Why is plant biodiversity at Project Wadi Attir especially high?

You are here: Home / Ecosystem Restoration Learning Modules / Why is plant biodiversity at Project Wadi Attir especially high?

By improving the soils at the Project Wadi Attir site, many varieties of plants have been able to thrive in the Negev’s arid landscape. For a more thorough explanation consider the following topic questions…

Was the plant biodiversity in the area around Project Wadi Attir already especially high?

No, plant biodiversity at the Project Wadi Attir site was extremely low on most of the area because it was mostly degraded farmland that was regularly tilled, but not adequately managed. As a consequence the loess soil lost its nutrient inventory and hardly any plant species were able to grow. Erosion created a few erosion gullies (Fig. 2, soil-rehabilitation), Wadis and shrubland patches that did safeguard a number of plant species though regular grazing suppressed development of an adequate vegetation cover.

Erosion Gullies #1

Project Wadi Attir is located at the interphase between four different vegetation zones, does that have implications for plant biodiversity?

Indeed, the Northern Negev is the meeting point of four different vegetation zones, the Mediterranean (subtropical seasonally dry), Irano-Turanian (cool-seasonally dry), the Saharan (dry and hot) and the Sudanian (hot-tropical); therefore the area offers possible habitat for hundreds of different plant species if properly managed, dependent on soil quality and yearly amounts of precipitation. This potential has been revealed in the last three years after site restoration with numerous novel plant species observed never seen before at all or at high density.

This region of the Negev is at the meeting point of four different topographical features, how does that impact plant biodiversity?

The Project Wadi Attir site is predestined for higher than average plant biodiversity because it encloses four topographical zones with different soil depths, slopes and rockiness. The area is at the transition between the rocky hill country and the Negev’s vast loess plains, and the project protects parts of both. Besides that it features a number of side valleys with very specific plant communities. The fourth element is the bank of the Attir River, which creates its own, more diverse habitat. A number of additional novel habitats have been created by the restoration work so that further increase in plant biodiversity can be expected.

Click on the images to expand for a closer look…

Sites of Major Biodiversity

Conserved Loess Plains

Loess Slopes

Rocky Slope #1

Given the issues of deforestation and overgrazing, what has led to the increase in plant biodiversity and the rich and diverse ecosystem at Project Wadi Attir?

The habitat at the project Wadi Attir site thousands of years ago likely was a productive savanna…

Shrubland

With wooded stretches along the river, productive grasslands in the plains and dense dry woodland on the hill slopes…

Arid to semi-arid natural vegetation

Overgrazing, wood gathering and farming has resulted in a profound shift in ecosystem quality. Plant species number likely didn’t decrease much, but the much reduced productivity resulted in much lower animal diversity and density, and the absence of trees and shrubs dramatically reduced the number of resident bird species.

Reduced Productivity Shrubland

The immediate return of large numbers of bird species as a consequence of tree planting and restoration has been experimentally proven during the last three years of observation on the site.

Try this quiz and test your knowledge of the question: