The effect of removing shrub cover on annual plants and small mammals in acoastal sand dune ecosystem

Populations of sand-living organisms in Israel have decreased due to the st abilization of the coastal dunes and their massive cover by a few shrub spe cies. This study examined the impact of the removal of the above-ground shr ub growth on sand-living (psammophile) annual plants and small mammals. Aft er 3 years, the annual plant composition in the cleared plots was similar t o the uncleared plots. However, several species specific to open sandy habi tats were more abundant after clearing the scrub. This was expressed in the higher Shannon-Wiener diversity index obtained for the cleared plots. Like wise, the small rodents Mus musculus, Rattus rattus, and the shrew Crocidur a russula avoided entering the cleared plots, while Gerbillus andersoni all enbyi (an endemic sand-living gerbil) and the Tristram's jird Meriones tris trami were well established there. The deliberate removal of dense shrub co ver is proposed as part of the management of Mediterranean coastal dunes, w ith the intention of preserving the whole shifting dune ecosystem by cheap means and with lower level of human intervention. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.