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Introduction
I. Stavi currently works on conservation agro-ecosystems at the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center (DSASC). I. does research in geography and geomorphology. His current project is 'Land-use and management'.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
July 2010 - present
Dead Sea and Arava Science Center (DSASC)
Position
- Senior Researcher
Description
- Assessing land-use and management practices on soil properties and geo-ecosystem functioning
June 2010 - present
Publications
Publications (134)
This study investigates the impact of crude oil contamination on the fungal community dynamics in the Evrona Nature Reserve, situated in Israel’s hyper-arid Arava Valley. The reserve experienced petroleum-hydrocarbon-spill pollution at two neighboring sites in 1975 and 2014. The initial contamination was left untreated, providing a unique opportuni...
Increases in the abundance of woody species have been reported to affect the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. However, it is virtually unknown how multiple biotic and abiotic drivers, such as climate, grazing, and fire, interact to determine woody dominance across global drylands. We conducted a standardized field survey in...
Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity¹ that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4–6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemic...
Mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) constitutes a major fraction of global soil carbon and is assumed less sensitive to climate than particulate organic carbon (POC) due to protection by minerals. Despite its importance for long-term carbon storage, the response of MAOC to changing climates in drylands, which cover more than 40% of the global...
Perennial plants create productive and biodiverse hotspots, known as fertile islands, beneath their canopies. These hotspots largely determine the structure and functioning of drylands worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the factors controlling fertile islands under conditions of contrasting grazing by livestock, the most prevalent land use in dryla...
Continual land-degradation processes adversely affect the functioning of dryland ecosystems. In recent decades, extensive afforestation activity has been undertaken in marginal lands of the semi-arid Negev region of southern Israel to mitigate such degradation processes. However, the long-term impacts of these actions in drylands, subjected to long...
Cover cropping is practiced in conservation agriculture to preserve soil and water resources, alleviate soil compaction, sequester organic carbon, and control weeds. Meanwhile, cover cropping is rarely used in forestry, probably due to the lack of awareness of this management practice. In this short essay, we discuss the concept of utilizing cover...
The Saint Catherine region of southern Sinai Peninsula’s drylands encompasses a unique combination of geophysical conditions. These features have formed highly diverse habitats, which support extremely complex plant communities. Throughout history, the local Bedouin population has used many of these plants for therapeutic purposes. The objectives o...
orestry has long been considered an effective means of restoring degraded drylands worldwide. Often, affor�estation in such lands relies on the establishment of runoff harvesting systems that are formed as contour bench terraces on hillslopes, increasing water availability for the planted trees and shrubs. The construction of terraces requires inte...
Forestry has long been considered an effective means of restoring degraded drylands worldwide. Often, affor-estation in such lands relies on the establishment of runoff harvesting systems that are formed as contour bench terraces on hillslopes, increasing water availability for the planted trees and shrubs. The construction of terraces requires int...
Water loss through surface runoff is a significant constraint for rainfed agricultural lands across the Mediterranean region. Using straw-mulch cover (SMC) as a runoff mitigator has been successfully utilized to negate the impact of raindrop splashing. However, this practice is uncommon due to the high demand for crop residue as feed or fodder for...
Shrubs, encompassing important ecosystem engineers in dryland environments, have experienced mass mortality due to long-term droughts across the northwestern Israeli Negev. This massive die-back, which has particularly affected the predominant shrub species Noaea mucronata, predominates edaphically homogeneous (low geodiversity) hillslopes, and is...
Land degradation and desertification are widespread across the world’s drylands. These processes are substantially affected by climatic change, with long-term and severe droughts on the one hand, and high intensity rainstorms and devastating floods on the other hand. Simultaneously, land-use change and mismanagement practices have led to processes...
Land degradation affects extensive drylands around the world. Due to long-term misuse, the Israeli Sde Zin dryland site has faced severe degradation. The study objective was to assess the feasibility of passive restoration in recovering the site. The study was conducted in four land-units along a preservation-degradation continuum: (1) an area that...
This essay addresses climate change and its main causes over the last three decades. Between 1992–2021, global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have risen continually. Specifically, the major socioeconomic sectors – including (1) energy, (2) industry, (3) land-use/land-use change/agriculture, (4) transportation, (5) building/construction, and (...
Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that in...
Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that in...
