correlated well with community composition across all the taxonomic groups. We also found that the correlation of species composition to habitat type coincided with a gradient of substrate texture, from fine silt, sand, gravel and stones to large boulders and bedrock outcrops.

Patterns in Habitat Type, Species Richness and Community Composition at Avdat Lter, Israel

Science and Conservation Division, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, 3 Am Ve Olamo Street, Givat Shaul, Jerusalem 95463, Israel,Telephone:+972-2-5005428; Fax +972-2-6529232

Forest and Nature Conservation, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. (present address: Primaplan Project Control Services B.V., Central Trade Parc 37 Cypresbaan 2908LT Capelle a/d Ijssel, The Netherlands)

Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 84990, Israel

Journal of Landscape Ecology

The EBONE (European Biodiversity Observation Network project) asked the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to test methodology correlating patterns of species...

Patterns in Habitat Type, Species Richness and Community Composition at Avdat Lter, Israel

Published Online: Feb 14, 2013

Page range: 5 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10285-012-0056-6

Keywords
habitat differentiation, species richness, community composition, desert

This content is open access.

Patterns in Habitat Type, Species Richness and Community Composition at Avdat Lter, Israel

Published Online: Feb 14, 2013

Page range: 5 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10285-012-0056-6

Keywordshabitat differentiation, species richness, community composition, desert

This content is open access.

Keywords
habitat differentiation, species richness, community composition, desert