Abstract
The correlations between perennials and the herbaceous productivity in patches occupied by them were previously studied and several descriptive models were defined. Yet these studies focused on either single or several species without analyzing higher numbers and ranking their effects. Here we describe a handy analytical methodology which allows separating the effects of each perennial species on herbaceous productivity at its respective patches from those of the others in a given area, even in case of complex patches containing several species. The described methodology also allows analysts to correlate the effect of perennials to their patch sizes and the respective herbaceous biomass. Additional mathematical analysis presented here succeeded in differentiating between the perennial species stand-alone presence effect on the herbaceous productivity and that attributed to the canopy size. In addition, the effects of location along the slope and its rockiness outlines were studied. As a case study, we chose representative sloped shrubland with rockiness outlines, located in Yattir farm, Northern Negev, Israel. Based on the described analyses we found that the species with the highest positive effects on the herbaceous productivity were Echinops polyceras, Echium angustifolium, and Salvia lanigera. Contradictory effects were observed in case of Thymelea hirsute, Anchusa ramosus, and Noaea mucronata. Collectively, the presented methodology could be an important management tool for monitoring the herbaceous biomass amounts in a given shrubland.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank to Prof. Pua Bar (Kutiel) and Dr. Bert Boeken on species identification. Our thanks also go to Aran and Oren families, the Yattir farm owners, on their help assisting this research. Special thanks to Aviv Oren for supplying the precipitation amounts data. This work was carried out in collaboration with The Sustainability Laboratory (www.sustainabilitylabs.org) and funded by Project Wadi Attir (www.projectwadiattir.com)
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The paper is dedicated to Prof. Pua Bar (Kutiel).
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Mor-Mussery, A., Leu, S. & Budovsky, A. New Methodology for Quantifying the Effects of Perennials on Their Patch Productivity in Semi-arid Environments. Environmental Management 55, 1139–1146 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0449-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0449-5