Geodiversity integrates physical parameters such as geological, geomorphological, and pedological components. It represents the abiotic diversity of the earth surface layer. It incorporates geological (bedrocks and mineral sediments), geomorphological (geography, land surface formations, physical processes), pedological (soils), and hydrological ch...
This study reviews the global increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), alongside the accelerated climatic change and its slow onset effects (or events) between 1992 and 2021. The establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNF...
Rapid technological advancements and increasing data availability have improved the capacity to monitor and evaluate Earth's ecology via remote sensing. However, remote sensing is notoriously ‘blind’ to fine‐scale ecological processes such as interactions among plants, which encompass a central topic in ecology.
Here, we discuss how remote sensing...
A vast part of the drylands worldwide is characterized by patchy vegetation coverage expressed by shrubby patches and biocrusts inter-patch space (BIS) between them. Recent studies indicated that the BIS microorganism species richness increases similarly to shrubs. They became denser during the shrubland maturation, leading to possible ecohydrologi...
The Opuntia ficus-indica offers a range of ecosystem services. Its provisioning services include food for humans, feed for livestock, and medicines, as well as fuelwood and feedstock for bioenergy. As for supporting ecosystem services, this cactus benefits biodiversity by providing wildlife with food, pollen, habitat, and shelter. Also, it can be u...
Indonesia has the second-largest biodiversity of any country in the world. Deforestation and forest degradation have caused a range of environmental issues, including habitat degradation and loss of biodiversity, deterioration of water quality and quantity, air pollution, and increased greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. For...
Vegetation rings are a common pattern in water-limited environments and mostly occur in clonal plants. This study presents, for the first time, rings of the geophyte species Urginea maritima. The rings, typically 40–90 cm in diameter, are abundant in the sandy environment of Little Petra and Wadi Rum, in the southern Jordanian drylands. Soil proper...
Natural, semi-natural, and extensively managed oak woodlands and forests are prevalent across the world. These lands fulfil a range of ecosystem services, goods, and functions. Increasing natural and anthropogenic pressures impose threats to these lands. This paper first describes the Quercus genus and discusses management and mismanagement practic...
Natural, semi-natural, and extensively managed oak woodlands and forests are prevalent across the world. These lands fulfil a range of ecosystem services, goods, and functions. Increasing natural and anthropogenic pressures impose threats to these lands. This paper first describes the Quercus genus and discusses management and mismanagement practic...
Hyperarid, arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid areas cover approximately 41% of the global land area. The human population in drylands, currently estimated at 2.7 billion, faces limited access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food. We discuss the interlinkages among water security, environmental security, energy security, economic security, h...
Livestock grazing is often perceived as being detrimental to the quality and functioning of dryland ecosystems. For example, a study in a semiarid Kenyan savanna proposed that cattle form bare spaces throughout the landscape, which indicate ecosystem degradation. Other studies, conducted in north-eastern Spain, where climatic conditions range betwe...
Soil salinization and sodification are common processes that particularly characterize drylands. These processes can be attributed either to natural conditions or anthropogenic activities. While natural causes include factors such as climate, lithology, topography, and pedology, human causes are mostly related to agricultural land-use, and specific...
A long-term drought has led to the mass mortality of shrubs in the semi-arid Israeli Negev. The most impacted shrub species is the Noaea mucronata (Forssk.) Asch. and Schweinf. In a four-year study, we found that herbaceous vegetation growth was greater in the dead shrub patches than in the surrounding inter-patch biocrusted spaces, suggesting that...
Geodiversity refers to the variety of geological and physical elements as well as to geomorphological processes of the earth surface. Heterogeneity of the physical environment has an impact on plant diversity. In recent years, the relations between geodiversity and biodiversity has gained attention in conservation biology, especially in the context...
Geodiversity effects on ecosystem productivity were investigated using remotely sensed data and a mathematical model, by introducing a spatially non-uniform surface-water infiltration. Two hillslope types, with different geodiversity levels, as determined by the soil depth and stoniness, were selected for this study. Low-geodiversity hillslopes ('h...
Many studies have assessed the concept of geodiversity. Most studies have focused on large spatial scales, ranging from watersheds to landscapes. Recent studies from the Israeli drylands indicate that shrubs and trees growing in low-geodiversity sites experience mass mortality following long-term droughts, whilst those in high-geodiversity sites de...
Geodiversity refers to the variety of geological and physical elements as well as to geomorphological processes of the earth surface. Heterogeneity of the physical environment has an impact on plant diversity. In recent years, the relations between geodiversity and biodiversity has gained attention in conservation biology, especially in the context...
During the last decades, pastoralist, and agropastoralist populations of the world's drylands have become exceedingly vulnerable to regional and global changes. Specifically, exacerbated stressors imposed on these populations have adversely affected their food security status, causing humanitarian emergencies and catastrophes. Of these stressors, c...
Acacia encompasses a keystone genus across the Middle Eastern and African drylands. This study assesses the dynamics of Acacia populations in two ephemeral stream channels (Nahal Naomi and Nahal Yael) in the hyper-arid Arava region following the establishment of a dam in the upstream channel of Nahal Yael and a long-term regional drought episode. T...
The determinants and consequences of drought-related shrub mortality were studied for over a decade, as a model for desertification processes, in a semi-arid long-term ecological research station. Recent studies have shown that geodiversity is an important spatial predictor of plant viability under extreme drought conditions. Homogeneous hillslopes...
This study deals with two adjacent terrestrial oil spills, with similar properties, located in a hyper-arid region in Israel, one from 1975 and the other from 2014. It tests the effect of biostimulation on crude oil degradation in both spills and whether biostimulated sediments from the 1975 spill can bioaugment crude oil degradation in the 2014 sp...
Runoff harvesting agriculture was prevalent in ancient times across the southern Levant. In modern Israel, remnants of this agricultural adaptation strategy are widespread mostly in the semi-arid and arid Negev. Extensive literature has thoroughly described the farming systems of this region. However, runoff agriculture in the dryer, hyper-arid reg...
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) play important roles in ecosystem functioning and are considered ecosystem engineers; stabilizing soil surface, preventing soil erosion, changing soil surface hydrology, and enriching the soil with carbon and nitrogen. The link between geodiversity and biodiversity incorporates physical aspects from geology, geomo...
Mountain biking, also known as singletracking, is an emerging sector in outdoor recreation activities. Experience shows that although bicycling is considered a low-impact activity, singletracking may have adverse environmental footprints. Here, we review and conceptually analyze the forces applied on singletracks, and implement mathematical modelin...
Soil moisture content (SMC) is a limiting factor to ecosystem productivity in semiarid shrublands. Long-term droughts due to climatic changes may increase the water stress imposed on these lands. Recent observations demonstrate positive relations between geodiversity-expressed by the degree of soil stoniness-and SMC in the upper soil layers. This s...
Plant litter, such as fallen leaves, branch trimmings, and other yard waste, plays important roles in both natural and man-made ecosystems. However, due to common aesthetic perceptions, landowners or managers of many residential gardening and municipal landscaping systems consider these organic residues a burden, and therefore, clear them from the...
One method of controlling dune encroachment is afforestation, which may result in biodiversity loss because of habitat change and adverse effects of trees on ecosystem functioning. We carried out a study on the effects of planting discrete areas with Tamarix aphylla (L.) Karsten trees, over 50 years ago, in a semiarid dunefield in the northern Nege...
Between 2004 and 2008, a wealth of ancient agriculture-related finds was uncovered during a survey throughout the loess plains of the Beer Sheva Valley region, in the arid northern Negev, Israel. The survey was conducted under the framework of an archeological study, aimed at assessing the similarities and dissimilarities of the valley’s ancient ag...
Forestry systems, including afforestation and reforestation land uses, are prevalent in drylands and aimed at restoring degraded lands and halting desertification. However, an increasing amount of literature has alerted potentially adverse ecological and environmental impacts of this land use, risking a wide range of ecosystem functions and service...
Coupling hydrologic and crop models is becoming an increasingly important approach in the development of agro-hydrologic theme. Scientists and decision makers working to address issues in the areas of resource conservation and agricultural productivity are interested in the complementary processing of the two coupled systems. The objective of the p...
Vegetation rings are a unique vegetation pattern found in drylands. Most examples are found in clonal plants growing in sandy soils with confined root zones. Using field measurements and numerical simulations, we found that water overland flow is a predominant mechanism that drives ring formation in the clonal species Asphodelus ramosus. In these r...
Food insecurity and climate change pose defining challenges of our time. Improved food
security for sustainable development is a key issue articulated at EU and international levels. Today, challenges around food security are numerous, diverse, and interrelated. Due to climate change, extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves a...
