Rock-soil system and water regime dynamics in the habitat as the main ecological factors of Quercus ithaburensis and Quercus calliprinus in Alonim-Menashe region (Israel) - abstract and images. לצפייה באתר ולהורדת הקובץ ראה בקישור הבא: Look in the site: http://nirforestecosoil.com/

1. The formation of the vegetation in Alonim-Shefar'am hills and Ramat Menasheh includes herbaceous societies, batha, garrigue, woodland,
and maquis. Quercus ithaburensis woodland generally exists on chalky rock hills, covered with a Nari hardpan and a shallow Brown
Rendzina soil, with scattered soil pockets up to 1.5 m deep. On marl covered with Nari the trees look smaller, reach higher water tension
values, and exhibit an earlier fall exfoliation. In this area forests do not exist on cracked limestone infrastructures, and the formation of flora is
usually from herbaceous to shrubs. Quercus calliprinos maquis exists in the region on more unified and soft chalky rocks with a few soil
pockets.
A previous research showed that the hydraulic traits of the rock-soil system, expressed mainly in rock storativity, hydraulic conductivity and
water retention, are the main factors affecting the establishment and survival of trees. Following examination of environmental factors, it
seems that the dynamics of the water regime in the tree, rock, and soil system dictates the growth rate of the trees and the nature of the
growth cycle process.
The research area and its characteristics – The present study focused in Alonim-Menasheh syncline. The syncline border was determined
by a structural map. The region is characterized by a syncline with defined borders between two anticlines with a cross elevated hinge line,
probably an ancient anticline ("The cross altitude"). The syncline is divided by the Carmel-Yokne'am fault and the Izra'el Valley with several
fault lines within the area, especially in its northern parts. The Izra'el Valley was not included in the research, since the rocky layers are
covered with a deep soil, a situation beyond the aims of the research.
The hypothesis was that the structure of the rock-soil system and its hydraulic characteristics are the main factors that dictate the general
distribution of Quercus ithaburensis and Quercus calliprinos in the Mediterranean region and especially in the Alonim-Menashe region. The
difference between the various habitats is expressed particularly in the water regime, determined mainly by the storativity of the rock and the
soil and the water flow that exist in them, which affect the composition of the tree species of trees and their physiological reaction. It was
expected that studying the dynamics of the water system in the habitat, once we distinguish the structure and characteristics of the habitat,
would enable us to understand the active processes that sustain the formation of vegetation in each habitat, including the composition of
species and their establishment prospects.
The research goals were: (1) to understand the processes that occur in the habitats of Alonim-Menashe region, which affect the distribution
and the development of vegetation, especially the woodland and maquis forms; (2) to find the relationships between the geological structure
and the structure of rock and soil system and the formation of vegetation, the composition of the species, and their development in the
Alonim-Menashe region; (3) to study the moisture pattern, the changes occurring in it, and trends of water movement in the rock, soil, and
plant throughout the year and to calculate the water balance; (4) to reach a comprehensive understanding of the rock-soil-water-tree
interrelationships, namely to find the factors affecting the optimal growth of the main species in the woodland and maquis in the region; (5) to
determine development principles in woodland and maquis, which could be pertained to similar habitats in the Mediterranean region of Israel.
Rock-soil system and water regime dynamics in the habitat as the main ecological
factors of Quercus ithaburensis and Quercus calliprinus in Alonim-Menashe region (Israel)
Nir Herr– abstract
(Herr N. 2008. PhD thesis, Hebrew univ. of Jerusalem [in Hebrew with English abstract]

