Talia Gabay

• Monitoring programs coordinator at Hamaarag at Tel Aviv University

The State of Nature Reports have been published since 2010 by Hamaarag. The reports present ecosystem trends and processes in Israel and provide a glimpse into the state of nature in Israel. The State of Nature Report 2023 – Biodiversity Volume is largely based on analyses of data accumulated during the first decade of the National Terrestrial Moni...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are key contributors to desert ecosystem functions, therefore, biocrust restoration following mechanical disturbances is imperative. In the Negev Desert hyperarid regions, phosphate mining has been practiced for over 60 years, destroying soil habitats and fragmenting the landscape. In this study, we selected one m...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are key contributors to desert ecosystem functions; therefore, biocrust restoration following mechanical disturbance is imperative. In the Negev Desert hyperarid regions, phosphate mining has been practiced for over 60 years, destroying soil habitats, and fragmenting the landscape. To understand the effects of min...

Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) are tiny plants that float on aquatic surfaces and are typically isolated from temperate and equatorial regions. Yet, duckweed diversity in Mediterranean and arid regions has been seldom explored. To address this gap in knowledge, we surveyed duckweed diversity in Israel, an ecological junction between Mediterranean and arid c...

Biocrusts are key ecosystem engineers that are being destroyed due to anthropogenic disturbances such as trampling, agriculture and mining. In hyper-arid regions of the Negev Desert, phosphate has been mined for over six decades, altering the natural landscape over large spatial scales. In recent years, restoration-oriented practices were mandated...