Wildfires are prevalent in grasslands and shrublands. The objective of this study is to provide land managers with a general overview, by assessing the main impacts of wildfire, including those on plant communities (e.g., secondary succession and species invasion), soil characteristics (e.g., water repellency (hydrophobicity), aggregation and struc...
A crude oil spill in 2014 led to the contamination of an extensive area in the Evrona Nature Reserve at the hyper-arid Arava Valley of Israel. In 2015, as a part of the restoration efforts, the oil-polluted braided ephemeral stream channels underwent a single session of tillage, to a depth of 10 cm. The rationale of this treatment was to break the...
Key messages
1. Environmental change is rarely the prime driver of migrations from drylands.
2. Policy environments are needed that favor regional mobility and cross-border livestock trade.
3. Green energy investments in drylands may cause growing pressures on resources and stimulate migrations
4. Innovative climate-smart agriculture can help dry...
Water is the major limiting factor for primary productivity in drylands. In ancient times, stone terraces aimed at runoff harvesting and soil erosion control were established, allowing agricultural crop production. Land aban-donment and cease of maintenance have led to the collapse and failure of terraces in the hinterlands of the Roman/Byzantine c...
Dissolved and suspended materials Drought scenario Rangelands Source-sink relations Stone content and cover A B S T R A C T Geodiversity is defined as the natural variability of geologic, geomorphic, and soil features. It has been acknowledged to positively affect biodiversity and species richness. A long-term drought occurring in the semi-arid nor...
The type of stratum in dryland ephemeral channel beds (wadis) determines its hydrological characteristics, which impact vegetation productivity. The objective of this study was to assess some key properties of a cemented , fine-grained bed stratum, previously characterized as a fluvio-pedogenic unit (FPU), as well as those of the overlying non-cohe...
Ancient agricultural stone terraces, dated to the Roman and Byzantine ages, are prevalent across the Negev drylands of Southern Israel. The goal of these structures was to reduce hydrological connectivity by harvesting water runoff and controlling soil erosion, thus allowing cultivation of cereals. Land abandonment and the lack of maintenance have...
While tillage of agricultural lands has been used extensively, its utilization for restoring degraded semi-natural lands is rare. This study was conducted in the arid southern Israel in a shrubland which has faced severe degradation processes over time, including soil erosion and compaction, and negation of vegetation recovery. In 2014, research pl...
Grazing in nature reserves, or other sensitive lands, could affect the abundance of important plant species. In the Mediterranean basin, the Anemone coronaria is considered a flagship geophyte species. Studies conducted in the Mediterranean region of northern Israel showed that livestock grazing increased the abundance of A. coronaria. This was att...
Mass mortality of shrubs, especially the Noaea mucronata species, has been observed in the semi‐arid Negev of Israel since the early twenty‐first century. This has followed a long‐term drought episode, and suggests a hysteresis‐like effect. However, recent studies have revealed that the mortality has been varied across the region. Therefore, we ass...
Rock-quarried wine presses were prevalent across the Mediterranean Basin throughout ancient times and particularly during the Late Roman and Byzantine ages. Archeological surveys have uncovered many presses across Israel. Overall, a ratio of ~5 m⁻¹ has been recorded between treading floor area (in m²) and volume of collecting vat (in m³). A recent...
Many archaeological remains of runoff harvesting agricultural systems have been discovered throughout the hyper-arid central Arava Valley in southern Israel. The remains include stone terraces and conduits in 12 wadis (ephemeral stream channels). Other agriculture-related stone-made infrastructures included a rounded threshing floor and many livest...
The effects of soil contamination by crude oil have been extensively studied in many parts of the world, revealing considerable impact on soil-water repellency and related hydraulic properties of soil. Yet, knowledge of such effects in hyper-arid regions is still scant. Two major oil spills occurred in the hyper-arid Arava Valley of Israel-one in 1...
Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These “fertile islands” are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale.
We conducted...
1. Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These "fertile islands" are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale. 2. We cond...
Recharge playas are prevalent throughout the hyper-arid southern Negev and Arava Valley of Israel. While some of these playas are terminal, others were found to be not absolutely terminal, allowing, under extreme floods, the outlet of water from their beds to a draining, ephemeral channel. Indicators for ancient to recent-past agricultural practici...