2. Methods - (1) Mapping of topographical, geological, soil, and vegetation conditions; Comparison of the various mappings was done in a geographic information system (GIS) and a some other programs. (2) Establishment of experimental stations, after preliminary surveys, to study the underground in them and drilling 4.5-8.5 m deep boreholes system. (3) Studying of the underground system and the relations between tree roots and the infrastructure, by description, documenting and photographing many rock sections in the area, scanning with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in the experimental stations, core drillings, video filming in the borehole, and digging a 3.5 m deep pit inside the station, from which samples of rock and soil sample were taken. (4) Examination of soil and rock characteristics in the laboratory: moisture, density, insoluble residues, and retention curves. (5) Measurement of rock and soil moisture in the experimental stations by neutron prob, borehole antennas radar, and continues measurements with gypsum blocks. (6) Measurement of the hydraulic conductivity in the sampling pit by flooding and following the infiltration and percolation of water. (7) Calibration of the measuring equipment by comparing the measuremens to the moisture data and the rock and soil characteristics in the sampling pit and in the boreholes and the drilling cores. Creation of calibration curves after statistical analysis, by using the combined parameters obtained with the various devices. (8) Constant measurements of rock and soil temperature up to 4 m depth, air temperature, leaf temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind, and solar radiation. (9) Measurement of the transpiration by the heat pulse method and calculation of the tree conductivity by the vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Porometer was used to measure the transpiration and stomata conductivity, and the water tension in the leaf was measured with a pressure chamber. (10) Determination of tree dimensions and phenological follow-up after dates of badding and exfoliation and estimation of the amount of foliage and acorn yield.
Results: Comparative mapping – A comparative geobotanical mapping was conducted to examine the hypothesis that various formations of vegetation, the woodland, the understory vegetation, and the maquis, appear on certain layers and rock types, on which different habitats have developed. The question whether there is constancy in the appearance of vegetation in accordance with the changes in the nature of the rocks. A high agreement was found between changes in the vegetation and the gradual transitions between rock layers in and between geological formations throughout the length and width of the Ramat Menashe, and also in several sites that were examined in the Alonim-Shefar'am region. There is a tendency of reduced rock density and increased capillary porosity in the ascension of the stratigraphic column in the Adolam formation and Maresha formation above it. A similar tendency was found in the transition from the syncline edge to its center in the one rock layer. Accordingly, gradual differences in the vegetation were found, in accordance, from herbaceous to batha societies, the woodland of Quercus ithaburensis with its accompanying vegetation, and aventually to Quercus calliprinos maquis, with increasing coverage rate from medium to dense.

3. Studying of the rock-soil structure and rock characteristics – The many rock sections documented and described in the various quarries in the woodland, the maquis, and other vegetation formations provided significant additional information on the structure of the rock-soil system in the various habitats. In the Quercus ithaburensis woodland there are different phases of chalk or marly chalk rocks covered with a Nari hardpan in various developmental stages and soil pockets, some of which are continuous and some are in expanded rock cracks or between rock layers. The data obtained contained the rock and soil density, the insoluble residue, and the clay rate in the rock, which were compared to the detailed description of the rock sections. The density was also used to calculate the volumetric moisture from the gravimetric moisture. A large horizontal variability was obtained within the measuring stations, and the rock characterization data were used as a basis for the understanding of the characteristics of the various habitats. The obtained retension curves were characteristic to the soil, the Nari, and the chalky rocks in different depths, and curves were prepared to various rock appearances characterized by amplitude values measurements of the boreholes antennas, that mainly reflect the composition of rock clay. The highest moisture saturation in the rock was obtained in marly chalk from 3 m depth and more.
Calibration and the calculation equations – The common methods to determine the moisture by borehole radar antennas (according to Topp equation) and water tension by gypsum blocks were examined and verified under the local area conditions and an improvement in the calculation of gypsum blocks' data was introduced by mediating the temperature. Calibration of the neutron probe was done by the amplitude parameter obtained by the concomitant measurements with the borehole antenna radar. The calibration curve of the neutron probe, which showed a high significance, is a model of covariance that includes 8 amplitude levels of the borehole antenna waves. Interpretation of the GPR scanning under the research area conditions was also done with the aid of borehole antenna data, by which the distinction between the Nari horizons, chalk, limestone and the soil pockets was studied.
Rock moisture and its changes with time and space – A seasonal wetting and percolation models were obtained, in which the time of the peak of moisture in depth occurs at the time when the soil and upper Nari horizon were in a drying stage. Six different sites were determined in the Quercus ithaburensis woodland. For example, in an average habitat of Nari covered with marly chalk, rain in the beginning of the winter wets the soil pockets and continues to percolate slowly. The percolating water reaches depths of 1.5-2.5 m during the spring and accumulates there. The rains in midwinter and in the spring, reach depths of 0.35-1.25 m that are immediately taken up by the trees and the understory vegetation. Excess water that does not taken up continues to percolate downward, and the peak zone of the uptake migrates downward during the summer. The water accumulated in the spring in depths of 1.5-2.5 m are probably the main source of water uptake during the summer. The uptake at the beginning of the spring is from the soil pockets, and in the summer from the rock media. At the beginning of the summer water from the rock are taken up mainly in the upper 1 m, in a distance of about 35 cm from the roots, where a 25 cm depth section contributes a daily flux of more than 0.1 mm. At the end of the summer of a rainy year (2002) the uptake took place mainly between 1 to 2 m, where according to the habitat and the root depth the uptake distance of the roots in the rock was 35-120 cm. In an exeptionally rainy year (2003) water was taken up from a depth of 275 cm in the rock, probably due to deep water availability and a relatively high hydraulic conductivity up to 175 cm distance from the roots. Under these conditions, a depth section of 25 cm from the bottom of the absorption area contributes about 0.01 mm water per day. The amount of annual precipitation also affects the annual rate of uptake.

4. In the Quercus calliprinos maquis, stages of accumulation and uptake were observed in the upper wetting-dryness range, up to 2-3 m depth. Uptake from these depths was about two thirds of the total uptake. It seems that in this habitat the uptake occurs up to 4 or 5 m depth. Changes in moisture in higher depths only express percolation. Roots in this habitat penetrate thin rock joints up to depths of several meters. the movement distance of water from the rock to the roots in this habitat is probably short.
Transpiration – Models of water transpired by the trees were built throughout the year. In Quercus ithaburensis, three stages were distinguished in the annual transpiration process. In the first stage the rate of transpiration increases constantly from the beginning of budding in mid-February until the beginning of May and reaches a rate of about 1.3 mm per day. In the second stage the control system of the tree balances the water uptake, that remains constant until about the end of June. In the third stage there is a gradual decrease in the rate of transpiration until it stops with the exfoliation at the beginning of the winter. In dry years in a relatively arid area, the uptake rate decreases immediately after its peak at the beginning of May, and the total annual transpiration is lower.
In Quercus calliprinos, two stages were observed in the transpiration behavior. In the winter the water requirements of the evergreen tree are very low, and the transpiration rate increases gradually in the spring until the beginning of May, when it reaches to about 1 mm per day. Immediately after that there is a gradual decrease to the low winter level. It was possible to determine various types of trees during measurements of individual tree conductivity, which differed in their conductivity and in response to daily and seasonal draught under specific conditions in their habitat. Comparison between years, indicated that in dry years transpiration in Quercus calliprinos maquis was significantly lower than that in the Quercus ithaburensis woodland.
Water balance – The average amount of precipitation in the four years of measurements was 644 mm (112% of the average perennial amount – 577 mm). The average water uptake according to sub-soil measurements in the Quercus ithaburensis habitat was 221 mm, which according to the water balance calculations is 34% of the annual amount of the rain during this period. Of this amount 33% were related to evapotranspiration from the sub-forest, 28% to runoff water, and only 4% to percolation to the underground water. In the Quercus calliprinos maquis, the total uptake was between 152 mm in a dry year to 197 in a rainy year.
Research innovations – The research innovations included: adaptation of methods of moisture measurements in the rock; adaptation of the calibration of the neutron probe in the rock, characterized by a great spatial variability, by the aid of borehole antenna radar measurements; agreement between the vegetation dispersal and geology, and understanding the spatial constistency in the investigated region; understanding the dynamics of percolation, water accumulation and uptake in depth and in time of oak trees in the various habitats, mainly in chalk; presentation of the water regime in two major Mediterranean formations, woodland and maquis, in Israel; outlining principles that enable implementation of the research results in other regions, considering the type of rock, the structure of the rock-soil system and the climatic and microclimatic conditions.

5. Chalky limestone
Bata (low shrubs)
or herbaceous
Q. Calliprinos maquis
Q. Ithaburensis
woodland
0
-1.0-
- 2.0 -
- 3.0 -
- 4.0 -
- 5.0 -
Depth
(m)
Dolomite & Limestone Hard chalk Med. chalk Soft chalk
Limestone
and dolomite
in Judea gr.
Timrat formation,
limestone facies
Timrat formation
chalk facies Maresha formation
On a limestone transition to soft chalk of the Avdat Group (Eocene era)
in Alonim-Menashe Syncline (Israel)
Oak habitats
Water reservoir in the
porosity chalk
Other habitat:
On karstic
dolomite and
limestone of
Judea Group
Terra rossa Brown Rendzina
Q. Calliprinos
maquis

6. Roots
כיס קרקע
Leaf tension 30-40 Bar at noon
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan Dec
Lower friable Nari
Upper Nari hardpan
Chalk or marly chalk
Spring rain
Horizontal uptake at
the end of the summer
Vertical uptake at
the end of the summer
Early summer uptake
Water regime dynamics in Q. ithaburensis habitat.
Changes in depth and time of uptake, percolation and evaporation
5 mm
deeper
percolation
Time axis. Yearly month
Depth (cm)
Evapotranspiration of understory
Runnoff 28%
Winter rain
At spring the uptake
is from the soil pocket
Root tension 20 Bar
Tension 0.75 Bar
Yearly uptake 230 mm
225 mm
Multi-year average 570 mm

7. Subsoil properties as the main factors in drying and mortality of Pinus halepensis at the Yatir forest, northern Negev, Israel
Nir Herr1, Yakir Preisler2, Eyal Rotenberg2, Noam Greenbaum3
•KKL-JNF, Forestry Department and Northern region, POB 45, Kiryat Haim, Israel
•Weizmann Institute, Department of Earth and planetary Sciences, Rehovot, Israel
•Haifa University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Haifa, Israel
nirh@kkl.org.il
In Yatir forest - the largest forest in Israel, located at the southern edge of the dry Mediterranean region (280 mm mean annual), a patchiness mortality pattern of pines was observed after continuous droughts. The forest was planted in the 1960’s- 70's, with Pinus Halepensis - a native tree, reputed as relatively drought resistant, as the main tree in the forest.
The objective of the study was to identify the environmental factors that caused the mortality of the trees exposed to ongoing dry climatic conditions at the background. The study aims at understanding the mortality phenomenon in order to implement the conclusions in establishment and management of forests in the Mediterranean Region.
An updated aerial photo and a detailed survey in the forest were used to locate plots with patches of both dead and living trees. At each patch, the trees were documented using regular forestry criteria.
In 11 plots, a trench was dug in each patch to a depth of 1.5 m into the soil and the underlying bedrock. The roots were measured, stoniness was estimated and the rock-soil-root-tree system was documented in detail. Soil and rock were sampled at depths of 20, 50, 80, 110 cm and deeper according to site-specific soil depth. Water content, mechanical composition, salinity, SAR, calcium carbonate content, and rock density, were analyzed in the lab. In addition, locations of dry trees in the forest were examined in relation to the soil and rock exposure relationships.
The main results are:
• The living trees are located mainly over slopes of chalky rock overlain by shallow, stony lithosol.
•This chalky bedrock determines the development of the shallow soil and its stony and calcareous nature.
•The porous chalk serves as a water reservoir. The shallow soil enables close contact between the roots and the rock. The stones help to hold moisture throughout the dry season and therefore serve as preferred zones for roots development.
•The soil in this environment contains tolerable levels of salinity and sodium. Their influence is minor compared to the water gain from the chalk and the importance of this habitat to the tree water system.
Our results suggest that the preferable environment for planting pines in this region is chalk overlain by shallow and stony soil. Storage of water in this rock-soil system is the key factor affecting the survival and success of the forests in this semi-arid Mediterranean Region.
Abstract of lecture in MedPine5, Forest Sciences center of Catalonia, Spain, Sept. 2014