Interactions between biotic and abiotic factors dictate the response of ecosystems to varying conditions and disturbances. The importance of the relationship between these factors is demonstrated in the extensively studied interactions between water-limited vegetation and its ecosystem’s physical components. Landscape geodiversity is often neglecte...
Archaeological surveys conducted since the 1980's in the hyper-arid Uvda Valley of southern Israel revealed extensive lands with runoff harvesting systems for growing barley and wheat during ancient times. Despite the impossibility of dating the earth and stone installations of terraces and limans due to their decay over time, a wealth of ancient a...
An unintended fire outbreak during summer 2015 in the semi-arid Israeli Negev resulted in the burning of extensive croplands and rangelands. The rangelands have been managed over the long term for occasional grazing, while the croplands have been utilized for rainfed wheat cropping. Yet, during the studied year, the croplands were left fallow, allo...
During the last few decades, populations of the Acacia genus across the hyper-arid Arava Valley and southern Negev have faced considerable demographic changes, with high mortality rates as a predominant trend. We suggest that, in addition to the decreasing precipitation rates and the resultant decrease in flood events during this period, these chan...
Water availability is a major limiting factor for dryland afforestation. Earthworks that modify natural landforms for the formation of runoff harvesting systems are prevalent in the Israeli drylands, with the aim of establishing afforestation projects. However, serious concerns alarm that such earthworks have detrimental effects on the geo-ecosyste...
Soil tillage, crop residue management, nutrient management, and pest management are among the core farming practices. Each of these practices impacts a range of soil functions and ecosystem services, including water availability for crops, weed control, insect and pathogen control, soil quality and functioning, soil erosion control, soil organic ca...
Soil indicators may be used for assessing both land suitability for restoration and the effectiveness of restoration strategies in restoring ecosystem functioning and services. In this review paper, several soil indicators, which can be used to assess the effectiveness of ecological restoration strategies in dryland ecosystems at different spatial...
Stubble grazing by livestock in post-harvest wheat fields is common in drylands. Previous studies have shown that this practice causes land degradation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effect of long-term stubble grazing, by comparing soil quality indicators in continuous wheat croplands of two rain-fed farming systems: wi...
For many years, farmers across Italy have struggled to convert rocky landforms into farmlands. Recently, expensive, heavy machineries have been widely used for these activities, exaggerating costs on land preparation. Subsidised by the Italian authorities, nearly 40% of Puglia lands in southern Italy have been converted to farmland through these me...
Significance
Climate change is increasing the degree of aridity in drylands, which occupy 41% of Earth’s surface and support 38% of its population. Soil bacteria and fungi are largely responsible for key ecosystem services, including soil fertility and climate regulation, yet their responses to changes in aridity are poorly understood. Using a fiel...
Soil indicators may be used for assessing both land suitability for restoration and the effectiveness of restoration strategies in restoring ecosystem functioning and services. In this review paper, several soil indicators, which can be used to assess the effectiveness of ecological restoration strategies in dryland ecosystems at different spatial...
Geodiversity has recently been attracting increasing attention as a measure of diversity for the physical components of natural environments. It has shown positive relations with biodiversity, as well as with several ecosystem services. Yet, so far, geodiversity studies have focused on relatively large spatial scales, ranging between hillslope, bas...
Acacia trees are keystone species of drylands. The recruitment of Acacia seedlings is regulated by large herbivores. The study objective was to investigate the effect of several large herbivore species on Acacia germination and recruitment. These species include the addax (Addax nasomaculatus), Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), Asiatic wild ass (Equus...
Questions
Question (1)
Dear colleagues,
For a study on runoff harvesting systems in rangelands / open lands, I need source files (jpg) of high-quality and high-resolution pictures of: (1) gabion check dam, (2), semi-permeable rock check dam, and (3) loose rock check dam. If anyone has relevant pictures and is willing to share them, then I'll be very grateful to her/him. Of course, any use I'll do with the pictures will include the acknowledging of photographers.
Thanks so much,
Ilan Stavi, Ph.D.
Dead Sea and Arava Science Center
Yotvata 88820, Israel
Telephone: +972-8-611-4791
Mobile: +972-54-728-3745
Fax: +972-8-611-4793
Email: istavi@adssc.org , istavi@yahoo.com
Website: https://www.adssc.org/en/?p=4453
Skype: ilanstavi
